Sample Reviews
Scholarly Work
4059 Page, Christopher. The Roles of Public Opinion Research in Canadian Government. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. 258p. The Institute of Public Administration of Canada Series in Public Management and Governance. biblio. index. $60.00. $27.95pa. ISBN 0-8020-9039-7. ISBN 0-8020-9377-9pa. CCIP. DDC 320.6’0971.
Many informed observers have come to believe that governments spend too much public money and assign too much importance to public opinion research. Polls allegedly cause politicians to follow rather than lead and produce attempts to manipulate public opinion. The Government of Canada spends approximately $20 million annually on polling. The spending is justified on the grounds that it enables government to be more responsive to citizens.
This book argues that enhanced responsiveness to public concerns might arise sometimes. However, it finds that the main uses of polling data are to help set the decision-making agenda of government and, even more importantly, to help governments communicate with citizens in order to increase public understanding of, support of, and compliance with the policies and actions of government. The book reaches this conclusion through three case studies of the policy process: the patriation of the Constitution and the adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the adoption of the Goods and Services Tax, and the strengthening of gun control rules.
The three cases cover different time periods and different political parties in office. The cases are thoroughly analysed so as to offer a fascinating insight into the inner workings of the policy process at the highest levels. Reliance on polling is found to be greatest on high-profile issues, because such issues can potentially affect the political fortunes of governments more dramatically. Each of the cases fell into the high-profile category. In each case, polling shaped communications strategy and tactics after the policy was decided and played a limited role in the formulation of policy. The final chapter examines the potential and the problems of polling.
This is one of very few careful examinations of the role of opinion research within government. Written originally as a doctoral dissertation, it will appeal mainly to students of the policy process and, to a lesser extent, practitioners in government who want to learn what works and what not to do when it comes to relying on polls.
— Paul G. Thomas is the Duff Roblin Professor of Government at the University of Manitoba, the author of Parliamentary Reform Through Political Parties, and the co-author of Canadian Public Administration: Problematical Perspectives.
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Reference Work
1007 Lenardon, John. Identity Theft Toolkit: How to Recover From and Avoid Identity Theft. North Vancouver: Self-Counsel Press, 2006. 148p. Reference Series. $15.95pa. ISBN 1-55180-689-4pa. CCIP. DDC 364.16'3.
From phishing to cheque washing to ATM scams, identify theft is a fact of life in our hyperconnected world. According to the author of this book, “[it] is the fastest-growing nonviolent crime in North America today.” Lenardon, president of Data Cyber Labs Inc. and author of Protect Your Child on the Internet, sets the stage with real-life examples of identity theft. “In one notorious case,” he writes, “the criminal, a convicted felon, not only incurred more than $100,000 of credit card debt, obtained a federal home loan, and bought homes, motorcycles, and handguns in the victim’s name, but also called the victim to taunt him … [and then] filed for bankruptcy, also in the victim’s name.”
Lenardon follows this vivid wake-up call with discussions of how to prevent identify theft, how to deal with credit reporting agencies, and steps to take if you become a victim of identity theft. His final chapter comprises a generous selection of contact forms and checklists—material that’s also included on the CD-ROM accompanying the book.
Identity Theft Toolkit is aimed at a North American audience. The interweaving of specifically Canadian and U.S. content is an unfortunate structural choice that s unlikely to please readers on either side of the border. The book would be far more readable if the Canadian and U.S. content were kept separate. A detailed table of contents adequately compensates for the lack of an index.
Protecting yourself from identity theft is hard work. As this crime becomes more prevalent, so too will the demands it places on each of us to negotiate the thorny trade-offs between security and convenience. Unless you’re a diehard Luddite, you’ll probably want to keep a copy of Identity Theft Toolkit in your arsenal.
— Sarah Robertson is reference editor of the Canadian Book Review Annual.
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Literary Work
3206 Gasco, Elyse. Bye Bye Baby. Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing, 2006. 80p. A Scirocco Drama. $14.95pa. ISBN 0-897289-03-0pa. CCIP. DDC C812'.54.
Bye Bye Baby is a rare theatrical script, as much of a pleasure to read as it to see fully realized on stage. Inspired by the author’s collection of short stories titled Can You Wave Bye Bye Baby? (recipient of a half-dozen awards including the QSPELL Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the 1999 Governor General’s Award), it is an intensely human comedy.
“You can’t run a race if you don’t know where the starting line is.” The thematic point of departure is, in fact, autobiographical—the adopted author’s search for her birth mother and her frustrating encounters with Quebec social service agencies bound on this issue by protocols that were a bizarre “relic of a culture of shame.” Her brilliantly conceived play uses a series of telling images and articulate monologues and dialogues involving Elle (the girl who is adopted and who herself is expecting a child), Image-Birthmother, Adoptive Mother, Image-Elle, and a representative social worker. These prototypical female characters are anything but static; with poetically articulate stage directions for flashbacks and nightmares, the author makes each out as a psychological shape-shifter.
The Kafka-esque quest for her birth mother is frustrating almost to the point of suicide or the ironic abortion of Elle’s unborn child. Still, the author manages to bring comedy into the mix in both word and plot. At one point Elle plays her own shell game by refusing to reveal the identity of the father of her unborn child. At another desperate moment Adoptive-Mother blurts out “Let’s think in (Breathes in.) and out (Exhales.).” Then she begins Lamaze breathing! Not surprisingly, speculation as to the identity of her birth mother gives rise to fantasies of grandeur and a brilliantly sustained trope on the possibility that Elle might actually be the baby given up for adoption by Joni Mitchell.
A marvellous twist at the end gives a final brush of comedy to a theatrical evening that will take the audience and the fortunate reader through a lifetime of human emotions.
— Ian C. Nelson, Librarian Emeritus, is the former Assistant Director of Libraries (University of Saskatchewan) and dramaturg (Festival de la Dramaturgie des Prairies and conseiller dramaturgique at La Troupe du Jour).
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Trade Book
2260 Pretty, Gurth. The Definitive Guide to Canadian Artisanal and Fine Cheese. North Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 2006. 352p. photos. biblio. index. $29.95pa. ISBN 1-55285-760-3pa. CCIP. DDC 637'.35'0971.
In 1893, a 22,000-pound block of cheese from Ingersoll, Ontario, broke through the floorboards while on display in Chicago. In 1917, the American government ordered 6,000,000 pounds of Canadian cheese to feed its Doughboys in France. Before World War II, most British working people were sustained on Canadian, not English, cheddar. Let’s face it, Canada used to be one cheesy place to live until the 1950s, when hundreds of Canadian cheese factories closed down because they could no longer compete with the bland, cheap cheese products churned out by huge multinational corporations. But a new day is dawning in Canadian cheese history. Waves of immigrants have arrived in Canada, bringing with them a taste for sharp, tangy cheese like the ones they enjoyed in the old country. Across Canada, hundreds of Canadian farmers have responded to this demand by reviving artisan cheese production.
This book, by chef Gurth Pretty, is a celebration of the rebirth of the Canadian cheese industry. More than 1,700 of the finest cheeses from Prince Edward Island to Vancouver Island are featured. The text starts off with a short, droll overview of the history of Canadian cheese; this is followed by “A Cheese Primer” section, which covers milk terminology, cheese types, tips on buying and storing cheese, and some suggestions on how to lay out a cheese platter.
The bulk of the book is an in-depth look at artisan cheeses produced in Canada. From the extent of his knowledge about cheese taste and nuances, one gets the impression that chef Pretty is on a first-name basis with every milk-producing sheep, cow, and goat in Canada. Hundreds of colour photographs support the text and 30 cheese-oriented recipes are included.
— Steve Pitt is food editor of Canadian Health Magazine.
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Children's Book
6339 McKinley, Michael. Ice Time: The Story of Hockey. Toronto: Tundra Books, 2006. 80p. Hockey: A People’s History. photos. index. $24.99. ISBN 0-88776-762-1. CCIP. DDC 796.962'09. (Ages 8+)
Based on the CBC television series Hockey, a People’s History, Ice Time’s 10 chapters trace the story of hockey’s development from 1875, the year the game was first played on an indoor rink, through the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, when both Canada’s women’s and men’s teams won gold medals. The first three chapters deal with the early years of the game’s evolution. Chapter 4, while maintaining the book’s chronological flow, focuses principally on the National Hockey League and its legendary teams, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens, as well as such team stars as Rocket Richard, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux. Amateur and women’s hockey, while not overlooked, are dealt with in numerous coloured text boxes liberally sprinkled throughout the book. The text boxes also feature the NHL’s second tier of superstars. International hockey is the focus of Chapter 7, “Us & Them,” which chronicles the 1972 Summit Series.
Ice Time is generously illustrated with both black-and-white and coloured photos, and their captions add to the work’s impressive volume of information. McKinley’s writing will appeal to both hockey neophytes and aficionados; his episodic approach will serve the former who may just want a basic overview, while the detail embedded in the text boxes will appeal to the latter who are seeking more depth. Highly recommended.
— Dave Jenkinson is the editor of CM: Canadian Review of Materials.
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