This richly detailed biography illustrates how a determined Canadian seeking justice created an enduring legacy. Through vigorous battles, Jim McRuer’s passion for justice was translated into laws that daily touch and protect the lives of millions today. James Chalmers McRuer was not easy to get along with or even much liked by many lawyers who dubbed him ’Vinegar Jim.’ Yet countless others saw him as heroic, inspirational, a man above and apart from his times. His resolute focus on justice changed the lives of married women with no property rights, children without legal protection, aboriginals caught in the whipsaw of traditional hunting practices and imposed game laws, and prisoners locked away and forgotten. Environmental degradation and those causing it, murderers, stock fraud artists and Cold War spies all came within the ambit of J. C. McRuer’s sharp legal mind and passion for justice. Upon turning 75, McRuer embarked on his most important work of all, becoming Canada’s greatest law reformer and remaining active into his 90s.

A Passion for Justice: How 'Vinegar Jim' McRuer Became Canada's Greatest Law Reformer

Biographies & Memoirs

Boyer, J. Patrick

Professionals & Academics

Blue Butterfly

Justices of the peace, constables, and game wardens from the late 19th century are brought to vivid life interacting with a variety of accused citizens. 
Rare views of human lives in turmoil are revealed in several hundred trials conducted in 1890s Muskoka by Magistrate James Boyer of Bracebridge. The charges and evidence show how raw life really was in Canada’s frontier towns, with cases ranging from nostalgic and humorous to pitiable and deeply disturbing. While dispensing speedy justice, Boyer, who was also town clerk and editor of the Northern Advocate, the first newspaper in Ontario’s northern districts, kept a careful record in his handwritten "bench book" of all these cases. That bench book, recently found by his great-grandson, lawyer J. Patrick Boyer, provides the raw material for Raw Life. This first-time publication of the these cases demonstrates how, in Canadian society, some things haven’t changed much over the years – from early road rage to the plight of abused women, from environmental contamination to punitive treatment of the poor.

Raw Life: Cameos of 1890s Justice from a Magistrate's Bench Book

Historical

Dundurn Press

A local library, passport to a larger world for its individual patrons, is also a democratic institution whose contribution to the strength of a community is out of all proportion to its size or membership. Several thousand Carnegie libraries were built a century ago when Andrew Carnegie, who had risen from poverty to become "the richest man in the world" vowed to donate all his money before he died and set about giving millions of people around the world the same "gift of reading" he had with access to a library as a factory working boy. Across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other corners of the English-speaking world, he created "the free republic" of libraries. This is the story of one of them. By tracing evolution of library service in the Canadian town of Bracebridge from 1874 to the present day within the broad sweep of larger cultural and economic patterns, Boyer’s engaging book provides a specific example of the universal transformation of books and information technologies and the libraries that house them from the 19th to 21st centuries. Most readers will find endearing and tantalizing parallels with their own library experience, wherever they live. Written to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Andrew Carnegie Library in Bracebridge in 2008, Boyer’s book is an inspired and engaging effort to show patterns and perils that probably hold true for most local libraries although some of the dramatic and comedic episodes here are surely unique. This story is so rich it could be a feature movie.

Local Library, Global Passport: The Evolution of a Carnegie Library

History

Americas

A local library, passport to a larger world for its individual patrons, is also a democratic institution whose contribution to the strength of a community is out of all proportion to its size or membership. Several thousand Carnegie libraries were built a century ago when Andrew Carnegie, who had risen from poverty to become "the richest man in the world" vowed to donate all his money before he died and set about giving millions of people around the world the same "gift of reading" he had with access to a library as a factory working boy. Across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other corners of the English-speaking world, he created "the free republic" of libraries. This is the story of one of them. By tracing evolution of library service in the Canadian town of Bracebridge from 1874 to the present day within the broad sweep of larger cultural and economic patterns, Boyer’s engaging book provides a specific example of the universal transformation of books and information technologies and the libraries that house them from the 19th to 21st centuries. Most readers will find endearing and tantalizing parallels with their own library experience, wherever they live. Written to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Andrew Carnegie Library in Bracebridge in 2008, Boyer’s book is an inspired and engaging effort to show patterns and perils that probably hold true for most local libraries although some of the dramatic and comedic episodes here are surely unique. This story is so rich it could be a feature movie.

Muskokans Fight the Great War Striking Back for the Empire, 1914-1918

A young law clerk from England falls in love in 19th-century New York and reinvents himself in Canada. 
Quiet Isaac Jelfs led many lives: a scapegoated law clerk in England; a soldier in the mad Crimean War; a lawyer on swirling Broadway Avenue in New York. His escape from each was wrapped in deep secrecy. He eventually reached Canada, in 1869, with a new wife and a changed name. In his new home — the remote wilderness of Muskoka — he crafted yet another persona for himself. In Another Country, Another Life, his great-grandson traces that long-hidden journey, exposing Isaac Jelfs’ covered tracks and the reasons for his double life.

Another Country, Another Life: Calumny, Love, and the Secrets of Isaac Jelfs

An inside account of the Progressive Conservative’s campaign organization. The Progressive Conservative Party’s “big blue machine” pioneered electoral techniques of centralized control, communications, campaign advertising, polling, policy-presentation, and fund-raising. Inspired by Dalton Camp and Norman Atkins, its widespread yet close-knit network of organizers and specialists changed how Canadian campaigns were fought, even as their “political machine” transformed Canadian public life itself. J. Patrick Boyer’s behind-the-scenes account reveals how and why the blue machine’s campaign innovations (most imported from the U.S.) transformed Canadian politics forever. Boyer’s direct experience in these changes, and interviews with key players from Tory backrooms, enrich his authentic and timely account. This saga of the formidable campaign organization operating inside the Progressive Conservative Party for more than four decades shows why the big blue machine deservedly became a Canadian political legend.

The Big Blue Machine: How Tory Campaign Backrooms Changed Canadian Politics Forever

The Hill Times: Best Books of 2017 Unique views from John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Indira Gandhi, and dozens of other world leaders reveal Canada and Canadians through their eyes. During the First World War, foreign leaders began addressing Canadians in our House of Commons and, ever since, have continued influencing how we think about our role in global affairs. For a century now, this parade of world figures has brought urgent messages about Canada’s importance in world wars, the United Nations, Cold War security, decolonization and modernization, advancing human rights, environmental conservation, and combating terrorism. All of the foreign leaders addressing Canada’s parliament sought to forge new partnerships between their own countries and ours in a rapidly evolving global context. Over the decades these speeches chart the stunning transformation of international affairs and Canada’s place in the world. No other source provides a complete record of this body of high-level oratory, gathered here for the first time in Foreign Voices in the House.

Foreign Voices in the House: A Century of Addresses to Canada's Parliament by World Leaders

A mood of anger with the political system has been stirring across Canada; yet rather than turning away from the system, many Canadians are actually seeking a greater say in matters that affect them. they want to become more effective participants in the political process. In this timely book, Patrick Boyer examines the important role that direct democracy -- through the occasional use of referendums, plebscites, and inniatives -- can play in concert with our existing institutions of representative democracy. This concept is not alien to our country, says Boyer, pointing to the two national plebiscites (on prohibition of alcohol in 1898 and consciption for overseas military service in 1942), some sixty provincial plebscites (on everything from sovereignty-association to abortion, medicare to women's suffrage, prohibition to ownership of power companies), and several thousand at the municipal level. Direct voting is an important instrument in a truly democratic society, Boyer argues, and it has a more important rold in the current reformation of Canada than some in the comfortable growing governing classes want to admit. In addition to clarifying an issue, it is an educational tool, as the plebiscite campaign becomes a national teach-in. Canadians can become participants, rathe rthan mere spectators, in the major changes and transcending isues that affect the future of our country. The People's Mandate is a helpful guide to understanding the distinctions between plebiscites and referendums in a purely Canadian context. It addresses some of the concerns about this unparliamentary practice, and makes a powerful and logical statement about democracy. In sum, Boyer believes it is essential to govern with the trust of the people.

The People's Mandate: Referendums and a More Democratic Canada

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Direct Democracy in Canada: The History and Future of Referendums surveys Canada’s century-long record of plebiscites and referendums. J. Patrick Boyer analyzes the effects of the three national referendums and the development of a consensus. This companion volume to The People’s Mandate studies some of the major provincial and municipal referendums, examines existing legal frameworks and speculates on the future of direct democracy in Canada.

Direct Democracy in Canada: The History and Future of Referendums

Legal Theory & Systems

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Boyer, J. Patrick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Boyer, J. Patrick

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Boyer, J. Patrick. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Passion for Justice: How 'Vinegar Jim' McRuer Became Canada's Greatest Law Reformer

Raw Life: Cameos of 1890s Justice from a Magistrate's Bench Book

Local Library, Global Passport: The Evolution of a Carnegie Library

Local Library, Global Passport: The Evolution of a Carnegie Library

Muskokans Fight the Great War Striking Back for the Empire, 1914-1918

Another Country, Another Life: Calumny, Love, and the Secrets of Isaac Jelfs

The Big Blue Machine: How Tory Campaign Backrooms Changed Canadian Politics Forever

Foreign Voices in the House: A Century of Addresses to Canada's Parliament by World Leaders

The People's Mandate: Referendums and a More Democratic Canada

Direct Democracy in Canada: The History and Future of Referendums