It will be some time before we know what really happened in 2011
July–August 2012
In the end, did the earth move in last year’s federal election?
This is the question with which Christopher Dornan begins his introduction to this study. Was it just another election or was it a political revolution? The question is intriguing, of course, but not one for this book, which is about the past and not the…
Trying to recapture the days of “authentic” capitalism is praiseworthy but impractical
December 2011
F ixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL is a deeply serious and important book wrapped in an ambiguous cover, intended, one presumes, to attract a wide audience. But anyone who picks it up expecting an easy read about business and American football will be gravely disappointed. It began life as a learned article in the Harvard Business Review and might easily be a series of lectures delivered at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of…
Will the historic Tory bent toward the centre prevail with the new Conservative majority?
June 2011
History is about the past, and The Right Balance: Canada’s Conservative Tradition is not only about Canadian politics in the past, but it was written and published in the past—that is, before the upheaval of the recent election. It has to be read and reviewed in that light, even if the old battles with which it is much concerned have since been won and…
Both domestically and internationally, Pearson made his mark
January–February 2009
I should begin by saying that as a reporter and, later, a columnist in Ottawa while Lester Pearson was prime minister, I both liked and admired him. We developed a cordial relationship, but he was never a personal friend and even when he was in retirement and we lunched occasionally at the Rideau Club I never referred to him as…
A portrait of Mulroney as a man whose ambitions exceeded his abilities
December 2007
If you are more interested in what Brian Mulroney did as prime minister than in what he has to say about himself and his enemies, this may be the book for you. But let me emphasize may because it is written mostly by academics and goes into detail on so many topics it must challenge the stamina of even policy…
Reading the new Liberal leader is a challenge
September 2007
Stéphane Dion came from far behind to win the Liberal leadership on December 2 last year and, shortly after, Linda Diebel, journalist and author, met a friend from her agent’s office to hash over book ideas. They came up with the notion of a book on Dion to be written and published in three months. “Never before has a book owed so much to a margarita,” writes…
A military expert tells tall tales to hook readers on foreign policy
May 2007
Professor Granatstein is an authority on military affairs, a prolific author and one of the band of senior academics who provide intellectual support to the Conservative party and government. His last book, Who Killed the Canadian Military? (the Liberals, of course, but ultimately the voters who elected them) was a best seller. No doubt…
Perhaps Brian Mulroney and Peter Newman should never have met
November 2005
A womanizer, a saint, a divider, a unifier, an enigma
June 2005
A leading political analyst says we have nothing to lost and a lot to gain
April 2005
Or do they?
September 2002
Discourses of Domination: Racial Bias in the Canadian English-Language Press comes to an alarming conclusion in the final paragraph:
This study reveals a profound tension in Canadian society: a conflict between the belief that the media are the cornerstone of a democratic liberal society and the key instrument by which its ideals are produced and…
