Home
In the fall of 2003 there was a grand total of one new book about politics from B.C. publishers and that was former Point Grey Liberal MP Ted McWhinney's insider tome about constitutional matters, Chretien and Canadian Federalism: Politics and the Constitution 1993-2003 (Ronsdale $19.95.) In it he addressed the Canadian parliament's orientation towards an increasingly presidential prime ministership without sufficient checks and balances, Quebec's 'long festering' demands and aboriginal peoples' claim to an 'inherent right' to self-government.
Born in 1924, McWhinney gained his commission in the Air Force at 19 in the closing years of World War II. After attending Yale, he undertook post-doctoral researches in The Hague, Berlin, Pisa and Geneva. Specializing in the Canadian consitution, he has taught at the Sorbonne, University of Toronto, McGill, Indiana, Simon Fraser University, Yale and numerous universities around the world. His writing has been translated into nine languages and he has been a consultant to the UN Secretary General, member and special advisor to the Canadian delegation to the UN General Assembly for three years (in the 1980s) and a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. He was a Member of Parliament for two terms, representing the Point Grey constituency called Vancouver Quadra that contains the Unversity of British Columbia. He served as Parliamentary Secretary for both Fisheries and Oceans, and Foreign Affairs, sometimes consulting directly with Prime Minister Jean Chretien. He is the author of more than 40 books focusing on constitutional and international law and diplomacy, including From Coexistence to Cooperation (1992) and The Governor General and the Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Governments (Ronsdale, 2005).
[McWhinney with Jean Chretien shown at right]
[BCBW 2003] "Politics"
Born in 1924, McWhinney gained his commission in the Air Force at 19 in the closing years of World War II. After attending Yale, he undertook post-doctoral researches in The Hague, Berlin, Pisa and Geneva. Specializing in the Canadian consitution, he has taught at the Sorbonne, University of Toronto, McGill, Indiana, Simon Fraser University, Yale and numerous universities around the world. His writing has been translated into nine languages and he has been a consultant to the UN Secretary General, member and special advisor to the Canadian delegation to the UN General Assembly for three years (in the 1980s) and a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. He was a Member of Parliament for two terms, representing the Point Grey constituency called Vancouver Quadra that contains the Unversity of British Columbia. He served as Parliamentary Secretary for both Fisheries and Oceans, and Foreign Affairs, sometimes consulting directly with Prime Minister Jean Chretien. He is the author of more than 40 books focusing on constitutional and international law and diplomacy, including From Coexistence to Cooperation (1992) and The Governor General and the Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Governments (Ronsdale, 2005).
[McWhinney with Jean Chretien shown at right]
[BCBW 2003] "Politics"
