"This is an important and probing analysis and is without doubt the definitive book on business and environmental politics and policy in Canada." - G. Bruce Doern, Carleton University

This is the only book to give background on environmental thought in both a Canadian and world context. It is designed as an introduction to environmental politics and policy, with Canada as its primary focus. Including focus boxes and end-of-chapter study questions, it is appropriate for a wide range of students, as well as scholars.

This path-breaking collection brings together environmental politics and democratic theory to reveal the deficits of citizenship and how democracy must be extended to achieve a socially just, ecologically sustainable society in Canada.

Environmental matters have become increasingly important in Canadian and world policy agendas. In this study, G. Bruce Doern and Thomas Conway trace the development of Canadian environment policy, giving an in-depth account of twenty years of environmental politics, politicians, institutions, and decisions as seen through the evolution of Ottawa's policy agency, Environment Canada. The Greening of Canada is an extensively researched look at the entire period from the early 1970s to the present and is the most complete and integrated analysis yet of federal environmental institutions and key decisions. From Great Lakes pollution to the Green Plan, from the Stockholm Conference to the post–Rio Earth Summit era, the authors deal with both domestic and international events and influences on Ottawa's often abortive efforts to entrench a green agenda into national politics. The book explores the crucial relationships of institutional and political power, directing attention at the DOE and its parade of ministers, intra-cabinet battles, federal-provincial relations, business relations and public opinion, and international and Canada–U.S. relations. It also examines important topics from acid-rain policy to the politics of establishing national parks, and from the Green Plan to the realities of environmental enforcement. Employing a framework cast as the 'double dynamic' of environmental policy making, the authors show the growing struggle between the management of power among key institutions and the need to accommodate a biophysical realm characterized by increased uncertainty as well as scientific and technological controversy.

"The Canadian government's pursuit of economic growth is central to its economic policy and to the nature of its relationship with the business community. The government depends on business investment for economic growth vital to the prosperity of citizens, the generation of tax revenues, and enough public satisfaction to win re-election. Businesses depend on the government for stable sets of rules that are necessary for success. They often look to governments for protection against threats to their well-being and for assistance in competing with other businesses. In this new edition of Uneasy Partnership, Geoffrey Hale examines the interdependent relationship between Canadian governments and businesses, considering the political role of the government in the economy and what effect this has on the business environment. Hale provides an overview of the historical dimensions of Canada's political economy and relations between government and business, giving readers background to consider topics such as corporate power, the implications of Canada's economic structure, regional economic differences, and the role of interest groups in political and policy processes, among others. In a thoughtful and well-researched style, Hale lays out how the partnership between business and government in Canada is an uneasy one--and one whose capacity to adapt to ongoing changes is essential in an uncertain world."--

"The diverse range of authors highlight the inherent complexities and controversial nature of the use of corporate voluntary initiatives for environmental improvements. This is an excellent reference book." - Dianne Humphries, Pollution Probe

Anchored in the core literature on natural resources, energy production, and environmental analysis, Green-lite is a critical examination of Canadian environmental policy, governance, and politics drawing out key policy and governance patterns to show that the Canadian story is one of complexity and often weak performance. Making a compelling argument for deeper historical analysis of environmental policy and situating environmental concerns within political and fiscal agendas, the authors provide extended discussions on three relatively new features of environmental policy: the federal-cities and urban sustainability regime, the federal-municipal infrastructure regime, and the regime of agreements with NGOs and businesses that often relegate governments to observing participants rather than being policy leaders. They probe the Harper era’s muzzling of environmental science and scientists, Canada’s oil sands energy and resource economy, and the government’s core Alberta and Western Canadian political base. The first book to provide an integrated, historical, and conceptual examination of Canadian environmental policy over many decades, Green-lite captures complex notions of what environmental policy and green agendas seek to achieve in a business-dominated economy of diverse energy producing technologies, and their pollution harms and risks.