"On Thy Heights" by Arthur Hailey, summary

The political novel "On Your Heights" was written in 1962. The plot centers on secret diplomatic negotiations for a military alliance between Canada and the United States in the face of impending nuclear war, which unexpectedly intertwine with the legal battle over the fate of homeless stowaway Henri Duval. In 1962, the work won the Canadian Literary Award from Doubleday. It is not part of a series and remains a standalone book.

Secret negotiations and the shadow of the past

On the evening of December 23, Canadian Prime Minister James McCollum Howden and his wife, Margaret, arrived for a Christmas reception at the residence of Governor General Sheldon Griffiths. Several hours earlier, the head of the Canadian government had had a secret telephone conversation with the US President. The conversation concerned defense integration in the face of the Soviet threat. In the long drawing room of the residence, Howden discreetly discussed details of the upcoming Washington trip with Foreign Minister Arthur Lexington. The prime minister’s secretary, Millie Freedman, and party organizer Brian Richardson reported the leak to the press.

To cover up the visit’s true military purpose, officials decide to disguise the negotiations as trade talks. At the reception, an inebriated Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Harvey Warrender, publicly causes a scandal over his harsh immigration policy. Margaret suggests that her husband dismiss Warrender. The Prime Minister understands the impossibility of such a move: nine years ago, at the party conference, he bought Warrender’s victory and leadership with a written promise of a lifetime ministerial post and lucrative television development privileges for his nephew. "And if it is obtained and made public, this scrap could very well become an obituary or a suicide note for a suicide named James McCollum Howden."

Prisoner of the Rusty Hold in Vancouver

At three o’clock in the afternoon on December 23, the Liberian-flagged cargo ship Vastervik, captained by Norwegian Sigurd Jaabeck, docks at Pointe Pier in Vancouver Harbor. The decrepit vessel’s holds exude a suffocating stench of fertilizer. On board is twenty-three-year-old stowaway Henri Duval. Born on the ship off the coast of French Somalia, he lost his mother at six, and grew up a street child without birth certificate, passport, or citizenship. A Canadian immigration inspector issues a warrant for Duval’s arrest without permission to disembark. That night, Vancouver Post reporter Dan Orliffe and photographer Wally DeVeer board. The journalists find the young man in a damp, cramped cabin with no porthole, less than two square meters in area. "I’ve been on an Italian ship for a year. Trying to go ashore. No one wants me. No one will let me in." Dan Orliff writes a front-page story, and the wanderer’s story quickly attracts the sympathy of thousands of readers across the country.

Clash in Ottawa ministerial offices

On the morning of December 24, James Howden convenes the Defence Committee in the Privy Council Chamber. The Prime Minister presents his colleagues with a strategic picture: Soviet intercontinental missiles will fly over the pole, intercepted by American anti-missiles in the skies over densely populated areas of Canada. The resulting radioactive fallout will turn Canada’s grain-producing lands into a scorched desert. The Prime Minister proposes signing a twenty-five-year agreement with the United States. Under the terms of the agreement, the Americans will move their missile launchers to Canada’s far north and, in exchange, gain control over common foreign policy, resources, and joint armed forces. Defence Minister General Adrian Nesbitson vehemently protests, accusing his colleagues of betraying sovereignty. Lucien Perrault, the representative of French Canada, unexpectedly supports the Prime Minister.

In Ottawa, opposition Senator Richard Devereux finds a clipping about the Vancouver hare and convinces Opposition Leader Bonar Deitz to use the immigration incident as a political tool in his fight against the Howden cabinet. The senator promises Deitz to secretly hire a young independent lawyer to defend Duval. "We’ll find a virgin, a little lamb, and we’ll lead him around on a string."

After the holidays, Howden summons Warrender and demands an end to the scandals surrounding the department. In response, the Immigration Minister produces a copy of their long-standing secret deal and refuses to resign. Secretary Millie Freedman accidentally notices a photocopy of the incriminating note forgotten on the Prime Minister’s desk and secretly makes a duplicate for herself.

Lawyer investigation and judicial maneuvers

Senator Devereaux invites aspiring Vancouver lawyer, Elan Maitland, to his office and offers to fund the stowaway’s defense. Elan agrees to represent Duval, but insists on complete independence from his employer’s political interests. On board the Vastervik, Captain Jaabek refuses to escort the stowaway ashore due to his busy schedule. Maitland heads to the regional immigration office, where high-ranking official Edgar Kramer has arrived from Ottawa. Kramer flatly refuses a formal hearing, accusing the lawyer of a cheap stunt. Elan files a petition in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Judge Stanley Willis dismisses the initial claim, but makes an informal remark: "By the way, if the ministry proves intractable, you could apply to the court for a writ of mandamus."

Butler, the experienced defense attorney representing the ministry, is reluctantly compelled to agree to a special departmental inquiry. Official Tamkinhill meticulously questions Duval and, predictably, issues a deportation order. Maitland attempts to find a saving precedent. Judge Willis, through an old acquaintance, secretly passes the lawyer a link to the 1921 archival case "King v. Ahmed Singh." According to the precedent, deporting a foreigner aboard a ship without specifying a specific country of departure is illegal. Maitland secures a court order to produce Duval and, to the applause of the crowd, takes the young man from the hold to a hotel.

Bargaining in the White House and the Washington Pact

The Prime Minister is engaged in complex negotiations in Washington. The closed meeting in the Oval Office is attended by the American President, Arthur Lexington, and influential presidential aide Admiral Levin Rapoport. The American side agrees to the preservation of Canadian production, guaranteed grain sales, and tax incentives. Howden makes a bold demand. He demands Alaska be transferred to Canada through a free referendum of residents, citing the region’s safety from radioactive contamination. Admiral Rapoport furiously accuses Canadians of national greed and political hypocrisy. The Prime Minister counters with lists of influential Alaskans prepared to vote for annexation. "I can’t tell you anything except that if our demand is met, it will be Canada’s greatest achievement in this century." The President agrees to submit the Alaska question to a referendum after the ratification of the Act of Union.

A storm in parliament and the collapse of illusions

A crisis is brewing in Ottawa. The prime minister, returning from the US, is met at the airport by a crowd carrying signs in support of Duval. Howden angrily remarks to journalists, "This matter is none of my business." In the House of Commons, Minister Warrender, in a fit of rage, calls migrants "human scum." Disabled MP Arnold Gini demonstratively disrupts the order and leaves the chamber on crutches, turning the government into the target of public anger.

Party boss Richardson decides to neutralize Warrender. Under threat of publishing a secret court case about the cowardice and suicide of the minister’s deceased son, Richardson forces Warrender to return the original secret deal to Howden. Unable to bear the shame, Warrender goes mad and smashes family heirlooms. The minister, committed to a psychiatric hospital, leaves a farewell envelope on his desk. Opposition Leader Deitz personally delivers the recovered papers to Howden, refusing blackmail for the sake of an honest political struggle.

In Vancouver, Senator Devereaux suddenly dies of a heart attack after a failed attempt to bribe Maitland. Judge Willis definitively rules Duval’s deportation order unlawful. The packed courtroom applauds. Exhausted by physical pain, official Kramer storms out of the courtroom in the middle of the hearing, ruining his career. Henri Duval falls under the influence of nightclub entrepreneurs and quickly loses interest in work.

In Ottawa, the prime minister learns of a rebellion by six ministers, led by General Nesbitson, who have decided to go into opposition. Howden orders Duval immediately granted permanent residency to disarm his critics. Burning an old receipt in the fireplace, James Howden enters the House of Commons chamber to the sound of the Peace Tower chimes, preparing to announce his alliance with America to Parliament.