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Grace Margaret Patten Sparkes (1908–2003) was born in Grand Bank, the youngest of ten children born to Elizabeth Hickman and John B. Patten. A lover of music, curling, and politics, this fierce anti-Confederate made a name for herself in the political arena under the auspices of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Part memoir, part history, The Worst and Best of the Premiers and Some We Never Had is Bill Rowe’s most ambitious work of non-fiction to date. The book observes with a critical and humorous eye the landscape of Newfoundland and Labrador politics since Confederation in 1949. Forty-two leaders are presented here, of all political stripes. Bill Rowe, with his inimitable style, examines the professional lives of each leader—from Chesley A. Crosbie in the 1940s to Dwight Ball, present-day premier of the province—and grades them based on accomplishment during their time in public life.

Before he walked onto the political stage, Norman Doyle grew up in Avondale, Conception Bay, in a family of nine children. He followed in his father’s footsteps and made his way to New York City, where he found employment as an ironworker on the site of the World Trade Center. Later, he returned home, where his political aspirations took root. Inspired by the fiery speeches of Brian Peckford, and with the encouragement of the local ironworkers, Norman threw his hat in the ring and was elected to the House of Assembly in 1979.

The Premiers Joey and Frank is three stories in one. First is Premier Joseph Roberts Smallwood’s, whose ego and force of personality dominated every room he walked into, and strained to the breaking point every personal relationship he had. The latter half of the book covers Premier Frank Moores and his mixed personal motives, combined with a singularity of political purpose: Get Smallwood. Entwined in both these stories is that of Bill Rowe’s own roller-coaster political life, where family and partisan politics were often inseparable.

Peter Cashin was at the centre—the stormy centre—of Newfoundland’s political and public life for more than thirty years. Known to many as “the fighting Major,” in a tribute to his wartime service with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, he played a decisive role at every major stage in the political drama that transformed Newfoundland from a British Dominion to a Canadian Province. Peter Cashin wrote a memoir soon after he retired from public life in 1953.

Bill Rowe, author of the critically acclaimed political drama Danny Williams: The War with Ottawa (Globe and Mail Bestseller, 2010), is back in fighting form and ready to throw a few more punches at the local, national, and world leaders who fill our lives with endless amusement and exasperation.

In this eagerly awaited follow-up to his memoir The Premiers Joey and Frank, bestselling author Bill Rowe delivers a spirited account of the next three premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador: Brian Peckford, Clyde Wells, and Brian Tobin. [Minister Brian Peckford’s] ongoing vociferous battle with the Trudeau Liberals in Ottawa over the actual ownership of the offshore petroleum resources added to his lustre. He made precisely zero progress against the federal Liberal government, but Peckford’s three years as the “fighting Newfoundlander” . . .

“Some day the sun will shine and have not will be no more.” These are the immortal words of Brian Peckford, who served as the third premier of Newfoundland, and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party from 1979 until his retirement in 1989. As one of Newfoundland’s most committed and combative leaders, Mr. Peckford’s clashes with the federal government—to wrest control of the province’s natural resources—resulted in the groundbreaking Atlantic Accord of 1985, his greatest political triumph during the province’s struggle for self-reliance in a post-Confederation era.

"Nombre de Canadiens savent que les organismes du gouvernement s’adonnent à de la surveillance de masse en utilisant les données téléphoniques et électroniques. Néanmoins, peu d’entre eux sont réellement conscients de l’influence réelle que cette surveillance a sur presque tous les aspects de leur vie quotidienne. Aujourd’hui, nous ne pouvons faire une promenade au centre-ville, assister à un cours, payer au moyen d’une carte de crédit, monter à bord d’un avion ou faire un appel sans que des données soient capturées et traitées. Où cette information s’en va-t-elle? Qui l’utilise?

During the period between the two world wars, the Independent Labour Party (ILP) was the main voice of radical democratic socialism in Great Britain. Founded in 1893, the ILP had, since 1906, operated under the aegis of the Labour Party. As that party edged nearer to power following World War I, forming minority governments in 1924 and again in 1929, the ILP found its own identity under siege.