Review of a Conrad Black Speech at "Idea City '06"

Thanks to an anonymous post in the comments section of this entry, I've viewed a recent speech by Conrad Black, given at the Toronto seminar "Idea City '06." The speech has been broken into three parts and webbed at Youtube: Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here and Part 3 is here. The following is a review of it; all quotes are from what Mr. Black said during it.

What was most noticeable about this speech is a change from Mr. Black's delivery, from a chair he sat on: he used gestures that, generally, are appropriate for a political speech. The first part of his speech broached his current troubles with the law; he massaged the palm part of his hand with the other when referring to the Hollinger International special-committee investigation. The context in which he referred to it was a declaration that his thirty-year career as a businessman-proprietor is effectively over. He also reaffirmed his innocence, flatly, when describing the trial as an "inexorable" event. He then described his, to he largely new, experience as a genuine underdog, when he has had to remain silent despite continual media "villification;" the latter is also new to him. What he has gained from this experience is cultivating a sense of perspective, and realizing that it is "fulfilling" to fight to restore his reputation. This battle is not a "noble" cause, but a "just cause," and one more absorbing than "mere commerce." (He used the word "fulfilling" to describe it five times in this part.) The last phrase he softened, by saying that he meant neither offense nor disrespect by it, as he was (of course) a "fairly unambiguous capitalist" until recently. The first part ends with a disparaging reference to the Ontario securities regulators, which he cast as camp-followers of their American equivalent. In Canada, especially as of the last few years, this disparagement is a potent one.

In the second part, he characterized America, to Canadians, as a quick-fix culture, which at times leads to "anomalous" political or legal outcomes; he described this facet as a consequence of American optimism as based in the U.S. becoming "unprecedentedly successful" as a nation. The three examples he cited were Prohibition, American isolationism just prior to World War 2, and McCarthyism. (He credited President Roosevelt for putting an end to isolationism and, later in his speech, for ending Prohibition.) Presently, he ascribes his own legal troubles to "overreaction" to corporate earnings-manipulation scandals, as well as to a habit, not confined to American democracy, of "deferring things that are unpleasant - in this case, politically unpleasant." The ultimate source of the stigmatizing he's endured is the largely all-American redistribution-of-wealth question; he was singled out for "being rich," even though he's not that wealthy compared to the habituants of the Fortune 500. This point is actually an interesting one, because it suggests that looking, or acting, rich - being "easy to caricature" as rich - is more of a dynamite pile, which sets off the redistribution crowd, than actually being rich is. (The fuse, he noted, is lit when someone who makes a plausible "totem" of this sort gets investigated by the relevant authorities.) He ended this part by affirming that this totemization will come to an end relatively soon, as did the other anomalies in American culturo-politics.

The third part concentrates upon Canada. He said that his recent troubles have bestowed a special kind of homecoming for him. He also stated that Canada is at the cusp of vaulting above its status as a middle power, where the Canadian government has been "tugging at the trouser leg of the United States," though for "incredible" causes. Times are now quite good for a country that's long been pegged as populated by "hewers of wood and drawers of water," as the price of resources are high and Canada's "treasure chest" can't be outsourced. In addition, Canada's population is quite educated. Canada is now one of the most ten important countries in the world, although Canadians (and foreigners) are not quite used to this newly won status. In addition, Quebec "independence," as a viable political force, is through; also, federally, Canada now has a full two-party system. He closes the entire speech by saying that his struggle has led to a real "re-acquaintance" with his country.


Peter C. Newman closed his 1982 biography of Conrad Black, which I have reviewed in this entry, with relayed forecasts that Conrad Black would eventually seek the Prime Ministership of Canada. At the end of my review, I judged this to be unintentionally (a quarter century's worth of retrospect had seemingly made it) inane, but that recent speech of his has left me feeling somewhat silly for thinking that this side of him had vanished. I note that, despite his long-term residence in London U.K., Conrad Black still has the Torontonian accent he was born and raised with.

Also of note: the transplanted American science-fiction writer Spider Robinson was another speaker at the conference; he spoke previous to Mr. Black. In his write-up on his experiences as a presenter there, Mr. Robinson refers to Conrad Black as both "notorious" and a "most gracious gentleman."

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FYI: Richard Breeden was appointed SEC commissioner by President Bush - Senior. He served in that slot from 1989 to 1993.