Culture is surely one of the most complex concepts in current discourse.¹ The bearer of multiple meanings, sometimes in conflict, it seems to defy easy or precise definition. To explore Vincent Massey’s notion of culture is to enter a rich storehouse of accreted belief, value, and association in the history of English-speaking Canada and of Canadian Methodism. Far removed from the view of culture found in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1992, where it was little more than a basket of commodities with which to bargain, for Massey, culture was nothing short of the intellectual, moral, aesthetic,...

By the late 1910s, the education gospel had reached climactic proportions. Despite being a provincial responsibility under the British North America Act, 1867, education became increasingly intertwined with notions of Canadian citizenship.¹ For some, the education gospel promised to be nothing short of Canada’s salvation as a nation. One of the formations to which this conviction gave rise was the National Council of Education (NCE), a private body launched in Winnipeg in late 1919 to foster citizenship through education. Massey was a senior officer between 1920 and 1926 and, as such, was well positioned to steer a variety of educational...

In a 1930 speech, Vincent Massey commented: ‘We [Canadians] are becoming more “art-minded.”’¹ He was referring as much to himself as to others. Until the late 1920s, the arts played a modest, even minimal part in his understanding of culture. This was not unusual – recognition of fine art in Canada has been slow, ambiguous, even tortuous. Its validation has drawn strength from various sources, often ones that simultaneously and viscerally sought its repression.

The role of Protestantism’s many denominations in this process is complex and begs to be sorted out. In Massey’s case, Methodism was a seminal influence on his...

‘The swift development of Canadian painting is not only a story interesting to ourselves but it also has ... [a] bearing on the large question of the relation between art and nationality,’ wrote Vincent Massey in 1948.¹ By the later 1920s, he no longer considered art a ‘superficial embellishment’ or a ‘sociological cosmetic.’ He was awakening to the role that the arts might play in forging a sense of national community² and became a zealous advocate for the development of national forums in the visual arts, drama, and broadcasting – each the topic of a section in this chapter.

His association...

In late 1935, Vincent Massey arrived in London as high commissioner for Canada. He had long favoured close relations between the two countries, and, with the approach of war, he was now at the vanguard of resurgent Canadian–British cooperation. For Massey, this realignment was an affirmation of the humanism that he believed to be central to Canadian democracy and that distinguished it from a more purely capitalistic model. Humanism – which signified for him such key features as moral agency, a highly developed critical sense, a commitment to excellence, tolerance engendered by exposure to diverse perspectives, and a sense of...

Massey returned from England in 1946, his diplomatic posting having served to harden his convictions about the cultural perils that Canada faced and the sources from which it drew strength. He was utterly convinced that Canada must assume responsibility for its culture or remain prey to mounting American imperialism. His early concern for overcoming Canada’s sectionalism and for locating a sense of community and unity within its ethnic and geographical diversity was now overshadowed by what he perceived to be the external forces that threatened national sovereignty.

At the end of the war, he asked what he considered to be...