Boundaries between business and government are increasingly fluid and often transcended. Yet it remains important to acknowledge and make appropriate use of the fundamental differences between these sectors.

Five areas that offer the most critical challenges to business and government in Canada today are corporate governance, lobbying and influence, security and privacy, public-private partnerships, and geography and development. This book is an exploration of the systemic dynamics of the inter-sectoral governance that shape the collective performance of Canada's national jurisdiction. Three perspectives of the relational dynamics between business and government, drawn from leading Canadian scholars, are adopted in order to frame the examination of independence, influence, and interdependence.

This book makes a case for the advancement of “virtuous hybrids,” while pointing out the challenges that remain in terms of the formation and successful performance of such hybrids in Canada, a challenge that calls for political leadership as well as social learning. An informed and engaged public, wearing multiple hats (i.e. as voter, shareholder, employee, activist etc.) would be the ultimate arbiter of sectoral and collective performance.

Jeffrey Roy is associate professor in the School of Public Administration at Dalhousie University. He is the author of E-Government in Canada: Transformation for the Digital Age (University of Ottawa Press, 2006) and Business and Government in Canada (University of Ottawa Press, 2007).

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