25th Anniversary Donner Prize awarded to Ryan Manucha for Booze, Cigarettes, and Constitutional Dust-Ups

The winner of the 2022 Donner Prize was announced on May 18, 2023, by Gregory Belton, Chair of the Donner Canadian Foundation, during a gala dinner in Toronto.

Ryan Manucha was awarded the $60,000 Donner Prize for Booze, Cigarettes, and Constitutional Dust-Ups: Canada’s Quest for Interprovincial Free Trade, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Booze, Cigarettes and Constitutional Dust-ups skillfully weaves together an understanding of international and domestic trade policy, a review of legal cases, history, and, refreshingly, considerations of the actual practical operations of tribunals and secretariats.

The Donner Prize Jury praised the book for “making internal free trade lively with clear explanations and relevant anecdotes, an excellent review of the development of internal trade policy, as well as guidance on future policy developments in the years to come. And, as importantly, a compelling and enjoyable read!”

The other nominated titles, each of which will receive $7,500, are:

Cooperation and Social Justice by Joseph Heath (University of Toronto Press)

Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology, and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias by John Lorinc (Coach House Books)

The Next Age of Uncertainty: How the World Can Adapt to a Riskier Future by Stephen Poloz (Allen Lane Canada)

Canadian Policing: Why and How It Must Change by Kent Roach (Delve Books)

The winner of the Donner Prize was selected by the six-member jury: Louise Fréchette (Jury Chair), Jean-Marie Dufour, Jack Mintz, Maureen O’Neil, Karen Restoule and Frederic Wien.

Jury Chair Fréchette commented “For twenty-five years now, the Donner Prize has been fostering and recognizing the research and analysis of the public policy questions that affect our daily lives, both personally and as a nation. We also strive to bring forward books that will assist policy makers in their decision-making, as well as being accessible to a wider readership, to extend the conversation. We are pleased that all the books on this year’s shortlist amply satisfy these criteria.”

The Donner Prize, established in 1998, annually rewards excellence and innovation in Canadian public policy thinking, writing and research. In bestowing this award, the Donner Canadian Foundation seeks to broaden policy debates, increase general awareness of the importance of policy decision-making and make an original and meaningful contribution to policy discourse.