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Nearing the end of a lifetime in the boreal forest, a retired forester writes a passionate plea for rational, science-based forest management. The boreal forest is constantly changing, often dramatically. We like to picture it as a stable, balanced system. Really, it is anything but stable. The boreal forest is dynamic. For over sixty years, forester Malcolm F. Squires has seen mature forests within protected areas devastated by insects, moose, wind, and wildfire. While the forests often return from this destruction, they are never quite the same.

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017 What happens when crucial public issues are decided the people themselves? Canadians answered “Yes” or “No” to prohibiting alcohol, conscripting soldiers, and revamping our constitution. Forcing such crucial choices at the ballot box is high-stakes democracy, both here and overseas — as witnessed with Britain’s transformative 2016 “Brexit” referendum. Forcing Choice dissects Canada’s extensive use of ballot questions at all levels of government, and weighs the benefits of citizens making fundamental decisions for the nation.

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017 The Arctic seabed, with its vast quantities of undiscovered resources, is the twenty-first century’s frontier. In Breaking the Ice: Canada, Sovereignty and the Arctic Extended Continental Shelf, Arctic policy expert Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon examines the political, legal, and scientific aspects of Canada’s efforts to delineate its Arctic extended continental shelf.

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017 What if it is not our political system that is broken, but our understanding of it? Everybody thinks that it’s the system that’s broken in politics; but what if it’s not the system that’s broken but rather our understanding of it? What if everyone’s proposals to make the system “more democratic” only wind up making things worse, and weaken our systems of accountability so much as to make them meaningless? What if it’s our own ignorance that is killing democracy in this country?

A unique perspective on Ontario's most powerful political leaders from one of Canada's most astute and respected journalists. Includes: Bill Davis: Nation Builder, and Not So Bland After All A biography of perhaps Ontario’s most important premier, who, despite having been out of public life for thirty years, is remembered fondly by many as the head of one of Ontario’s most progressive, yet conservative, governments.

#1 Calgary Herald Bestseller An investigation of the history and demise of the most controversial North American energy infrastructure project. In 2015, President Barack Obama denied approval for TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline, which would have carried crude oil from the Canadian oil sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast, providing great economic benefit to Canada.

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017 As Sir John A. Macdonald intended, the federal government must be recognized as the nation’s voice. Power. It is the capacity to inspire while encouraging and enabling change, and it matters. When handled in a positive way, power is the key to the state’s ability to strengthen the nation and improve lives. But state power, John Boyko argues forcefully, works best when concentrated on a federal level, as Sir John A. Macdonald and Canada’s other founders intended.

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017 What are the limits of Canadian democracy and how are they being expanded by a revolution in participatory democracy? The Brexit vote in Britain and the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States illustrate that our system of representative democracy is in deep trouble. There are signs of political alienation everywhere. Most believe that government is run by a few big interests. Wealthy corporations receive grants and beneficial regulations. The incomes of middle and lower earners have remained stagnant or decreased.

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017 Unique views from John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Indira Gandhi, and dozens of other world leaders reveal Canada and Canadians through their eyes. During the First World War, foreign leaders began addressing Canadians in our House of Commons and, ever since, have continued influencing how we think about our role in global affairs.

Defence expert Kim Richard Nossal presents a damning indictment of defence procurement in Canada, and shows how to fix it. Defence procurement in Canada is a mess. New equipment is desperately needed for the Canadian Armed Forces, but most projects are behind schedule, over budget, or both. Not only has mismanagement cost Canadian taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, it has also deprived Canada and the CAF of much-needed military capacity.