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THE OTHER MACDONALD REPORT.

Edited by Daniel Drache and Duncan Cameron. Toronto, James Lorimer, c1985. 225pp, paper, $14.95, ISBN 0-88862-901-X (cloth) $24.95, 0-88862-900-1 (paper) $14.95. CIP

Grades 12 and up
Reviewed by Thomas F. Chambers

Volume 14 Number 2
1986 March


Drache and Cameron are both professors of political economy. It is their belief that the Macdonald Commission, established by the Trudeau government in 1982 to find a consensus on Canada's economic future, failed to do its job. It failed because, while it listened to seven hundred concerned parties, it did not include the views of women's groups, unions, churches, farmers, Native people, and the poor in the final report. The editors try to rectify this failure by publishing twenty submissions to the Commission that were ignored. Unlike the real Macdonald Report, which emphasizes the views of Canada's corporate elite, The Other Macdonald Report stresses the concerns of ordinary people, some of whom feel rejected by society.

This is a clearly written, easy-to-follow book. I enjoyed reading it very much. It should be read and discussed by as many people as possible so that Canadians become more aware of the measures suggested by the Macdonald Commission. Readers should be aware though, that this is a biased study, written from a negative point of view. Examples of this include, "the Macdonald Commission was launched with not much public confidence. . .by the aging Trudeau government." The Commissioners also asked "perfunctory questions." Since the editors had no confidence to begin with in Donald Macdonald, described as a Toronto corporate lawyer, it is no wonder that they dislike almost everything about the findings of his Commission. Many of the concerns presented in The Other Macdonald Report are based on fear and ignorance. They should still have been recorded in the Commission's report. If a government is to govern well, it needs to listen and try to respond to the views of all Canadians, bankers as well as the less affluent in our society.


Thomas F. Chambers, Canadore C.C., North Bay, Ont.
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