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Biography & Autobiography Personal Memoirs

An Honourable Calling

Political Memoirs

by (author) Allan Blakeney

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Nov 2008
Category
Personal Memoirs
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802098917
    Publish Date
    Nov 2008
    List Price
    $59.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442693111
    Publish Date
    Nov 2008
    List Price
    $47.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442688254
    Publish Date
    Nov 2008
    List Price
    $50.00

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Description

As Premier of Saskatchewan from 1971 to 1982, Allan Blakeney played a pivotal role in the shaping of modern Canada. In this engaging and candid political memoir, Blakeney reflects on his four decades of public service, offering first-hand insights on the introduction of government-sponsored medicare, the patriation of the Canadian Constitution, and new approaches to natural resource development.

Blakeney provides not only a vibrant picture of the Canadian political landscape, but also vivid portraits of some of Canada's most fascinating political personalities including Pierre Trudeau, Jean Chrétien, René Lévesque, Tommy Douglas, Bill Davis, and Peter Lougheed. He supplies an insider's account of the controversial struggle between the federal and provincial governments as they attempted to reach a compromise in the creation of the Canadian Constitution. Relying on his career-long experience as a medicare advocate, including his work with Tommy Douglas, Blakeney comments on current public medicare issues such as how to finance health care, and the role, if any, of a parallel private system.

An Honourable Calling is a thoughtful commentary on many of the central issues in Canadian politics from the last half of the twentieth century and offers perceptive insights into some of the challenges facing Canadians in the decades ahead.

About the author

Allan Blakeney is a former premier of Saskatchewan and former professor at the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan. He is presently Visiting Scholar, College of Law, University of Saskatchewan.

Allan Blakeney's profile page

Editorial Reviews

An Honourable Calling covers a vast range of issues that dominated Canadian public affairs for the four decades following the Second World war. The Memoirs are an important contribution.

John C. Courtney, <em>Great Plains Quarterly</em>, Summer 2010