Product Description

Memos to the Prime Minister is for every Canadian concerned about this country's future. In the current political climate, there is an unprecedented level of frustration with our national government and its almost complete lack of opposition. Faced with mounting scandals, real economic and social issues, but little political choice, we all feel an acute sense of despair over the leadership and policies being offered by the nation's political parties.

This book assembles a stellar group of contributors from across the country and wide-ranging fields — business, healthcare, think tanks, policy groups, education, the arts, and others — to paint a vision for Canada on a broad social canvas.

Their memos offer new advice for the old guard. Whether impassioned pleas, practical advice, thoughtful reflections, or reasoned arguments, the memos focus on prescriptions for the country's leaders, not on rehashing the old, familiar problems.

Memos to the Prime Minister is a provocative look at the present and future of Canada, and will contribute to the national debate on the political, economic, and social issues that matter most to Canadians.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #471286 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.ca
If you had the ear of the Prime Minister of Canada, what would you tell him? With Memos to the Prime Minister, 30 of the most prominent thinkers in Canada get the chance, and we get to listen in. The book is divided into four sections: "Leading Canada," "Economic Canada," "Social Canada," and "Constitutional Canada," which in their totality are an attempt to define a nation. The ideas are meant to be prescriptive--to offer solutions rather than to describe what a mess we're in. One author argues for a flat tax while another proposes a 32-hour workweek. The points of view often purposely contradict each other: a plan to ease access to welfare is followed by a proposal to abolish the welfare system. Most of the contributors get into the spirit of presenting their positions as memos. John Richards, professor of business administration at Simon Fraser University, advises the Prime Minister "to be generous in victory. I mean by that, view favourably some of the ideas of your opponents about how this country should be run, notably on the tricky, volatile, and important issues of federal spending power and language in Quebec." Others even present their memos in point form instead of the more formal essay style. This helps the proponents stick to the issues, and their thoughts are easy to read and follow whether you agree with the conclusions or not. --Edward Trapunski

Review
"Leadership is having the courage to set a goal that society is not quite ready for." — Hugh Segal, President, Institute for Research on Public Policy

"There will always be a temptation, with opponents on all sides of the spectrum in great disarray, to believe that sitting quietly should somehow be the order of the day. That would be a great mistake. There is much to be done, because the condition of the people is still not what it needs to be."
— Bob Rae, Former Premier of Ontario and Parner, Goodmans LLP

"Our goal should be to increase our standard of living so that in fifteen years it is not just equal to the United States, but it is better....If we work together in unison, if we put some passion behind it, we absolutely can challenge the elephant's growth."
— A. Charles Baillie, Chairman and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group

"Quality is the number one problem in health care in our country not money, not bureaucracy, not technology. And the failure to focus on it is why every major attempt to fix medicare has failed."
— Steven Lewis, Consultant on Health Policy, Access Consulting Ltd.

"Abundant clean water has always been an essential part of the heritage of this wonderful and vast country....It supports our economy it sustains our lives. Water is about life and Canada is about water....But our magnificent clean-water heritage has almost slipped from our grasp."
— Rick Findlay, Director, Water Program, Pollution Probe

"For those in western and Atlantic Canada, 'national' policy is a code word that actually means a regional policy for Ontario."
— Donald J. Savoie, Clement-Cormier Chair in Economic Development, Universite de Moncton

From the Inside Flap
Memos to the Prime Minister is for every Canadian concerned about the country's future. Since the federal election of November 2000, Canadians have felt an unprecedented level of frustration with our national government and its almost complete lack of opposition. Faced with mounting scandals, real economic and social issues, but little political choice, we all feel an acute sense of despair over the leadership and policies being offered by the nation's political parties.

The book assembles a stellar group of contributors from across the country and wide-ranging fields businesses, health-care, think tanks, policy groups, education, the arts, and others to paint a vision for Canada on a broad social canvas.

Henry Mintzberg, one of the world's true academic and business gurus, provides a quietly insightful and nuanced foreward that captures, in a humorous yet penetrating way, exactly what it means to be Canadian. "America with the edge off," he calls us. His essay goes on to describe what is special about Canada and Canadians, and what we can contribute at home and abroad, if only we will follow the courage of our convictions.

The memos that follow offer new advice for the old guard. Whether impassioned pleas, practical advice, throughtful reflections, or reasoned arguments, the memos focus on prescriptions for the first government of the new millenium, not on rehashing the old, familiar problems. As Judith Maxwell says in her memo, for the last twenty years, "economic priorities have trumped the social" in this country. We are now at a juncture where we have "more room to design uniquely Canadian responses to social and economic challenges," and to construct a positive role for government.

That's what these memos all set about doing. They provide blueprints for action for this country's leaders on the major social, political, and economic challenges we face as a nation. Memos to the Prime Minister often reads like a "debate on the page," with varied perspectives offered on a single topic. Margaret Little's strong case for providing poor single mothers with more support is juxtaposed by Fred McMahon's memo that suggests ending welfare in order to reduce poverty. Laura Jones's "free-market environmentalism" stands as counterpoint to memos from Rick Findlay of Pollution Probe and Robert Hornung of the Pembina Institute. And there are as many perspectives on solving our health-care problems as there are memos on the topic.

Memos to the Prime Minister is a provocative look at the present and future of Canada, and will contribute to the national debate on the political, economic, and social issues that matter most to Canadians.