In this political biography, John McDougall argues that the successes and failures of Eric Kierans' public life provide insights into the policy dilemmas that Canada faces in attempting to remain a united and independent country. Since his first political appointment as a minister in Jean Lesage's Quebec government in the early 1960s Kierans has consistently addressed the issues dominating Canadian public life for the past thirty years.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau – radical progressive or unavowed socialist? His legacy remains divisive. Most scholars portray Trudeau’s ties to the left as evidence either of communist affinities or of ideals that led him to found a progressive, modern Canada. The Constant Liberal traces the charismatic politician’s relationship with left and labour movements throughout his career. Christo Aivalis argues that although Trudeau found key influences and friendships on the left, he was in fact a consistently classic liberal, driven by individualist and capitalist principles. While numerous biographies have noted the impact of the left on Trudeau’s intellectual and political development, this comprehensive analysis showcases the interplay between liberalism and democratic socialism that defined his world view – and shaped his effective use of power. The Constant Liberal suggests that Trudeau’s leftist activity was not so much a call for social democracy as a warning to fellow liberals that lack of reform could undermine liberal-capitalist social relations.
Asked in 2010 about his pugnacious approach to federal-provincial relations, Newfoundland premier Danny Williams declared "I would rather live one more day as a lion than ten years a jellyfish." He was only the latest in a long line of Newfoundland premiers who have fought for that province's interests on the national stage. From Joey Smallwood and the conflict over Term 29 of the Act of Union to Williams and his much-publicized clashes with Paul Martin and Stephen Harper, Newfoundland and Labrador's politicians have often expressed a determination to move beyond a legacy of colonialism and assert greater control over the province's own affairs. Lions or Jellyfish? examines the history of these federal-provincial clashes with both clarity and wit. Written by a noted expert on Newfoundland politics and intergovernmental affairs in Canada, this book studies a vital but frequently overlooked aspect of modern Canadian federalism.
"Both teachers and students are indebted to Professor Hale for this up-to-date, comprehensive, and high-quality text." - Kenneth Kernaghan, Brock University
From fur and fish to oil and minerals, Canadian development has often been understood through its relationship to export staples. This understanding, argues Paul Kellogg, has led many political economists to assume that Canadian economic development has followed a path similar to those of staple-exporting economies in the Global South, ignoring a more fundamental fact: as an advanced capitalist economy, Canada sits in the core of the world system, not on the periphery or semi-periphery. In Escape from the Staple Trap, Kellogg challenges statistical and historical analyses that present Canada as weak and disempowered, lacking sovereignty and economic independence. A powerful critique of the dominant trend in Canadian political economy since the 1970s, Escape from the Staple Trap offers an important new framework for understanding the distinctive features of Canadian political economy.
When Winnipeg's Cy Gonick started the magazine Canadian Dimension in 1963 to provide a home for the thinking and analysis of mostly young leftists engaged in Canadian economic, social, cultural, artistic and political issues, he had no grand plan. But Canadian Dimension was welcomed by intellectuals, scholars and students, and it proved enduring. Hundreds of Canada's leading figures of the left have contributed to its pages over the years, writing about every major topic in Canadian public life. This book offers an account of the most important developments in Canadian history from the sixties until today, as seen and interpreted by scholars and writers on the pages of Dimension. Each chapter reviews a major theme, such as Canada's relationship to the U.S., the development of our health care system, the dynamics of Aboriginal-non-Aboriginal relations and the role of Canadian cultural work in shaping Canadian society. Taken together, the book provides a unique and broad perspective on virtually every significant event and development in recent Canadian history. Readers who know the magazine will find this book a compelling summary of how Canada changed in the past five decades, and how the Left saw those changes and challenged them. Readers who discover Canadian Dimension through this book will find a multitude of compelling voices who challenge the dominant neoliberal thinking of mainstream Canadian intellectual life. The twenty-seven contributors, from every part of the country are Greg Albo, Brenda Austin Smith, Chris Bailey, Evan Bowness, Mordecai Briemburg, Elizabeth Comack, Angela Day, Bryan Evans, Alvin Finkel, Peter Graefe, Judy Haiven, Larry Haiven, Trevor Harrison, Henry Heller, David Hugill, Peter Kulchyski, Andrea Levy, James McCorrie, James Naylor, Bryan Palmer, Denis Pilon, Joe Roberts, Stephanie Ross, Arthur Schafer, Frank Tester, John Warnock and Chris Webb.
