TORONTO, April 10, 2018 /CNW/ - Ken Whyte, Chair of the Donner Canadian Foundation, today announced the shortlist for the 2017/2018 Donner Prize, the award recognizing the best public policy book by a Canadian.
"The authors of our five finalist books are leading academics and award-winning writers who offer Canadians insight into highly topical subjects, elevating the public policy discourse in our country," said Mr. Whyte. "Each of these books deserves a wide readership, and in announcing the shortlist we invite Canadians to join the conversation."
David Dodge, Jury Chair, stated that "the jury agreed that, in this age of "fake news", the purposes of the prize are even more critical – to encourage, and reward, the hard work of researching and writing about the policy dilemmas that we face as a society. This year's shortlist covers the waterfront of issues both specific to Canada and faced by most parts of the Western world. Language rights; how best to educate the next generation; the risky lack of innovation in the Canadian banking system; the crucial need to get private-public partnerships right; and the ever-growing need to prepare infrastructure for catastrophic events. These books are shining exemplars of the Donner Prize – relevant and important topics of Canadian public policy, based on sound and original research and analysis, and accessible to a general audience."
The prestigious Donner Prize, now in its 20th year, annually rewards excellence and innovation in public policy writing by Canadians. In bestowing this award, the Donner Canadian Foundation seeks to broaden policy debates, and make an original and meaningful contribution to policy discourse, all of which will contribute to an even stronger and more inclusive Canadian democracy.
The 2017/18 shortlist titles were chosen from a field of 78 submissions; the winner receives $50,000 while each other nominated title receives $7,500. The 2017/18 Donner Prize finalists are:
Charte canadienne et droits linguistiques: Pour en finir avec les mythes by Frédéric Bérard (Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal)
Pushing the Limits: How Schools Can Prepare Our Children Today for the Challenges of Tomorrow by Kelly Gallagher-Mackay and Nancy Steinhauer (Doubleday Canada)
Stumbling Giants: Transforming Canada's Banks for the Information Age by Patricia Meredith and James L. Darroch (Rotman-UTP Publishing, an imprint of University of Toronto Press)
Governing Public-Private Partnerships by Joshua Newman (McGill-Queen's University Press)
Too Critical to Fail: How Canada Manages Threats to Critical Infrastructure by Kevin Quigley, Ben Bisset and Bryan Mills (McGill-Queen's University Press)
The winner of this year's Donner Prize will be announced at an awards ceremony at the historic Carlu in Toronto on Tuesday, May 15, 2018. The ceremony will be hosted by broadcaster Amanda Lang.
Shortlisted authors and Jury Chair David Dodge are available for comment and interview.
Visit us at www.donnerbookprize.com
SOURCE Donner Canadian Foundation
please contact Sheila Kay, 647-391-9829, [email protected]
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