Donald Grant Creighton (15 July 1902 – 19 December 1979) was a Canadian historian whose major works include The Commercial Empire of the St-Lawrence, 1760–1850 (first published in 1937), a detailed study on the growth of the English merchant class in relation to the St Lawrence River in Canada. His biography of John A. Macdonald, published into two parts between 1952 and 1955, was considered by many Canadian historians as re-establishing biographies as a proper form of historical research in Canada. By the 1960s Creighton began to move towards a more general history of Canada.
Creighton's later years were preoccupied with criticizing the then ruling Liberal Party of Canada under William Lyon Mackenzie King and his successor Louis St. Laurent. Creighton denounced the Liberal Party for undermining Canada's link with the United Kingdom and moving towards closer relations with the United States, a policy which he strongly disliked.
Background
Creighton was born on July 15, 1902, in Toronto, to William Black Creighton, a Methodist minister and editor of The Christian Guardian, and Laura Harvie Creighton. He attended Victoria College, in the University of Toronto, where he received his BA in 1925.
Creighton died in his sleep on December 18, 1979, from cancer, in Brooklin, Ontario, aged 77.
In 1967, Creighton was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Creighton as an historian
Creighton was heavily influenced by Harold Innis and took an economic approach to Canadian history. His significant contribution to the field was the development of the Laurentian thesis, which defined the basis of Canadian history through geography and the nation's dependence on its major centres. Creighton's first works were studies in the Rebellion of 1837–38 in Lower Canada, which Creighton believed to be the product of a clash between the economic traditionalism of French Canada and the relentless drive of the Anglo business elite of Montreal. In turn, this led Creighton to the study of that elite, and hence into the study of the St. Lawrence in Canadian history. This anti-Americanism moved Creighton to a growing conviction that Canada risked being absorbed by the United States culturally, economically and politically.
In later years, Creighton frequently expressed himself through the mass media. An intense Canadian nationalist, his opinions have often been criticized, particularly by those, such as historian Susan Mann, who saw Creighton as anti-Quebec. Creighton felt that the position of the French language in Canada should be more or less what the British North America Act had prescribed. As such, Creighton was not enamoured with changes such as official bilingualism that was introduced in the 1960s and 1970s. The Quiet Revolution of the 1960s had led to a more assertive French Canadian nationalism that Creighton had no sympathy with. In 1964, when anti-British riots erupted in Quebec City when Queen Elizabeth II visited la belle province, a furious Creighton wrote Elizabeth had been "humiliated". A strong supporter of the Progressive Conservatives and small "c" conservative, Creighton's heroes were Macdonald, Robert Borden, and John Diefenbaker, for whom Creighton served as a speech writer.
Creighton disliked the Liberal Party as he saw the Liberals as the party of continentalism (i.e. moving Canada closer to the United States) and for taking steps that Creighton saw as an attack on Canada's British heritage, such as replacing the Canadian Red Ensign with the Maple Leaf flag in 1965. In regard to federal–provincial relations, Creighton shared Macdonald's view of a highly centralized confederation with the provinces subservient to the federal government. In Creighton's opinion, it had been a great mistake on Ottawa’s part to allow the growth of provincial powers in the 20th century. In particular, Creighton was strongly opposed to the demands made by the Quebec government for more power at the expense of the federal government during the Quiet Revolution and afterwards. Creighton saw this as the first steps towards separatism. Creighton favored a tough line against the Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque, and was one of the first to advocate partitioning Quebec in the event of a vote to leave Confederation, writing that northern Quebec was historically part of Rupert's Land and was given to Quebec by the Dominion government only in 1912.
Creighton's determination to maintain British traditions, his close association with Diefenbaker, and his dislike of continentalism led him to be accused of anti-Americanism. Later, Creighton cemented his reputation for anti-American views with his only novel, 1978's The Take-Over. As its title implies, the book dealt with an imaginary US take-over of Canada. Creighton saw himself as a lonely crusader not only against what he called the "Authorized Version" of Canadian history (i.e., the Liberal interpretation), but also against what he regarded as the widespread indifference and apathy felt by most Canadians towards their history.