Medicare was born in Saskatchewan on July 1, 1962. It would be the first publicly-funded, universal, comprehensive single-payer medical insurance plan in North America. It was a difficult birth. The North American medical establishment and the entire insurance industry were determined to stop Medicare in its tracks. They feared it would become popular and spread, and they were right. Within 10 years all of Canada was covered by a medical insurance system based on the Saskatchewan plan, and no serious politician would openly oppose it. This pamphlet summarizes the background and lessons of...

A booklet prepared to defend the rights of workers against restrictive labour legislation. Although used by the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour in their historic court case against the Saskatchewan government, the issues raised apply to the broader trade union movement.--- http: //nextyearcountrybooks.blogspot.ca/2011/12/test-one.html

Why do Christians believe what they believe? What is it about Christianity that makes us believe we have the one and only way to heaven? After all, would a loving and caring God actually send somebody to hell just because they happened to follow a teacher who got a few facts wrong? What about the area of science? How can we claim with confidence that the universe had a beginning and will have an end when renowned scientists and physicists have claimed that the universe is eternal? If there is no God, where do ethics and morality come from, and on what do we base our concept of right and...

The history, heritage, and architectural significance of Toronto's most notable theatres and movie houses. Movie houses first started popping up around Toronto in the 1910s and '20s, in an era without television and before radio had permeated every household. Dozens of these grand structures were built and soon became an important part of the cultural and architectural fabric of the city. A century later the surviving, defunct, and reinvented movie houses of Toronto's past are filled with captivating stories. Explore fifty historic Toronto movie houses and theaters, and discover their roles...

2017 Theatre Library Association Book Awards -- Nominated, Richard Wall Memorial Award
2017 Heritage Toronto Book Award -- Nominated

Slip once more into the back rows of the favourite movie theatres of your youth.

"Brought Back to Thrill You Again" was an advertisement employed by theatres to disguise that they were offering older films that were past their prime. In the 1950s a sign appeared outside Loew's Downtown (the Elgin) displaying these commonly used words. The theatre was screening Gone With the Wind, released in 1939. However, in this...

Toronto has long been a financial powerhouse in North America, and this is represented by its many grand bank buildings. Canada's capital may be Ottawa, but the financial power emanates from this thriving city, the fourth most populous in North America. Sites include: Toronto Harbour, Fort York, Queen's Quay Lighthouse, Toronto Island Ferries, Queen's Quay Terminal, Canadian National Exhibition, Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion, Princes' Gates, Royal York Hotel, Union Station, City Hall, St. Lawrence Market, St. James Cathedral, Canadian Pacific Building, Bank of Montreal, Dineen Building, Elgin...

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn found adventure on the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Tom Hudson and his friend "Shorty" discovered it in the secluded laneways and avenues of a deceptively quiet Toronto neighbourhood. Arse Over Teakettle is an intriguing tale of Tom Hudson's boyhood escapades in Toronto during the 1940s. He and his mischievous friend, Shorty, encounter eccentric characters such as Grumpy, an unconventional older man in the neighbourhood, and their fierce neighbour-Mrs. Leyer. Their confrontations with the Kramer Gang are sometimes painful and at other times hilarious. As...