Speech for 25th Anniversary of TCE

October 6, Ottawa Convention Centre

Good evening , Bonsoir

Je me présente, James Marsh, rédacteur en chef de l’encyclopédie canadienne, depuis trente ans déjà.

Welcome, bienvenue à nos amis, à nos collègues, et aux invités d’honneur.

J’aimerais d’abord remercier Interac, notre  commanditaire, et Ensight, notre partenaire pour cet  événement. Je  voudrais aussi remercier Patrimoine canadien qui soutient financièrement  l’encyclopédie, le Chœur Canterbury (et sa directrice, Laurie Hamilton), et,  parmi beaucoup d’autres, Marc Chalifoux et Alicia Dotiwalla de notre fondation  pour avoir organisé cette soirée.

Special thanks to Linda Brunet of Encounters with Canada, who has been so helpful. (Et à qui je souhaite une bonne santé, chère collègue.) She has kindly sent thirteen participants from the Encounters program, one to represent each of the provinces and territories.

Special recognition to our associate editor, Laura Bonikowski, and the rest of our devoted encyclopedia and Encyclopedia of Music in Canada staff, for all they do.

Avant de continuer, j’aimerais vous présenter quelques invités avec qui je suis très fier de partager cet événement.

We have three of the original senior editors present this evening:

Michel Boyer

Patricia Finlay

James Ogilvy

I wish I could give you an accurate image for what it was like for these editors to create the encyclopedia. Ant hill or cauldron come to mind, but one of the reviewers got it best, I think, when he wrote that making that encyclopedia was the closest thing this country has ever had to an intellectual bee.

The editors were under a lot of stress, with impossible deadlines, delinquent authors and incessant word counts.

Trente ans ! Vingt-cinq de  publication.

Et tout cela avant Facebook, avant  Tweitter, les ordinateurs personnels…et même….. – Wikipedia  !

Nous avons été la première encyclopédie au monde à utiliser des ordinateurs pour compiler et produire une encyclopédie.

But I like to say that encyclopedias invented the world wide web—all the knowledge in the world. What is hypertext but the cross referencing invented by editors hundreds of years ago.

Now here we are, online, with some 500,000 visitors each month, nurturing the legacy that Mel Hurtig and Avie Bennett have given us. Planning and innovation have not stopped as we move into the mobile world, the world of apps and with plans for a new encyclopedia tailored to the communication needs of our young people.

2. Introduction of Mel Hurtig

Thirty years ago Mel Hurtig interviewed me for this job in the then Canadiana Room of the Chateau Laurier. Hoping to impress him, I recommended that he read the biography of James Murray, the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. “How long did this Murray take,” Mel asked me. “Thirty years,” I answered tentatively. “How far did he get,” he asked. “He died at the letter ‘c’” I admitted. Mel hired me anyway and he never faltered in his confidence or support.

Je pourrais fort bien passer tout ce temps à vous présenter Mel Hurtig: éditeur, nationaliste passionné, auteur, politicien, et un cher ami.

3. Introduction of Hon Peter Lougheed

One of the great memories of my life is of a sunny day in 1985, when I accompanied Premier Peter Lougheed on a trip to Ottawa to present The Canadian Encyclopedia to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and to Governor General Jeanne Sauvé. I was struck then as now with the partnership of our lefty publisher and our conservative premier that made the encyclopedia possible.

Best known for his defence of Alberta’s interests and perhaps the most influential politician of his day in Canada, I was struck that day above all with Peter’s deep commitment to Canada and his pride that Alberta had given this gift of a national encyclopedia to the whole nation.

6. Introduction of Alain Stanké

L’une des choses qui me rend le plus fier est que chaque mois, 35% des visiteurs de L’Encyclopédie sont francophones. C’est à l’éditeur de la version française, Alain Stanké, que revient le mérite d’avoir une encyclopédie complètement bilingue. Je tiens à souligner que pour lui, traduire les articles de l’anglais au français n’était pas suffisant :  il s’est aussi assuré de couvrir les thèmes relatifs au Québec, articles qui maintenant ont été intégrés à la version en ligne. Je suis vraiment heureux ce soir, de revoir mon bon ami et de vous le présenter.

7. Avie Bennett

How lucky I have been in my life to have been associated with so many people with such a deep commitment to the cause of Canada. Jack McClelland, Mel Hurtig and Avie Bennett. As publisher of great Canadian authors, philanthropist of the arts and as supporter of The Canadian Encyclopedia, and chairman of the Historica-Dominion Institute, Avie has made a profound contribution to Canada.

9. JM Final words

Et finalement.

When I was a boy, growing up in the Junction area of Toronto, the only two books that we had in our house were an out-of-date encyclopedia and a small dictionary that my father had memorized while recuperating from his injuries suffered in Holland. I liked to show off what I learned reading those books to the point that my family nickname was “the know it all.” I am not, but I do love the irony.

J’aimerais bien vous dire que, comme éditeur en chef de notre encyclopédie, je possède une certaine sagesse, une certaine vision de ce pays si paradoxal, mais je dois admettre que l’encyclopédie, à l’image même du pays qu’elle décrit, est encore en évolution, encore dans la recherche de sa destinée.

Nous avons besoin d’un outil de référence nationale, d’un miroir dans lequel nous pouvons projeter notre image ; nous avons besoin d’offrir aux générations suivantes des connaissances et une perspective dont elles sauront se servir.

We need a national reference work, comprehensive and authoritative, adapting to the needs of a new generation.

A hundred years ago, another encyclopedia editor declared hopefully that “Canada only needs to know itself in order to be great.” Et je suis parfaitement d’accord’’.

Thank you for being here, and for your support.

Je vous remercie de tout coeur pour votre appui.

I have asked our choir to sing us one last song. (Un Canadien errant)