An unapologetic social justice narrative

Leading from the Heart: The Battles of a Feminist, Union Leader and Politician
by Judy Darcy

Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2026
$40  /  9781771625043

Reviewed by Wendy Burton

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Leading from the Heart, Judy Darcy’s memoir, is a valuable addition to Canadian labour history, c. 1960s to 2020, and a provocative social history.

Judy Darcy was, in her early years, a Maoist Marxist feminist, three –ists that would not grant anyone favour among mainstream labour unions. Starting as a part-time photocopier advocating for sunglasses, Darcy charts her progress into organized union activism, developing as an eloquent leader in what was apparently incorrigibly a man’s world.

Darcy was at the centre of several defining labour disputes in Canada, as a formal and informal negotiator, often talking with politicians in a style more mediator than negotiator. For the most part, Darcy names names, and, perhaps using her own archives as sources, reproduces many of the provocative speeches she has made over her more than 40 years as a union leader in Canada.

Her memoir is in chronological order, with digressions to write her mother’s and her father’s stories. She is candid about her family of origin, and in spite of her candour the love she has for her parents prevails. She is guarded about the facts of her personal life, including her marriage and parenting of their son.  

Darcy skilfully employs creative non-fiction techniques, improvising dialogue and creating wishful scenes, with her deceased mother, for example, that add colour to her memoir. The book has photographs tipped in, providing visual evidence of key moments in her, and her parents’ lives.

I have a minor quibble about the frequent physical descriptions of her colleagues, friends, and adversaries. Being a woman who would kindly or unkindly be described as a “short, heavy-set woman with large black glasses,” I question the addition of such commentary: “a short, wiry man, wearing his signature diamond rings and a flowered, open-necked shirt that revealed a strong good chain…” or “this intelligent, articulate man, balding with a trim, greying beard.” These descriptions do not add to my understanding of her life as a union leader and after a while became irksome. Similarly, why describe her outfits, without explaining why she dressed the way she did, having left the “Maoist feminist shit-disturber apparel behind”? Small points, but they interrupt the flow of the narrative, and threaten to capsize her intention to be taken seriously not only as a union activist but also as a writer.

Chapters are organized chronologically, with the exceptions I mention, and by issue: Miss Canada University Pageant; The Abortion Caravan; the October 1970 Martial Law; Sexism and Bullying; and the strikes in several provinces.

Darcy is unapologetically telling her story from her point of view. In her analysis of their radical Smash the State approach to – everything – she omits the murder of cabinet minister Pierre Laporte, during the October Crisis, by members of FLQ. A curious omission in an otherwise detailed narrative.

Her union activism was fuelled by social justice; she was a trade unionist and a communist in the 1970s, and a fan of Mao Zedong. Missing from her memoir is an explanation of when and why she moved away from this philosophical foundation toward a more left-centre position. Darcy does not explain her move from a Maoist to a decidedly left-leaning social justice activist who became national president of the largest union in Canada: Canadian Union of Public Employees. This, in the context of a memoir that most of the time is detailed, is another curious omission. Given the pressure she reports, the criticisms of her youthful politics, I, at least, would appreciate why and how she moved from what she describes as radical approaches to social change.

The final four chapters account her experience as an MLA in the NDP government in British Columbia 2013-2020, as Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. These chapters chart the events preceding the Covid-19 years, and provide a step-by-step description of her ministry’s efforts to mitigate the effects of the toxic drug crisis and tackle the issues of voluntary and involuntary mental health treatment. To those who cry “Why hasn’t anything been done?!” these chapters are instructive.

Darcy’s view is as an insider to key events of the past 50 years of labour union history, a view privileged to few. Her accounts of major battles are valuable, although I would wish for more what than when, where, and how. She tells us she is meeting with key players on the other side – often senior politicians in Ontario (Harris and Rae) and New Brunswick (McKenna), but I at least would like to know more about what agreements were reached, under what conditions, and at what cost.

Darcy describes her struggles as the only woman or one of few in the corridors and meeting halls of union power. For those of us who were there, can I have an Amen, Sister; for those now used to seeing women in positions of union leadership, it could be instructive to learn how it was, not so long ago, for a woman in a union leadership position to speak truth to power – to both sides of the table.

If this memoir were to be used in a course on Canadian labour history, including the other side, which has written their version extensively, would give much room for debate. I am sure those on the opposing sides of these struggles would have many objections and corrections. Let them write their own memoirs. Darcy is unabashedly on her side of meticulously described campaigns, remembered phone conversations, hallway encounters, formal meetings – and side bar negotiations. Her documents, her own archives, would be welcomed at any university archives in Canada.

The book is a valuable commentary on Canadian labour history, the advance of social justice initiatives, and the at times retrograde motion of change. Those of us who share a similar timeline will encounter names, places and events from our not-so-distant past.

Leading from the Heart may also be a comforting story for those attempting social change who ask, in dark moments: “How did we get to here?”

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Wendy Burton is Professor Emerita at University of the Fraser Valley, where she taught academic and work place writing, story-telling, diversity education, and Indigenous Adult Education. In 1997, she earned a doctorate for her feminist analysis of story-telling as knowledge claims. Throughout her work life, she wrote creative non-fiction, long and short form fiction, and poetry. Her debut novel Ivy’s Tree (Thistledown) was published in 2020. She writes fiction and creative non-fiction. Her most recent essay is “Meditations on the Headstand,” Folklife, Winter 2023. [Editor’s note: Wendy Burton has reviewed books by Jane Byers, Lembi Buchanan, Linda M. Ambrose, Gina Starblanket (ed.), Danny Ramadan, and Jo-Ann Wallace for The British Columbia Review.]

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The British Columbia Review

Interim Editors, 2023-26: Trevor Marc Hughes (non-fiction), Brett Josef Grubisic (fiction)
Publisher: Richard Mackie

Formerly The Ormsby Review, The British Columbia Review is an on-line book review and journal service for BC writers and readers. The Advisory Board now consists of Jean Barman, Wade Davis, Robin Fisher, Barry Gough, Hugh Johnston, Kathy Mezei, Patricia Roy, and Graeme Wynn. Provincial Government Patron (since September 2018): Creative BC. Honorary Patron: Yosef Wosk. Scholarly Patron: SFU Graduate Liberal Studies. The British Columbia Review was founded in 2016 by Richard Mackie and Alan Twigg.

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