| Shooting the Messenger The Why and the Wherefore I have been a student of Canadian history, like, forever. My favourite book on the subject remains Ralston Saul's Reflections of a Siamese Twin: Canada at the End of the Twentieth Century (Penguin, 1997). In Reflections Saul castigates politicians for pretending that Canada has no history worth talking about prior to 1985, the year Mulroney drastically increased immigration levels, ostensibly to help his Party at the polls. Saul's observations were very much on my mind when I began writing The Fractured Nation Interviews, a book about a future where Canada is just a memory. The Interviews are probably the most thought-provoking commentary about the future of Canada that you will ever read. One thing would lead to another. The Interviews were largely completed when I decided to do a book on the Koran. The extensive research I had already done in exploring Islam’s impact on national unity made it a natural. I hoped I would never have to write about myself. In the grand scheme of things, in the disturbing future foretold in The Interviews and Pain, Pleasure and Prejudice what happened to me is of no consequence, and it did happen a long time ago. I would much rather have concentrated on Remembering Uzza and Going Swimming Fully Clothed. On the morning of October 2, 1987 I stood before the Supreme Court of Canada with a question. It was a question from the Federal Court of Appeal which had reluctantly ruled against me on a matter of some importance. I was not a lawyer, but a former public servant for more than twelve years, the last five with the Department of Foreign Affairs. My experience with the diplomats was of the bitter-sweet variety and the reason for my appearance before the Supreme Court of Canada. What happened to me might be insignificant, but the pursuit of justice is not, the reason for deciding to tell my story. Bernard Payeur
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