Most Canadians know that Stephen Harper has had a tremendous impact on the country since becoming prime minister in 2006. But few have the in-depth knowledge of how far his transformation has gone -- what has already been done, and what the consequences will be in the future.

This book brings together Canadian experts in a wide variety of areas. They document key changes put in place by the Harper government. There have been dramatic changes in education, health care, women's rights, science and research, guiding the economy, labour unions, water and natural resources, and aboriginal affairs. Most of these measures have been designed to be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.

Readers will for the first time grasp the breadth and depth of the Harper attack on institutions, policies, and programs that embody values and principles shared by most Canadians. Each chapter documents the dangers of a government fixated on the needs of corporations and the one percent, blinded to our environmentally unsustainable lifestyle, and expanding surveillance and security measures to intimidate and threaten opponents.

The contributors to this book believe that engagement in public affairs by the citizenry can trump the power of the elites and the giant corporations who are the winners of the Harper era. As activists in public life, they propose strategies and measures to create a Canada that champions fairness, social justice, real democracy in our government institutions, action to reverse global warming, and a constructive role in world affairs.

Ralph Nader's profile page

Ed Finn is editor of the CCPA Monitor, the monthly journal of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a left wing think tank based in Ottawa. Formerly, as a journalist, he worked at The Montreal Gazette and for 14 years wrote a column on labour relations for The Toronto Star. Finn served as a board member with the Bank of Canada, and in the early 1960s was the first leader of the Newfoundland New Democratic Party. In the late 1950s, he resigned as editor of the Corner Brook daily newspaper after refusing orders to stop reporting the views of striking loggers in central Newfoundland. Finn also worked for several labour organizations, including the Canadian Labour Congress and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Ed Finn's profile page

"Compellingly written with statistics that are often startling and deeply disturbing, Canada After Harper begs Canadians to exercise their democratic rights."

THIS Magazine

"Challenges Canadians' perception of the country as the best…in the world, and the idea of Canadian patriotism."

The Hill Times