SOME WILL LEAP FOR JOY, OTHERS WILL BE OUTRAGED.  But no one will remain unmoved by The Trouble with Canada, a book that challenges the political, economic, and cultural order of this nation.

In compelling, straight-to-the-mark fashion, William Gairdner demonstrates his conviction that Canada is caught between two irreconcilable styles of government, a "top-down" collectivism and a "bottom-up" individualism; he shows how Canadian society has been corrupted by a dangerous love affair with the former.

Part One, "Through the Looking Glass," provides an overview of the evolution of the political, economic, and cultural strength of the Canadian way of life and traces its erosion over time by popular misconceptions and misguided political activism's.   He looks at our once successful "bonus" system (the tools of freedom and wealth creation) and how it is being replaced by a "handicap" system (the socialist reaction to democratic capitalism).

Part Two, "The Shape We're In," examines the fallout: the great welfare ripoff; the waste in foreign-aid giveaways; radical feminism's attack on the family; the medical mediocrity of our health-care system; the politicization of the church; the take over of sport by the state; the threat to unity posed by our bilingualism and multi-culturalism policies; and Canada's badly flawed Constitution.  Through The Trouble With Canada one of our most thoughtful and impassioned citizens speaks out.  His message: We can regain popular democracy in our country.

* "Mr. Gairdner sees bright and clear what Canada so greatly needs, and his mobilizing passion wonderfully animates an analytical precision that should be the reason for a national - binational - celebration."