In today's moralistic politics, to differ is to sin. But Stephen McNeil actually was different; he willingly committed the political sin of valuing principle over popularity. Premier of Nova Scotia for seven years, through elections, unrest, danger, and even tragedy, McNeil was determined to govern by putting principle first. Not everyone agreed with him or his priorities, but he accepted that because he was in politics for reasons other than the quest for power and the need to keep it. In...

He cast himself as the ultimate insider, Parliament Hill’s man in the know. It made him a household name and one of the Canada’s bestpaid journalists. But Duffy wanted to get even closer and lobbied his way into the Canadian Senate, with dire results. Veteran journalist Dan Leger tells the story of Duffy’s rise to the top in Canadian media, his entanglement with the Harper Conservatives, and the scandal that made him one of the most controversial figures in contemporary politics. This pape...

A unique insider's account of the Harper government so damning that it cannot be ignoredIn March 2008, Kevin Page was appointed by the federal Conservatives to be the country's first Parliamentary Budget Officer. The move fulfilled a Tory campaign promise to deliver greater government transparency and accountability. He was later denounced by the same people who appointed him to scrutinize their spending. When he challenged the government on several issues--most not...

Throughout her ground-breaking career in business and politics, Hurricane Hazel McCallion has seen it all. In 1978, she defeated a popular incumbent to win election as mayor of Mississauga, a rising city near Toronto that was, until then, a collection of towns, villages and farms. No one would have foreseen that the indomitable Hurricane Hazel would become so wildly popular she would remain mayor until 2014, retiring at age 93.Within months of taking office, Mayor McCallion orchest...

Globe & Mail Non-Fiction BestsellerToronto Star Non-Fiction BestsellerThe inside story of Tom Mulcair’s rise from modest, middle-class beginnings to the threshold of power.He has been called the strongest Opposition leader in the television era; he was also known in Québec as the provincial Opposition’s “pit bull.” Here, in his own words, and for the first time, is the inside story of Tom Mulcair’s rise from modest, middle-class beginnings to the t...

The authoritative biography of Stephen Harper, to be published on the eve of the next election.As one of the important prime ministers in the life of our nation, Stephen Harper has reshaped Canada into a more conservative country, a transformation that his opponents tacitly admit will never be reversed. He has made government smaller, justice tougher, and provinces more independent, whether they want to be or not. Under its 22nd prime minister, Canada show...

Ottawa has become a place where the nation’s business is done in secret, and access to information?the lifeblood of democracy in Canada?is under attak.It’s being lost to an army of lobbyists and public-relations flacks who help set the political agenda and decide what you get to know. It’s losing its struggle against a prime minister and a government that continue to delegitimize the media’s role in the political system. The public’s right to know has been undermined by a governmen...

On October 8, 2013, Nova Scotia's NDP government went down to a devastating election defeat. Premier Darrell Dexter lost his own seat, and the party held the dubious distinction of being the first one-term majority government in over 100 years.In this new memoir, former NDP finance minister and MLA Graham Steele tries to make sense of the election result and shares what he's learned from a fifteen-year career in provincial politics. In his trademark candid style, Steele pulls no pu...

Poised to capitalize on renewed political interest following the federal election, the trade paperback edition of What’s Happened to Politics? is sure to be necessary reading for every concerned Canadian citizen.Segmented electorates. Political leaders avoiding debate and dialogue in favour of an endless repetition of sound bites and vanity videos with little substance. Billions of dollars spent on lobbying. It’s clear that Canadian politics is in a sorry ...

A sly, insightful and wonderfully original book from one of Canada's most popular political analysts, Chantal Hébert, and one of Quebec's top political broadcasters, Jean Lapierre.Only the most fearless of political journalists would dare to open the old wounds of the 1995 Quebec referendum, a still-murky episode in Canadian history that continues to defy our understanding. The referendum brought one of the world's most successful democracies to the brink of the unk...

2015 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize — Shortlisted, Non-FictionIn Irresponsible Government, former MP Brent Rathgeber takes Parliament to task for its failure to hold the government to account.Irresponsible Government examines the current state of Canadian democracy in contrast to the founding principles of responsible government established by the Fathers of Confederation in 1867. The book examines the failure of modern elected repres...

In 2011 the Harper Conservatives won a majority government with a minority of votes. If the opposition parties were willing to work together, they would have an excellent chance of defeating the Conservatives in the next election. Yet a merger doesn't seem to be in the cards any time soon.In Power Trap, veteran journalist Paul Adams draws on many hours of interviews with politicians and insiders as he explores the issues that are keeping the opposition parties apart. What ...