Grant Havers: The Conservative Tradition in Canada

“Yes, as you mentioned, one of the most interesting findings of Lament for a Nation, which came out in 1965—it’s Grant’s most famous book—is that in Grant’s view, there’s really no such thing as American conservatism.”

On December 21st, Merion West contributing writer Henry George and Merion West editor-in-chief Erich J. Prince were joined by Grant Havers for a discussion about the latter’s writings and the topic of Canadian conservatism. Grant Havers is an associate editor at VoegelinView and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Trinity Western University in Canada. He is the author of the 2009 book Lincoln and the Politics of Christian Love and the 2013 book Leo Strauss and Anglo-American Democracy: A Conservative Critique and has contributed to outlets such as The American Conservative, Chronicles, and Modern Age. During the conversation, Professor Havers discusses the conservative Canadian tradition (yes, there is one, he argues); replies to Leo Strauss in defense of historicism; Marshall McLuhan; and the health of right-of-center politics in modern Canada. With the exception of the final question, which was posed by Mr. Prince, all of the questions were asked by Mr. George.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

I’ll start by asking you to talk about your personal background, your academic background, and what led you to where you are today.

I was born and raised in Alberta in Western Canada, which is really the cradle of conservative populism in the Canadian tradition.

And I think that had an impact on me from the beginning of my life. I was also raised in a loosely Protestant tradition, which I think has stayed with me as an influence when it comes to certain values that I have.