In his 2001 volume on politics in Saskatchewan, Howard Leeson observed that vast changes were underway in the Saskatchewan polity, and he predicted that the familiar politics of the past would soon look jarringly antiquated. The contributors to this new volume--Saskatchewan Politics: Crowding the Centre--come to the conclusion that this process of change is now largely complete. As its subtitle makes clear, this new study suggests that political parties in the province have crowded closer and closer to the ideological centre. Without the fulcrum of ideological division, politics in the province appears to be more and more about personal and administrative clashes and less and less about substantive differences as to how the economy and society should be organized. In short, left and right are increasingly being left out of provincial politics. Includes a dvd of the 2006-08 Throne and budget debates between NDP leader Lorne Calvert and Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall.

"The formation of the Territorial Grain Growers Association in 1901 was not the only important event in the early history of what has come to be known broadly as the agrarian movement in the Canadian prairies, but it was a defining moment in some respects. Arguably it signalled the formation of an agrarian class, but at least it was an indicator of an awakening of a democratic consciousness among family farmers. Ultimately, the Association provided a venue for analysis and critique, the development of strategies and tactics, and of course the nurturing of leadership and organizational forms that would have a profound influence upon politics and the state in the three prairie provinces and the Dominion, as well as the creation of co-operatives and other forms of direct action. These eighteen essays honouring the 100th anniversary (in 2001) of the formation of the TGGA explore important aspects of the historical legacy of the agrarian movement and contemplate their relevance to the current setting for the rural prairies."--pub. desc.

The U.S. healthcare system is now spending many millions of dollars to improve "patient safety" and "inter-professional practice." Nevertheless, an estimated 100,000 patients still succumb to preventable medical errors or infections every year. How can health care providers reduce the terrible financial and human toll of medical errors and injuries that harm rather than heal? Beyond the Checklist argues that lives could be saved and patient care enhanced by adapting the relevant lessons of aviation safety and teamwork. In response to a series of human-error caused crashes, the airline industry developed the system of job training and information sharing known as Crew Resource Management (CRM). Under the new industry-wide system of CRM, pilots, flight attendants, and ground crews now communicate and cooperate in ways that have greatly reduced the hazards of commercial air travel. The coauthors of this book sought out the aviation professionals who made this transformation possible. Beyond the Checklist gives us an inside look at CRM training and shows how airline staff interaction that once suffered from the same dysfunction that too often undermines real teamwork in health care today has dramatically improved. Drawing on the experience of doctors, nurses, medical educators, and administrators, this book demonstrates how CRM can be adapted, more widely and effectively, to health care delivery. The authors provide case studies of three institutions that have successfully incorporated CRM-like principles into the fabric of their clinical culture by embracing practices that promote common patient safety knowledge and skills.They infuse this study with their own diverse experience and collaborative spirit: Patrick Mendenhall is a commercial airline pilot who teaches CRM; Suzanne Gordon is a nationally known health care journalist, training consultant, and speaker on issues related to nursing; and Bonnie Blair O'Connor is an ethnographer and medical educator who has spent more than two decades observing medical training and teamwork from the inside.

The central aim of "The West and Beyond" is to evaluate and appraise the state of Western Canadian history, to acknowledge and assess the contributions of historians of the past and present, to showcase the research interests of a new generation of scholars, to chart new directions for the future, and stimulate further interrogations of our past.-- The book is broken into five sections and contains articles from both established and new scholars that broadly reflect findings of the conference "The West and Beyond:-- Historians Past, Present and Future" held in Edmonton, Alberta in the summer of 2008.-- The editors hope the collection will encourage dialogue among generations of historians of the West and among practitioners of diverse approaches to the past.-- The collection also reflects a broad range of disciplinary and professional interests suggesting a number of different ways to understand the West.

Award-winning and critically acclaimed historian Helen Rappaport turns to the tragic story of the daughters of the last Tsar of all the Russias, slaughtered with their parents at Ekaterinburg.