The Big Shift: The Seismic Change In Canadian Politics , Business, And Culture And What It Means For Our Future [Hardcover]

I really like books that you can pick up and read easily and without getting bogged down in too much jargon. For a book on the very esoteric field of Canadian political ideology, "The Big Shift" does a great job.

I was able to pick this up and quickly understand the primary thesis, and read the fairly weighty text without problems. In fact, this has been written in a very conversational and passionate style that will appeal to most people who actually hope to read the books they purchase.

So first off, big points for being approachable and understandable.

Secondly, the big idea - "The Big Shift" is truly a big idea; meaning - the reader truly gets some intellectual meat here that is worth your time to take a couple hours and try to understand. Based on credible and simply presented demographic and survey research results - "The Big Shift" is about how the change in the makeup, size and location of the Canadian public is having a very "Big" impact on Canadian politics.

The central thesis is that Canada's massive yearly influx of new immigrants is substantially changing the nature of Canadian politics, from a regional, brokerage model that benefited the Liberal Party of Canada, to a more ideological model that has benefited the Conservative Party of Canada and could benefit Canada's New Democrats as well.

Thirdly, this book is a polemic. The authors go out of their way to challenge conventional wisdom. How can you not like that?

I like this thesis and find it very useful and relevant in my day to day understanding of Canadian politics.

Consequently, I think this is a very important book. I recommend it strongly for Canadian political junkies.

The book's thesis is simple. The locus of power in Canada is changing, in three ways: (1) The West is gaining in population and wealth, and so its voice is much stronger, relative to the East (2) Middle class suburbanites, especially the belt around Toronto, are more concerned with economic issues than with cultural issues or social justice, and so are aligning with the West (3) Immigrants, mostly from Asia, are also aligning with this coalition. This marks a major shift from traditional values advanced by the "Laurentian elite", i.e. the traditional ruling class from Ontario and Quebec -- who have downplayed economic issues and focussed instead on keeping Quebec happy, protecting Canadian society from American influences, and loudly proclaiming Canada's moral superiority, at home and abroad.

According to the authors,the Conservativ4es "get it", and that is why they have been able to get elected. They will rule until the other parties also get it, and tailor their electoral platforms to appeal to the new Canadian values. This doesn't mean that they have to move to the right or abandon social objectives. But they must recast these to appeal to the changing electorate.

The authors also stress the importance of continued immigration as Canada ages and the birth rate remains below the replacement level. They welcome the new emphasis on receiving immigrants who can contribute to the economy, rather than refugees and family reunification. Again, this illustrates changing priorities, from the social and humanitarian to the economic.

The book is an easy read and quite funny at times, as the authors lampoon the ruling elites, and the press, and others who keep hoping that all these changes will go away as Canadians return to their senses. The tone can become a bit strident at times. However,the analysis is perceptive and well worth while.

I would have thought that what the authors say is well known, indeed obvious. However, a glance at today's newspaper columnists shows that many are still in denial as to the power shifts that the authors describe. They will probably denounce this book. Too bad.

This read pretty well. The core thesis is nothing new - but it was cogently laid out and might make new reading for the people who've had their head in the sand since 2004 when Paul Martin was reduced to a minority.

What struck me, however, was that the authors spent almost as much effort trying to establish that there actually is a Canadian elite as they did on the Big Shift itself (although they did it through repetition rather than through any compelling evidence). It is almost as if they wanted to make consensus Liberals feel better about the Harper government by awarding them 'elite status' retroactively like some sort of Air Canada customer inducement program.

And this is where the book loses points for my part. In trying to account for a change in status quo, the authors posit that the pre-Big Shift Canada as a much bigger and consequential country than it actually ever was, with far more international clout and culture than it ever has had or will have. Don't get me wrong, I love living here and would never want to live elsewhere but we are a small nation. Rightly or wrongly, the Big Shift is an unimaginative, but realistic, view of Canada, its roles and its dependencies. They stopped short of saying that the 'Laurentian Consensus' also had a large element of make-believe about a Canada that really never existed except in their minds when the economy was vast and robust.

All to say, their description is well-crafted enough to make this shift seem a whole lot bigger than it actually is. Two fairly Liberal authors don the hair shirt and condemn their own kind in some sort of uncalled for act of contrition.

The question is are they describing the new normal or a major blip? This is something I would have liked to see discussed more and I really hope they do a second edition after the 2015 election.