National Network for Equitable Library Service

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau squared off on September 28, 2015, in Toronto, for the first-ever federal election debate on Canada’s foreign policy.Too often, foreign policy issues have been afterthoughts in federal election campaigns. Now, for the first time, Canadians will have the opportunity to see the three federal party leaders recognized in Parliament defend their foreign policy visions for the country in a nationally televised debate. From the war against terror to Canada-U.S.

George Grant -- philosopher, conservative, Canadian nationalist -- was one of Canada's most significant thinkers and the author of Lament for a Nation. In Technology and Empire, Grant reflects on the extent to which technology has shaped our modern culture.

Award-winning novelist and critic Andre Alexis explores worlds with names such as Henry James, Maupassant, and Kawabata, trying, like any traveller, to faithfully convey what he sees and feels in those places while giving a convincing portrait of himself. At the same time, Beauty and Sadness is an autobiography. Alexis's intent is to give a sense of what it is like to live ecstatically through literature -- what it is like to read Tolstoy and feel that The Death of Ivan Ilych, for instance, is connected to the land of his birth, Trinidad, as intimately as it is to his home, Canada.

The year was 2000. The alternative music scene had all but died, and pre-packaged pop stars had filled the vacuum. But in a basement apartment in the heart of downtown Toronto, two musicians were forming a creative partnership that would revive the mass appeal of indie music and forever change how we think of a band.

Award-winning journalist, author, and royal authority John Fraser explores the endurance and allure of the Crown in Canada. With his trademark wit and artful agility, Fraser looks at the Crown's evolution from the Age of Deference to the era of celebrity to the present popular revival. He examines the differences between tribal monarchy and constitutional monarchy, the key roles of the governor general and the lieutenant governor, and the media's insatiable appetite for the Royal Family.

"Torngat Sketches" is Sarah Leavitt's contribution to Northwords, a cross-platform project that takes urban Canadian writers to some of the world's most extreme environments. Introduced by award-winning journalist and radio personality Shelagh Rogers, Northwords is a collection of stories written by acclaimed Canadian authors as they experienced one of Canada’s most awe-inspiring northern national parks Torngat Mountains National Park, the country’s newest national park, and a place steeped in geological and human history.

"Homeland" is Alissa York's contribution to Northwords, a cross-platform project that takes urban Canadian writers to some of the world’s most extreme environments. Introduced by award-winning journalist and radio personality Shelagh Rogers, Northwords is a collection of stories written by acclaimed Canadian authors as they experienced one of Canada’s most awe-inspiring northern national parks Torngat Mountains National Park, the country’s newest national park, and a place steeped in geological and human history.

Toronto's Rochdale College began as an educational ideal, an experiment in living and learning, a place where open classes and unstructured seminars could liberate higher education from its shackles. Rochdale ended after seven incredible years in drug raids, overdoses, and police surveillance, but it is remembered as Canadas most controversial symbol of the 1960s. The fascinating story of Rochdale's rise and fall is told in this well-researched, entertaining book.

"Wabusk Outside the Wire / Nanook Looking In" is Joseph Boyden's contribution to Northwords, a cross-platform project that takes urban Canadian writers to some of the world's most extreme environments.

In their book Glorious & Free, authors and creative directors Kim Bozak and Rita Field-Marsham are redefining how Canadians see themselves by shining a light on thirty-three daring individuals who, through the way they lead their lives, are revealing the most beautiful thing about this country: that here individuals are free to be whoever they dream themselves to be so long as they are courageous enough to embrace it.