Canadian Political Debates: Opposing Views on Issues That Divide Canadians

J.L. Granatstein is a professor of history at York University, the
co-author of the Dictionary of Canadian Military History and Empire to
Umpire: Canada and the World to the 1990s, and the author of The Good
Fight.

When I used to do debating in college, it was always a shock to run into
American university teams. The subjects were set nationally, there were
copious volumes of research material on both sides of the issues
prepared for the teams, and the glib authority with which the debaters
rhymed off their prepared speeches always shook Canadians. Of course, we
won, but only by being quick-witted!

I wish we had had something like this book. Memorial University
political science professor Christopher Dunn’s volume takes eight key
issues, ranging from aboriginal self-government to Quebec independence
to the future of the left, and presents carefully balanced,
well-reasoned arguments on the affirmative and the negative sides of
each question; references point to additional sources. The arguments
seem so fair-minded—both ways—that it is hard to see how, for
example, Natives are not entitled to self-government unless you read the
contrary chapter first.

Innovative in format and suggestive in ideas, this useful book for
students belongs in every library.