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.
2004 Winner
Two Percent Target: Canadian Monetary Policy Since 1991
David E.W. Laidler & William B.P. Robson
(C.D. Howe Institute)
Two Percent Target provides an informative and accessible explanation of the economics of monetary policy and a lucid account of its operation in Canada through the 1990s. Clear and enticing, Two Percent Target offers insights into the way Bank of Canada policy affects the economy and the means by which Canadians and their elected representatives hold the makers of monetary policy accountable for their performance. It is essential reading for all Canadians interested in economic policy.
Runners – up
Blockbusters and Trade Wars: Popular Culture in a Globalized World
Peter S. Grant & Chris Wood
(Douglas & McIntyre)
Blockbusters and Trade Wars is the first book from a Canadian perspective to investigate the facts about where and how cultural artifacts are created, why they are so different from other manufactured products and why they must be treated differently. Exceedingly well-written, it is a masterful analysis that focuses upon the market dynamics that drive audiences to “blockbuster” films, TV programs, books and recording artists – at the expense of independent, alternative and increasingly necessary national voices.
Smoke & Mirrors: Globalized Terrorism and the Illusion of Multilateral Security
Frank P. Harvey
(University of Toronto Press)
In Smoke & Mirrors, Harvey mounts a powerful case for American unilateralism by exposing the real costs, potential risks and catastrophic failures of multilateral alternatives. He details the relationship between globalization, terrorism and unilateralism and provides a systematic explanation for, and defence of, Washington’s response to threats of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This masterful work also addresses policies essential to the interests and well-being of Canada.
Feminist Activism in the Supreme Court: Legal Mobilization and the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund
Christopher P. Manfredi
(UBC Press)
Since 1980, the Canadian women’s movement has been an active participant in constitutional politics and Charter litigation. Well-written, balanced and objective, Feminist Activism in the Supreme Court, through its focus on the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), presents a compelling examination of how Canadian feminists became key actors in developing the constitutional doctrine of equality and how they mobilized that doctrine to support the movement’s policy agenda.
The Hateful and the Obscene: Studies in the Limits of Free Expression
L.W. Sumner
(University of Toronto Press)
The Hateful and the Obscene is a compelling interpretation of freedom of expression that combines serious philosophical thought with a focus on Canadian law. A first-rate work dealing with complex and difficult subject matter, it presents a sometimes devastating analysis of established norms and practices, alternative ways of dealing with important problems and concrete, well-explained policy recommendations.
2004 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.
Jim Dinning
Executive vice-president, TransAlta Corporation; former Provincial Treasurer, former Minister of Education, and former Minister of Community and Occupational Health for Alberta.
Claude E. Forget
Former Minister of Health for the Quebec government; former Chairman of the Commission of Enquiry on Unemployment Insurance; Officer of the Order of Canada.
Hon. Donald S. MacDonald
Senior Advisor, Public Policy at Lang Michener; former Minister of National Defence, Finance and Energy, Mines and Resources; former Chairman, Royal Commission on Economic Union (the Macdonald Commission); former Canadian High Commissioner to Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Elizabeth Parr-Johnston
Consultant and former President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of New Brunswick and of Mount Saint Vincent University.