B.W. Powe’s visionary work of political philosophy dares to re-imagine Canada. First conceived in 1993, this fully revised, expanded, updated edition, complete with an inspired new introduction that considers Canada in a post-9/11 context, is a landmark book that has become a classic text for understanding the work-in-progress that is Canada.

Countering George Grant’s pessimistic Lament for a Nation, which defined the intellectual climate in Canada for decades, Powe argues that our country is in fact a completely original model of what an enlightened polity might be for the 21st century. Here is a passionately inspired portrait of Canada as a communication state – a counter-nation of loose ties and subtle associations where dialogue, ideas, debate and the exchange of information is the currency that holds us lightly together. Towards a Canada of Light points to the urgent realization of a new and liberating way of what it means to be Canadian.

Bruce W. Powe is a Professor of Humanities at York University. He is the author of a number of influential books including The Solitary Outlaw and A Climate Charged, as well as the novel Outage and a book of poetry The Unsaid Passing.

Bruce W. Powe's profile page

A new vision of Canada, freed of borders and race.

John Ralston Saul

Gloriously poetic…. Read aloud to anyone you love.

The Victoria Sun

When I read the first few pages of A Canada of Light I had to put the book down to catch my breath… a soaring alchemical vision.

Pico Iyer, author of Cuba and the Night and The Global Soul

Exciting, demanding, and pathbreaking… a bold new answer to questions about Canada.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau

An innovative view… a challenging meditation.

The Edmonton Journal

Powe has discovered the roots of an informal Canadian democracy and shows is its poetry and wonder.

The Toronto Star