ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Rama, Laureen / Wenzel, Caron, PUBLISHER: New Society Publishers, Many urban yards are essentially unproductive patches of grass, requiring constant attention for no return. Through sustainable, organic landscaping, these small or large plots of land can become part of the solution to today's environmental challenges. Eco-yards support the vision of a healthy, abundant planet in which beautiful, richly varied urban yards contribute to restoring the natural ecosystem. This inspiring and practical manual includes clear, easy-to-follow instructions for: designing and maintaining an eco-yardmaking your yard water-wiseunderstanding basic soil sciencereplacing your lawn with tree, shrub, and flower beds or hardy, low-maintenance grassgrowing vegetables in the eco-yard Visionary, hopeful and encouraging, "Eco-yards" is a must-read for anyone who wants to use environmentally sound practices when they garden, whether in a residential yard or on the balcony of a condo or high-rise apartment. If you're sick of the backyard battle, this book will show you how to work with nature instead of fighting it, using simple steps that apply practically anywhere to turn your yard into an eco-friendly sanctuary. Laureen Rama is a landscape designer whose lifelong passion is beautifying landscapes in ways that enhance the natural environment. She is the founder of Eco-Yards, which provides natural landscape design, installation, consultation, and education in Calgary, Alberta. Laureen has also worked as an international development educator, public involvement consultant, and a management consultant specializing in creativity.
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Hebert, Chantal, PUBLISHER: Vintage Books Canada, Chantal Hebert's first book is both a post-mortem of the Canadian federation that died on January , the night of the last federal election, as well as a brilliant examination of our changing political future, one that involves living with Quebec rather than just wooing it. On that night, award-winning political writer and broadcaster Chantal Hebert stood in a Calgary convention hall with Alberta Conservatives, who were raucously cheering the election of ten Tory MPs from Quebec. The Conservatives would not have gotten their man in office without Quebec, and now the future success of the Harper government hinges on turning this one-night stand into a long-term relationship. More than ten years ago, the Quebec-Alberta coalition cobbled together by Brian Mulroney dissolved, leading to the births of the Bloc Quebecois and the Reform Party. As a result, Alberta and Quebec took their marbles out of federal play, and Ontario got to run Canada. Have we now come full circle? By the time this book is published, the Liberal Party of Canada may have morphed into the Liberal Party of Ontario (or Toronto). And the Canadian Left will have chosen a camp in preparation for a decisive federal election battle. Provocative and always worth listening to, Chantal Hebert is at her savvy and insightful best in French Kiss. No Canadian can be truly informed on the subject of Canadian politics without the benefit of her non-partisan commentary. "From the Hardcover edition."
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Manning / Manning, Preston, PUBLISHER: McClelland & Stewart, He built a party from nothing to become Leader of the Opposition in just 14 years Preston Manning grew up in a political household but his first career choice was as a business consultant. It was only years later, when he sensed a rising discontent among fellow Westerners, that he decided the time was right to establish a reform movement. In the fall of , he wrote a memo in Calgary. In the spring of he addressed a meeting in Vancouver. In the fall the Reform Party's founding assembly was held in Winnipeg. And from then on the movement's progress was unstoppable. This is a candid account by Reform's founder, and the father of the Canadian Alliance, of the most extraordinary story in contemporary Canadian politics. Manning describes Reform's first battles: the election of "Senator-in-Waiting" Stan Waters, the grassroots campaign against the Charlottetown accord, and the hard-fought federal election. He frankly acknowledges some of his party's early missteps in Ottawa. But he also recounts with vigour the cynicism - and worse - that was evident in the behaviour of the governing Liberal party. Manning denounces Mr. Chretien's mishandling of the Quebec referendum. And he recapitulates in devastating detail the full story of Shawinigate. Manning describes the birth of the Canadian Alliance. He follows the agonizing growing pains it experienced under Stockwell Day's inept leadership and he considers what might have been. He is candid in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the party's current leadership. Of his own career - post-politics - he is cheerfully forward-looking: there is challenging terrain ahead and Preston Manning proposes to serve as an advance scout. This is a thoughtful, informed, sometimes surprisingly funny memoir by a man who has attained, by dint of his own extraordinary achievements, stature as a contemporary statesman. "From the Hardcover edition."