Using the decrepit state of 24 Sussex Drive, the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada, as a metaphor for Canada’s democracy, Jonathan Manthorpe examines the foundations, supports, and systems that are meant to keep our parliament a representative body, an actual voice of the people, and he offers insights as to how this institution can be renovated to the benefit of all.

Jonathan Manthorpe is the author of the national bestseller, Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada, and Restoring Democracy in an Age of Populists and Pestilence.

Jonathan Manthorpe is the author of three books on international relations, politics, and history, including the national bestseller and Globe and Mail Top 100 Books of 2019, Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada. His previous books include Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan and The Power and the Tories: Ontario Politics 1943 to the Present. In recent years he has written columns for a wide variety of publications in Canada and overseas. Over his fifty-year career as a journalist, he has been the foreign correspondent in Asia, Africa, and Europe for Southam News, the European Bureau Chief for the Toronto Star, and the national reporter for The Globe and Mail. In 1981 and 1982, Manthorpe was an advisor in London to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau on the patriation of the Canadian constitution. For the last few years, he has been based in Victoria, British Columbia.

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“Through nine persuasive yet demoralizing chapters, Jonathan Manthorpe leads us through his rational report card on our nation’s prospects. … Slim and readable.”

The Hill Times