Here are some suggestions for some Canadian-related nonfiction books. Given that good CANCON can be hard to find, among the dwindling number of books that are not romantasies, they may be useful. It is also the case that most books are now unreviewed, so the synopses provided will be helpful, even if they are written by those associated with the books and the prizes. That the two top books garnered a total of $100,000 should mean that they are worth something, even if those are Canadian dollars.
If you are looking for an escape I will say only that these works do not escape the Zeitgeist.
If you are looking for the books in London, I note when they are found in our libraries. The London Public Library does a fine job, even though much of the acquisition budget probably has to go to the more popular works of fiction. Those in the Western Libraries perhaps have not yet had the time to order these new books, or have the funding to do so. Or, it may simply be that books are too much of a bother and that the library space is better used for other purposes. In any case, do your own searches and, of course, Amazon will probably be able to deliver the book to your door by the time I finish typing this.
[N.B. About The Bonus at the bottom. It is below the Sources and I have been told no one ever makes it to the "Sources." Admittedly, the bonus is often frivolous, but in this case it is about the serious issue of the potential abolition of Father's Day and even Mother's Day! Perhaps you missed the related news items, or just thought them frivolous.]
Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
"Rewarding the Best Political Writing"
To learn about the Award see The Writers's Trust of Canada.
The Wikipedia entry is also useful: Shaughnessy Cohen Prize.
I did a post about Elizabeth Shaughnessy Cohen who was born in London and died in the House of Commons in 1998 at the age of 50.
I did a post about Elizabeth Shaughnessy Cohen who was born in London and died in the House of Commons in 1998 at the age of 50.
The Winner:
1. Encampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community, Maggie Helwig. London Public Library has several, Western Libraries, not available.
1. Encampment: Resistance, Grace, and an Unhoused Community, Maggie Helwig. London Public Library has several, Western Libraries, not available.
"The housing crisis plaguing major urban centres has sent countless people into the streets. Encampment tells the story of how some of them found their way to the yard beside the Anglican church in Toronto’s Kensington Market where Maggie Helwig is the priest. An outspoken social justice activist, Helwig has spent the last three years getting to know the residents and battling various authorities that want to clear the yard and keep the results of the housing crisis out of sight and out of mind. The book also introduces readers to the Artist, to Jeff, and to Robin: their lives, their challenges, their humanity. It confronts society’s callousness in allowing so many to go unhoused and demands, by bringing their stories to the fore, that we begin to respond with compassion and grace."
The Finalists:
2. On OIL, Don Gillmor LPL has copies. WL n/a
"Don Gillmor worked as a roughneck on oil rigs during the seventies oil boom in Alberta. On Oil examines how the industry has changed over the decades and illustrates the ways our dependence on oil has led to regulatory capture, in Canada and elsewhere, and contributed to armed conflict and war across the world. Gillmor documents the many ways oil companies have misdirected environmental action and misinformed the public about climate concerns. He illuminates where we went wrong and how we might yet change course."
3. On the Ground: My Life as a Foreign Correspondent. Brian Stewart
About the Book LPL has copies. WL n/a
"Brian Stewart is a trusted voice who brought stories of the world home to Canadians for decades on CBC’s The National. He saw it all firsthand and bore the responsibility of shining a light on the most exciting and most horrifying moments of the late 20th century, including the Gulf War and the Ethiopian famine. He spoke with world leaders, armed militants, activists, aid workers, and more. Now, Stewart shares his experience of the cost, both personal and professional, of bringing truth home from around the world."
4. On Book Banning: Or, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy LPL has copies. Copy at FIMS at WL
"From the destruction of libraries in ancient Rome to today’s state-sponsored efforts to suppress LGBTQ2S+ literature, book bans arise from the impulse toward social control. Using a survey of legal cases, literary controversies, and philosophical arguments, Ira Wells illustrates the historical opposition to the freedom to read. He argues that today’s conservatives and progressives alike are warping children’s relationship with literature and teaching them that the solution to opposing viewpoints is outright expurgation. At a moment in which democratic institutions are buckling under the stress of polarization, On Book Banning is both rallying cry and guide to resistance for those who will always insist upon reading for themselves."
5. Women Who Woke up the Law: Inside the Cases that Changed Women’s Rights in Canada, Karin Wells, LPL has copies. WL n/a
"Karin Wells pulls readers into the lives and legal trials of a group of women integral to the advancement of women’s rights in Canada. Eliza Campbell, Chantale Daigle, Jeannette Corbiere Lavell — these Women Who Woke Up the Law often had no idea what they were facing in the courts or the price they would have to pay. Some never saw justice themselves, but they left a legal legacy. From the award-winning author of The Abortion Caravan and More Than a Footnote, Wells’ new book chronicles the bold determination of Canadian women, which she argues is something we need now more than ever to guard the hard-won gains in women’s rights. "
The Donner
The website is here: The Donner Prize
"The Donner Canadian Foundation, one of Canada’s largest foundations, was established in 1950 by businessman and philanthropist William H. Donner to support projects that advance the common good in Canada by encouraging private initiative, independence and individual responsibility."
The Winner:
1. Borderline Chaos: How Canada Got Immigration Right, and Then Wrong by Tony Keller (Sutherland House Books) LPL on order - not at WL
"How did Canada turn one of its most admired policy achievements into a source of public anger and institutional damage? Tony Keller’s Borderline Chaos answers that question with precision and force. In sharp, concise prose, it traces how a once-stable, broadly trusted, rules-based immigration system, built on skilled permanent residents and disciplined selection, was overtaken by a coalition of business interests, provincial incentives, and federal political ambition. The result is incoherence, housing strain, labour-market distortion, and eroded public confidence. Jurors celebrated the book’s clarity of thesis and its insistence on evidence-based policymaking, calling it compelling and infuriating in equal measure — essential reading for any policymaker confronting the aftermath of that period.
The Runners-Up:
2. Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson (Signal) LPL has a copy. WL does not - Ibbitson is a W. grad.
"Canada is not collapsing — but it is bending. Breaking Point makes a compelling case that the pressures accumulating around housing, productivity, regional grievance, immigration mismanagement, and generational inequality are converging in ways that threaten national cohesion. Bricker and Ibbitson’s great strength is synthesis: they pull together disparate anxieties into a single, coherent story about national fragility. Grounded in polling data, demographic trends, and economic indicators, including long-term survey data showing declining national pride, the book offers decision-makers both a lens on public mood and a strategic overview of the risks Canada faces if current trends continue. Jurors praised it as a timely and accessible contribution that translates complex policy debates in a way everyday Canadians can appreciate."
3. 21 Things You Need to Know About Indigenous Self-Government: A Conversation About Dismantling the Indian Act by Bob Joseph (Page Two) LPL - several at WL. One copy at FIMS in WL.
"One of the central unresolved questions in Canadian public life is how to move beyond the Indian Act. Bob Joseph’s focused volume takes that question seriously and answers it with clarity, conviction, and practical grounding. Structured around 21 short chapters, it demystifies the core concepts of jurisdiction, inherent rights, fiscal arrangements, and treaty relationships, without the use of legal jargon or rhetorical excess. Drawing on real policy mechanisms and case studies such as the Nisga’a and Westbank agreements, Joseph frames self-government not as a grievance-based claim but as a governance reality already in motion. Jurors praised its plain-language accessibility as making it a uniquely effective public education tool and noted that it lays out the issues and possible solutions more clearly and accessibly than any comparable work for Canadian readers."
4. A New Blueprint for Government: Reshaping Power, The PMO, and the Public Service by Kevin G. Lynch and James R. Mitchell (University of Regina Press)
LPL n/a WL n/a
"Canada’s policy underperformance is not simply a matter of ideology or bad luck, rather it is a structural problem, rooted in how the federal government is designed, managed, and held to account. Drawing on decades of senior public service experience, Lynch and Mitchell make a rigorous, evidence-based case that power has drifted dangerously from Cabinet to the PMO, that ministerial accountability has eroded, and that bureaucratic risk aversion has hollowed out execution capacity. In under 200 pages, they connect governance architecture to tangible failures — procurement delays, productivity stagnation, service breakdowns — and propose concrete reforms. Jurors described it as an elegantly argued agenda for change and the most focused, actionable detailing of possible Canada-focused policy reforms to emerge in recent years."
5. The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity by Tim Wu (Alfred A. Knopf) LPL has copies, none at WL.
"The promise of the digital economy was transformative — open, democratic, and generative of shared prosperity. Tim Wu’s The Age of Extraction is a bracing account of how that promise curdled. Drawing on a historically informed arc from oil trusts and railroad monopolies to Google, Amazon, and Meta, Wu argues that dominant platforms have stopped enabling markets and started extracting from them, harvesting data, imposing fees, manipulating algorithms, and eliminating competition. His central concept of “extraction” gives policymakers a disciplined framework for understanding digital concentration not as a technology story but as a story about power. Jurors found the book timely, intellectually rigorous, accessible, and strategically important. While its policy prescriptions are anchored in the U.S. context, its framework speaks directly to the platform challenges facing Canadian competition policy, digital regulation, and the future of work."
Sources:
One will find articles when the winner of the prize is announced.
For example for the Cohen prize:
One will find articles when the winner of the prize is announced.
For example for the Cohen prize:
"Maggie Helwig’s Encampment Wins 2026 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing," Ian Bailey, G&M, April 29, 2026.
"Helwig’s win was announced Wednesday night at a gala in Ottawa, and the honour comes with a $40,000 prize. Meanwhile, four shortlisted finalists will each receive $5,000.
For the Donner:
For the Donner:
"Donner Prize Nominees Break Down Their Big Ideas, from AI to Immigration,
Brad Wheeler, G&M, May 13, 2026.
“On May 14, the annual $60,000 Donner Prize for the best public policy book by a "Canadian will be awarded at a gala dinner in Toronto. The shortlisted authors, including Globe and Mail columnists John Ibbitson and Tony Keller, were asked to identify a misunderstood issue or misguided policy related to their books and explain the importance of getting it right.”
The Bonus:
The good news, such as it is, is that you should be able to celebrate Father's Day, which was under threat of being cancelled in some parts of Canada. For that matter, so was Mother's Day since, I guess, many children do not have regular moms and dads. One related headline, for example is: "Canadian Schools Ditch Mother's and Father's Day Celebrations in the Name of Diversity." But recently it appears there have been second thoughts: "Manitoba School Scraps Plan to Move Away From Mother's Day, Father's Day Celebrations."
There should be room for all, in that there are days, weeks, months and even years dedicated to just about any entity you can think of. June 8 was "National Best Friends Day" and on the second Sunday in August there is "Gay Uncle Day." Even the lonely have a week - "Loneliness Awareness Week" and in China, the horse has a whole year. Hallmark, at least, has reason to celebrate all of the time.
The Bonus:
The good news, such as it is, is that you should be able to celebrate Father's Day, which was under threat of being cancelled in some parts of Canada. For that matter, so was Mother's Day since, I guess, many children do not have regular moms and dads. One related headline, for example is: "Canadian Schools Ditch Mother's and Father's Day Celebrations in the Name of Diversity." But recently it appears there have been second thoughts: "Manitoba School Scraps Plan to Move Away From Mother's Day, Father's Day Celebrations."
There should be room for all, in that there are days, weeks, months and even years dedicated to just about any entity you can think of. June 8 was "National Best Friends Day" and on the second Sunday in August there is "Gay Uncle Day." Even the lonely have a week - "Loneliness Awareness Week" and in China, the horse has a whole year. Hallmark, at least, has reason to celebrate all of the time.
