National Network for Equitable Library Service

The General Election of 1997 did not turn out as Jean Chretien and the Liberal Party had planned. Chretien called an early election, believing that his party was in a position to retain the majority they had won in 1993. They got their majority, but just barely. When the campaign began, the focus for many Canadians was the economy and job creation. National unity, however, quickly became a key issue, and triggered the most heated debates of the campaign. As was the case in 1993, the election of 1997 saw the country divided along regional lines.

The Canadian Federal Election of 2006 is a comprehensive analysis of all aspects of the campaign and election that ended the 12-year Liberal reign in Canadian politics and saw the House of Commons shift from one minority government to another. The chapters, composed by leading political writers, commentators, and pollsters, examine the strategies, successes, and blunders of the major players — the Conservatives, Liberals, New Democrats, Bloc Québécois, and Greens — and also explore the role of the media coverage and the performance and influence of public opinion polls.

First published by Oxford University Press in 1993, Exploration Literature is a groundbreaking collection of early writing inspired by the opening of a continent.With maps, notes, and thumbnail biographies of these early writers, Exploration Literature is an entry point for both the casual reader and the student of Canadian literature into the beginnings of a literate response to the awe and wonder inspired by an unfolding geography and the literary fundamentals of new nationhood.

Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century is a survey of the richest, most controversial and perhaps most thoroughly confusing centuries in the whole history of the visual arts in Canada - the period from 1900 to the present. Murray shows how, beginning with Tonalism at the start of the century, new directions in art emerged - starting with our early Modernists, among them Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. Today, Modernism has lost its dominance. Artists, critics, and the public alike are confronted by a scene of unprecedented variety and complexity.

Three beautiful gothic buildings loom over the Ottawa River just below the historic Chaudiere Falls. They are the seat of Canada's federal government, visited by thousands of people each year. Canada's Parliament Buildings, filled with heraldry and history, instill pride in our country and give visitors a deep sense of being Canadian. Constructed in controversy, and steeped in decades of political lore, the Parliament Buildings have been the stage for the evolution of Canada from a small colony to one of the great nations of the world.

In 1898, Spanish spies based in Montreal, Halifax, and Victoria monitored the United States war effort against their homeland, while U.S. counter-intelligence officials watched the Spaniards. Neither the Americans nor the Spaniards sought Canadian permission for these activities. Britain's enemies (and often America's enemies) have also been Canada's enemies.

A report in 1833 by a committee of three respected Kingston colonials called for the construction of a limestone penitentiary on Hatter’s Bay to the west of the town.

It has been said that Canada is a country with too much geography and too little history. Afghanistan has too much of both. As the war escalates in Afghanistan, more Canadians are asking what we are doing there. For a country that has specialized in peacekeeping, this war is a shock one that we have not yet comprehended. As the casualties mount, Canadians will want to know why we are there. Canada in Afghanistan introduces readers to Afghans and their culture, gives historical background from our involvement since 9/11, and covers operations casualties and the results.

Canada From Afar is the fruit of the remarkable flowering of obituary writing in the London Daily Telegraph during the past ten years. These lively portraits of Canadians are informed, witty, sometimes quirky, occasionally iconoclastic.They include royal courtiers, politicians, businessmen, soldiers, sailors, airmen, scientists, explorers, novelists, artists, and even journalists. Among the prominent Canadians viewed from afar are persons such as Margaret Laurence, Joey Smallwood, K.C. Irving, Raymond Burr and A.J. Casson.

Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 marked the beginning of five years of terror for the Dutch people. They faced oppression and death with remarkable stoicism, but nothing could save them from the Hunger Winter of 1944-5, when more than 30,000 people died of starvation.In this time of unimaginable despair, Canada came to the rescue, playing the largest role in liberating the Netherlands and ending the Nazi reign of terror.