About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
Drawing on his experience as a two-term MP and former Parliamentary Secretary, Ted McWhinney addresses the need for modernization to meet the radically new demands of the plural, multicultural Canada of the 21st century and offers new ways out of our present constitutional straight-jacket. Among the key contemporary topics discussed are the atrophy of the House of Commons and the role of MPs; the development of the "presidential" Prime Minister without any constitutional checks and balances; the emergence of judicial legislation through a Supreme Court suddenly empowered by the 1982 Charter of Rights; the provincial demands for a new cooperative federalism; and the aboriginal peoples' claims to an inherent right to self government. Proposals for reform are canvassed frankly. More importantly, practical ways out of our present constitutional straight-jacket, the result of the failure of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, are put forward for debate.
