Un-Canadian

I felt Un-Canadian does a good job of summarizing the trajectory of Islamophobia in Canada, starting a little before Sept. 11th and covering its rapid increase thereafter. I was aware of quite a number of individual events, but learned about lots more. There's also something rather affecting about seeing it all laid out like this, one after the other. I felt the author also did a good job of covering the failings of the Canadian media and, in particular, the toxic symbiosis that was set up in 2015 between Conservative politicians, public polling, and the media. Where I think the book fell down, and it's possible this is more of a reflection on the reader than the author, is that it felt too even-handed or even positive. What Harper, Kenney, and Leitch did in the run-up to the 2015 election really was bad, and I don't think we need to give any of them the benefit of the doubt. The author also takes heart from the fact that Leitch did 'poorly' in the 2017 Conservative leadership contest, but I just checked and she wasn't eliminated until the ninth round. The last chapter in particular felt like a bit of a unicorns and rainbows view of where things might go from here. All of this contributed to me feeling it was all just a bit flat. Probably worth reading as a reminder of what's happened in Canada in the last twenty years or so, but ultimately a bit unsatisfying.