Jury Announced for $50,000 Donner Prize

TORONTO, Oct. 27, 2015 /CNW/ - Allan Gotlieb, Chairman of the Donner Canadian Foundation, today announced the jury for the eighteenth annual Donner Prize, the award for best public policy book by a Canadian. "It is my pleasure to see the return of four of last year's distinguished jurors, as well as to welcome Jennifer Jeffs back to the jury after a year away," said Gotlieb.

The Honourable Anne McLellan will return as this year's jury Chair. McLellan joined Bennett Jones LLP after a distinguished career in federal politics, where she served four terms as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre from 1993-2006.  She is former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Minister of Health, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Natural Resources and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians. McLellan is the Chancellor of Dalhousie University.

She says, "Again this year, the Jury looks forward to reading many outstanding books on important and, often, controversial issues of public policy.  In an ever-more rapidly changing world, where complex public policy issues are the norm, the Donner Prize encourages and recognizes authors who take on the thorny issues that will shape our country in the future."

Also returning to the jury are Jean-Marie Dufour, William Dow Professor of Economics at McGill University; Peter George, Senior Advisor to the Director, the United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health; Peter Harder, Senior Policy Advisor to Dentons Canada LLP; and Jennifer Jeffs, past President of the Canadian International Council.

The winner of the 2015 Donner Prize will receive $50,000, with $7,500 awarded to each of the other shortlisted titles. The 2014 prize went to Michael J. Trebilcock for Dealing With Losers: The Political Economy of Policy Transitions. The prize encourages and celebrates excellence in public policy writing by Canadians, on topics of great importance to Canadians. The deadline for submissions for this year's prize is November 30, 2015. The shortlist will be announced in late March 2015, and the winner will be proclaimed at a gala dinner in Toronto on April 27, 2016.

SOURCE Donner Canadian Foundation

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