Here’s a look back at past winners and the books that made that year’s shortlist. You’ll also find our Jury from each award season.
1999 Winner
CODE BLUE: REVIVING CANADA’S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
David Gratzer
(ECW Press)
GRATZER GUIDES US THROUGH CANADA’S deteriorating health care system and prescribes a provocative solution that promises to add fuel to the ongoing debate. He explores our misconceptions about the American health care system, analyzes demographic trends and exposes the emptiness of political debate over one of the biggest public policy problems of our generation.
Runners – up
FREE-FOR-ALL: THE STRUGGLE FOR DOMINANCE ON THE DIGITAL FRONTIER
Matthew Fraser
(Stoddart Publishing)
FRASER’S EXAMINATION OF THE DEVELOPMENTS that have marked Canada’s turbulent telecommunications industry and the government’s muddled response to regulations is timely and captivating. Fraser takes a detailed, behind-the-scenes look at this embattled process and presents eye-opening portraits of major players and their influence on the design and direction of Canadian regulations.
GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER: THE CANADIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
David M. Paciocco
(Irwin Law)
PACIOCCO TAKES A CANDID LOOK AT THE CRISIS of confidence in Canadian criminal law in this fascinating book, explaining how and why offenders are sentenced while pointing out its errors, particularly in the parole process. Written in an engaging and straightforward manner, he unravels the mysteries of the criminal justice system and presents clear arguments towards reforming our present system.
STRAIGHT TALK: SPEECHES AND WRITINGS ON CANADIAN UNITY
Stéphane Dion
(McGill-Queen’s University Press)
THIS IS AN ELEGANT COLLECTION OF THE Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs’ speeches from 1996 to 1998 advocating and setting out the conditions for a reconciliation of Quebec nationalism with a highly decentralized and multi-national Canadian state. This book is an intelligent, sophisticated case for national unity and highlights the policies Ottawa should adopt to sustain it.
DUE PROCESS AND VICTIMS’ RIGHTS: THE NEW LAW AND POLITICS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Kent Roach
(University of Toronto Press)
ROACH PROVIDES PENETRATING INSIGHTS into the development of the criminal justice system following the enactment of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 and analyzes the different models used in the sentencing process. He examines the changing discourse in the courts, legislatures and the media and looks at the role of women, young people, various minorities and crime victims in criminal justice reform.
ENJEUX ÉTHIQUES ET TECHNOLOGIES BIOMÉDICALES
Jocelyne Saint-Arnaud
(Les Presses De L’Université de Montréal)
AS OUR POPULATION AND MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY advances, we are increasingly forced to confront many of the ethical issues that Saint-Arnaud addresses, such as euthanasia and the selection of recipients for vital organ transplants. Her thought-provoking analysis of an important yet much neglected area of health care is an important contribution to our post-modern society.
GOVERNING FROM THE CENTRE: THE CONCENTRATION OF POWER IN CANADIAN POLITICS
Donald J. Savoie
(University of Toronto Press)
THIS IS AN INSIGHTFUL ACCOUNT OF THE ORGANIZATION and functioning of the Canadian government since the Trudeau era, and one which explains the growing trend towards the concentration of power and authority in the hands of the Prime Minister and his immediate circle.
1999 Donner Jury
Grant L. Reuber
Chair
Senior Advisor and Director, Sussex Circle; Senior Fellow, C.D. Howe Institute; former Chairman, Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation; former President and Chief Operating Officer and later Deputy Chairman, Bank of Montreal; former Deputy Minister of Finance for Canada; former Vice-President (academic), Provost and later Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario.
Paul Boothe
Professor and Director of the Institute for Public Economics at the University of Alberta; former Deputy Minister for the Province of Saskatchewan.
Pierre Lortie
President and Chief Operating Officer, Bombardier Transportation.
John G. Richards
Professor at the Faculty of Business at Simon Fraser University; Scholar-in-Residence at the C.D. Howe Institute.
Jennifer Smith
Associate Professor of Political Science, Dalhousie University, NS.