Rare views of human lives in turmoil are revealed in several hundred trials conducted in 1890s Muskoka by Magistrate James Boyer of Bracebridge. The charges and evidence show how raw life really was in Canada's frontier towns, with cases ranging from nostalgic and humorous to pitiable and deeply disturbing.While dispensing speedy justice, Boyer, who was also town clerk and editor of the Northern Advocate, the first newspaper in Ontario's northern districts, kept a careful ...

Limited time offer.A local library, passport to a larger world for its individual patrons, is also a democratic institution whose contribution to the strength of a community is out of all proportion to its size or membership.Several thousand Carnegie libraries were built a century ago when Andrew Carnegie, who had risen from poverty to become "the richest man in the world" vowed to donate all his money before he died and set about giving millions of people ...

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017What happens when crucial public issues are decided the people themselves?Canadians answered “Yes” or “No” to prohibiting alcohol, conscripting soldiers, and revamping our constitution. Forcing such crucial choices at the ballot box is high-stakes democracy, both here and overseas — as witnessed with Britain’s transformative 2016 “Brexit” referendum.Forcing Choice dissects Canada’s extensive use of...

Quiet Isaac Jelfs led many lives: a scapegoated law clerk in England; a soldier in the mad Crimean War; a lawyer on swirling Broadway Avenue in New York. His escape from each was wrapped in deep secrecy. He eventually reached Canada, in 1869, with a new wife and a changed name. In his new home — the remote wilderness of Muskoka — he crafted yet another persona for himself. In Another Country, Another Life, his great-grandson traces that long-hidden journey, exposing Isaac Jelfs' c...

An in-depth breakdown of the recent wave of Canadian Senate scandals, highlighting the need for abolition.The Senate of Canada was created as a temporary expedient at the time of Confederation, offered as part of the negotiations to bring Canada’s original colonial provinces into the new political union in the mid-1860s. Since then, the original provinces with upper houses abolished them. New provinces were created without second chambers to their legislatures. Only the Parliament ...

An inside account of the Progressive Conservative’s campaign organization.The Progressive Conservative Party’s “big blue machine” pioneered electoral techniques of centralized control, communications, campaign advertising, polling, policy-presentation, and fund-raising. Inspired by Dalton Camp and Norman Atkins, its widespread yet close-knit network of organizers and specialists changed how Canadian campaigns were fought, even as their “political machine” transform...

This richly detailed biography illustrates how a determined Canadian seeking justice created an enduring legacy. Through vigorous battles, Jim McRuer’s passion for justice was translated into laws that daily touch and protect the lives of millions today.James Chalmers McRuer was not easy to get along with or even much liked by many lawyers who dubbed him ’Vinegar Jim.’ Yet countless others saw him as heroic, inspirational, a man above and apart from his times.His resolute f...

Direct Democracy in Canada: The History and Future of Referendums surveys Canada’s century-long record of plebiscites and referendums. J. Patrick Boyer analyzes the effects of the three national referendums and the development of a consensus. This companion volume to The People’s Mandate studies some of the major provincial and municipal referendums, examines existing legal frameworks and speculates on the future of direct democracy in Canada.

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017Unique views from John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Indira Gandhi, and dozens of other world leaders reveal Canada and Canadians through their eyes.During the First World War, foreign leaders began addressing Canadians in our House of Commons and, ever since, have continued influencing how we think about our role in global affairs. For a century now, this parade of world figures has brought urgent messages about Can...

A mood of anger with the political system has been stirring across Canada; yet rather than turning away from the system, many Canadians are actually seeking a greater say in matters that affect them. they want to become more effective participants in the political process.In this timely book, Patrick Boyer examines the important role that direct democracy — through the occasional use of referendums, plebiscites, and initiatives — can play in concert with our existing institutions o...

Robert Boyer was a consummate Canadian, whose long career can be measured by words. An author, journalist, researcher, editor, printer, and public speaker, Boyer’s professional life began at the age of 19 when he became a newspaper editor, and continued through the publication of his twelfth book at the age of 88. He was also a church organist, a member of the Ontario Legislature for seventeen years, and the first vice-chairman of Ontario Hydro.A Canadian Shield Book Published by D...

Le scanner et l'IRM ont complètement révolutionné l'étude morphologique et fonctionnelle du système nerveux, modifiant également l'approche thérapeutique des pathologies cranio-encéphaliques et contribuant aux progrès de la neurochirurgie. Ces techniques, conjuguées aux dernières innovations (imagerie par tenseur de diffusion, tractographie, imagerie fonctionnelle, spectroscopie, angio-IRM dynamique, scanner multibarrette, etc.), mettent à la disposition du radiologue des outils performant...