It's the Regime, Stupid!

Book excerpt: It's the Regime, Stupid! combines personal reflections with academic analysis in a way that is intended to provide an accessible narrative for a general reader with an interest in Canadian politics. There is no doubt that the structure of the Canadian federation is changing, and the reason is evident to nearly everyone. Canada is no longer economically run by the manufacturing and financial parts of the country centred in Ontario and Quebec. The West, and especially the cowboy West of Alberta, and the energy industry centred there and in Saskatchewan, have unsettled the familiar and complacent ways that Canadians have understood for generations to be simple truths. Barry Cooper suggests Stephen Harper may prove to be the last chance for Canada as a political regime. Whether Stephen Harper can effect the regime change that can keep Canada intact remains to be seen.