Following his appointment by Premier Brian Peckford in 1985 to chair a Royal Commission on Employment and Unemployment, Douglas House was seconded to head the Economic Recovery Commission in 1989. This body was formed during the premiership of Clyde Wells to address the need for significant social and economic reform in Newfoundland and Labrador. In the process of initiating this restructuring, however, House was struck by the unyielding strength of the bureaucratic barriers of provincial government.

Against the Tide is House's account of the commission's seven years of...