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Roderick Stewart, co-author of Phoenix: A Life of Norman Bethune, wrote to the Globe and Mail to respond to controversy over the opening of a new visitor centre at the Bethune Memorial House in Gravenhurst.
"Bethune politics," Letters to the Editor, July 21
Last week’s outburst of opposition to the new visitor centre at the Bethune Memorial House in Gravenhurst is a case of déjà vu (Red All Over – letters, July 14). A similar chorus of denunciation followed the official opening of the historic site in 1976.
In our biography Phoenix: The Life of Norman Bethune, Sharon Stewart and I point out that the Bethune legend has been used for political purposes on more than one occasion. Pierre Trudeau did so 40 years ago when his ministry purchased the former Presbyterian manse in which Bethune was born, and now Stephen Harper has made an addition to the historic site. Both men were motivated by a similar pragmatic aim: to maintain sound relations with China in order to increase trade with the world’s most populous nation. To regard their actions as endorsements of communism is ludicrous.
Attitudes toward Bethune in China may already be undergoing a subtle shift. While Bethune remains a hero to many Chinese, Zhang Yesheng, the foremost Chinese expert on the Canadian doctor, was quoted in 2009 as saying that he is no longer referred to as a proletarian revolutionary but rather as a reformist, and above all, as a humanitarian.
Roderick Stewart
Further reading: Town of Gravenhurst declares July 11, 2012 Bethune Day
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