15th Annual Donner Prize Winner Announced

Jeffrey Simpson's Chronic Condition wins $50,000 top prize

TORONTO, April 25, 2013 /CNW/ - The winner of the Donner Prize, the annual award for the best public policy book by a Canadian, was announced this evening by Allan Gotlieb, Chairman of the Donner Canadian Foundation, at a gala awards dinner at The Carlu hosted by Don Newman, Chairman of Canada 2020.

Jeffrey Simpson was awarded the $50,000 Donner Prize for Chronic Condition: Why Canada's Health Care System Needs to be Dragged into the 21^st Century, published by Allen Lane Canada.

In Chronic Condition, Jeffrey Simpson investigates the health care crisis facing Canada, employing a variety of approaches, including investigative reporting, quantitative and qualitative assessment of statistics, political insights, comparisons with different health care systems and anecdotal stories. In his critical analysis, Simpson predicts what will happen if long-standing policy issues are not addressed soon.

Jeffrey Simpson has been The Globe and Mail's national affairs columnist for more than twenty-five years, and is the author of eight previous books, including Discipline of Power, which won a Governor General's award. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada.

"This book deals with the most pressing public policy issue facing Canadians. Simpson lays out the issues in a well-written, thoughtful and compelling analysis of the health care system, arguing that we can still maintain the core values and principles we cherish as Canadians, but to do so will require major reforms of the system, reforms that will require courage and innovative thinking from all involved. Chronic Condition should inspire a national debate on the future of Canadians' most cherished social program."

- Donner Prize Jury

The other nominated titles, each of which received $7,500, were:

• Santé: l'heure des choix by Claude Castonguay (Les Éditions du Boréal)
• Hunger in the Balance: The New Politics of International Food Aid by Jennifer Clapp (Cornell University Press)
• Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark: The West Versus the Rest Since Confederation by Mary Janigan (Knopf Canada)

The winner of the Donner Prize was chosen from an impressive list of 60 submissions by the five-member jury: A. Anne McLellan (Jury Chair), Kevin G. Lynch, Marcel Boyer, Jennifer A. Jeffs and Denis Stairs.

Jury Chair Anne McLellan commented on this year's shortlist: "As a jury, our goal is to draw attention to books that help inform the current policy debate in Canada. This year, our shortlisted books achieve this goal but also provide us with historical context, helping us understand how we have reached where we are today, in addition to offering insights about possible ways forward."

The Donner Prize, established in 1998, annually rewards excellence and innovation in Canadian public policy thinking, writing and research. In bestowing this award, the Donner Canadian Foundation seeks to broaden policy debates, increase general awareness of the importance of policy decision making and make an original and meaningful contribution to policy discourse.

 

SOURCE: Donner Canadian Foundation

Sherry Naylor, Prize Manager 
Naylor and Associates 
Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
www.donnerbookprize.com