Have you ever wondered how the day-to-day business of government actually works? What do prime ministers and ministers do when away from the spotlight of Question Period? How does a government stay on track, and how can a career be derailed? How can a new minister balance the conflicting demands of their chief of staff, their department, their constituency office, and their family at home? In this practical handbook, Michael Wernick, a career public servant with decades of experience in the highest levels of Canadian government, shares candid advice and information that is usually only provided behind closed doors. From cautioning against common pitfalls for neophyte ministers to outlining the learnable skills that are needed to succeed, Wernick lays the business of governance bare. It’s a first-time look behind the curtain at how government functions, and essential reading for anyone interested in the business of Canadian politics.

Opening the Government of Canada presents a compelling case for the importance of a more open model of governance in the digital age – but a model that also continues to uphold democratic principles at the heart of the Westminster system. Drawing on interviews with public officials and extensive analysis of government documents and social media accounts, Clarke details the untold story of the Canadian federal bureaucracy’s efforts to adapt to new digital pressures from the mid-2000s onward. This book argues that the bureaucracy’s tradition of closed government, fuelled by today’s antagonistic political communications culture, is at odds with evolving citizen expectations and new digital policy tools, including social media, crowdsourcing, and open data. Striking a balance between reform and tradition, Opening the Government of Canada concludes with a series of pragmatic recommendations that lay out a roadmap for building a democratically robust, digital-era federal government.

The revised edition of The Canadian Style is an indispensable language guide for editors, copywriters, students, teachers, lawyers, journalists, secretaries and business people – in fact, anyone writing in the English language in Canada today. It provides concise, up-to-date answers to a host of questions on abbreviations, hyphenation, spelling, the use of capital letters, punctuation and frequently misused or confused words. It deals with letter, memo and report formats, notes, indexes and bibliographies, and geographical names. It also gives techniques for writing clearly and concisely, editing documents and avoiding stereotyping in communications. There is even an appendix on how to present French words in an English text.

“Canada’s back” announced the victorious Liberal Party in October 2015. After almost ten years of Conservative Party rule, the Harper era in Canadian foreign policy was over, suggesting a return to the priorities of gentler, more cooperative Liberal governments. But was the Harper era really so different? And if so, why? This comprehensive analysis of Canada’s foreign policy during the Harper years addresses these very questions. The chapters, written by leading scholars and analysts of Canadian politics, provide an excellent overview of foreign policy in a number of different policy areas. They also offer differing interpretations as to whether the transition from a minority to majority government in 2011 shaped the way that the Harper Conservatives conceived of, developed, and implemented international policy. The analysis is gripping and the findings surprising, particularly the contention that the government’s shift to majority status was far less important to foreign policy under Harper than it had been under previous governments. The reasons why reveal important insights into the Harper decade of foreign policy.

In print for the first time since 1971, Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada has once again become relevant in a time of major political upheaval in the United States of America. First published in 1968 by House of Anansi Press, the Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada was a handbook for Americans who refused to serve as draftees in the Vietnam War and were considering immigrating to Canada. Conceived as a practical guide with information on the process, the Manual also features information on aspects of Canadian society, touching on topics like history, politics, culture, geography and climate, jobs, housing, and universities. The Manual went through several editions from 1968–71. Today, as Americans are taking up the discussion of immigration to Canada once again, it is an invaluable record of a moment in our recent history.

Canada's parliamentary system has been characterized as "executive-dominant," with governance focused on the "centre," and scholars have paid little attention to the legislature and its members. But members of Parliament are, in fact, primary actors in governance. Constituency Influence in Parliament illuminates how MPs, in their pursuit of various goals in the legislature, play an important representative role in shaping policy. This critical volume offers the first full-scale examination of the rules and conduct of parliamentary Private Members' Business and of the electoral and policy motivations of those who hold the country's highest elected office. Kelly Blidook offers a thought-provoking assessment of the representational and policy dynamics that exist within the Canadian institutional structure. His examination of what MPs do, why they do it, and what effect it has, serves to resurrect the relevance of Canada's Parliament.

Following significant increases in women’s electoral representation in the 1980s and '90s, progress has stalled. Despite some high-profile successes at the provincial level, there are now only a few more women in Canada’s parliament and legislatures than a decade ago. What has happened to the representational gains for women and why does gender parity remain so elusive? To answer these questions, Stalled provides a provides a detailed roadmap of women’s political representation as candidates, office-holders, cabinet ministers, party leaders, and as representatives of the Crown at all levels of government across Canada. Prospects for gender parity in political office are assessed in each jurisdiction and institution. Explanations are re-examined and analyzed using data from across the country. The representation of women in elected and appointed offices is an important indicator of both gender equality and the overall health of democratic governance. By this measure Canada continues to fall short.