Who We Are, In a Nutshell

Who We Are tackles issues and debates that are at the core of Canadians’ conversations about the future of their country...

Civic Literacy
Recent polling conducted by the Dominion Institute (of which the author is the co-founder) showed half of all Canadians incorrectly believe the Prime Minister is elected directly by the voters. Who We Are documents the origins of Canada’s growing civic literacy crisis and its impacts on the major issues facing the country. The book also provides a road map for how schools, governments and parents can succeed in educating Canada’s young people about the country’s history, civic traditions and the responsibilities of our shared citizenship.

Dual Citizenship
The number of Canadian dual citizens is exploding. In addition to up 2.5 million dual citizens living aboard Who We Are features new polling research by Ipsos-Reid which shows that up to three-quarters of a million Canadian born adults have sought out and acquired a second nationality. Who We Are poses a novel set of solutions to the challenges dual citizenship presents to fostering an enduring sense civic obligation to each other and Canada.

Immigration
Poverty rates are continuing to rise among new arrivals with up a third a recent immigrant families living at or below the low income cut off. Equally worrying, upwards of 40% of skilled male immigrant workers are leaving Canada permanently within ten years – a trend that will only worsen in the current recession. Who We Are sets out a series of practical ideas to get the immigration system working for newcomers and the Canadian economy.

Other issues and debates explored in Who We Are:
How climate change is fuelling regional alienation and the threats it poses to national unity.
Exploration of six founding principles that have shaped our national character since the 1800s.
Why the aging of our population is one of the greatest challenges facing Canada today.
An argument for why mandatory national service could be the country’s last and best hope.
Personal testimony of the allure and ultimate pitfall of being a Canadian-born dual citizen.