FALL-WINTER 2013 - University of Toronto Press Publishing

GENERAL INTERESTAcross the AisleOpposition in Canadian PoliticsDavid E. SmithApprox. 240 pp / 6 x 9 / July 2013Cloth 978-1-4426-4736-7$65.00 (£45.99) EPaper 978-1-4426-1547-2$24.95 (£17.99) CeBook 978-1-4426-6802-7 $24.95Political Science / Canadian Studies / HistoryHow do parties with official opposition status influence Canadian politics? Acrossthe Aisle is an innovative examination of the theory and practice of oppositionin Canada, both in Parliament and in provincial legislatures. Extending from thepre-Confederation era to the present day, it focuses on whether Canada hasdeveloped a coherent tradition of parliamentary opposition.David E. Smith argues that Canada has in fact failed to develop such atradition. He investigates several possible reasons for this failure, including thelong dominance of the Liberal party, which arrested the tradition of viewingthe opposition as an alternative government; periods of minority governmentinduced by the proliferation of parties; the role of the news media, which havelargely displaced Parliament as a forum for commentary on government policy;and, finally, the increasing popularity of calls for direct action in politics.Readers of Across the Aisle will gain a renewed understanding of officialopposition that goes beyond Stornoway and shadow cabinets, illuminatingboth the historical evolution and recent developments of opposition politics inCanada.David E. Smith, FRSC, is the author of The People’s House of Commons (winnerof the Donner Prize for the best public policy book by a Canadian), and manyother books on Canadian politics. He is currently Distinguished Visiting Professorin the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University.“This superb book examines a little-studied but essential part of the Canadianparliamentary system: the official opposition in the House of Commons, whichthe author describes as ‘the political corrective’ to the concentrated power ofthe government. Smith finds grounds for concern about the well-being of theopposition in the House, and hence about the well-being of Parliament itself.These concerns are not new, but Smith’s is the best study yet of this complex anddisturbing phenomenon.”CES Franks, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Studies, Queen’s UniversityAlso by David E. Smith:Federalism and the Constitution of Canada978-1-4426-1151-1$24.95 / 20106UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS