INCREASE IN DONNER PRIZE MONIES AND 2003 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS ANNOUNCED BY DONNER CANADIAN FOUNDATION
THE HON. DONALD S. MACDONALD JOINS 2003 JURY

TORONTO, OCTOBER 10, 2003 -
Allan Gotlieb, Chairman of the Donner Canadian Foundation, announced today that the winner of the Donner Prize, the award for best book on Canadian public policy, will now receive $30,000, an increase of $5,000 from last year. Five titles will now be selected as finalists and, for the first time, all finalists will receive $5,000 each. "We were so impressed with the strong group of books submitted last year that we have increased the prize monies to convey how serious we are in our commitment to encouraging excellence in public policy writing about subjects affecting Canadians," said Mr. Gotlieb. "By concentrating on a reduced shortlist of five titles and rewarding each book individually, we are able to focus on the very best of all the submissions and demonstrate to the public the value and importance we place on the ideas contained in these books."
Mr. Gotlieb also announced the official Call for Submissions for the sixth annual Donner Prize and welcomed new jury member, the Hon. Donald S. Macdonald. "Mr. Macdonald is one of Canada's greatest public servants," said Mr. Gotlieb, "and we will benefit greatly from his insight, knowledge and judgment".

The Donner Canadian Foundation, one of Canada's largest foundations, designed the prize to encourage increased research into public policy in Canada and to promote the discussion of policy issues in the public arena. In giving this annual award, the Foundation seeks to not only broaden policy debate, but also to increase general awareness of the importance of policy discourse.

Books submitted for the prize should have a Canadian focus on public policy issues, for example: regulatory and legal reform, public finance, the environment, urban affairs, health care, education reform and social policy. Submissions must be written by Canadian citizens, but they may be published by non-Canadian publishing houses, so long as the books have implications for Canada. For the 2003 prize, books that are written by Canadians in either English or French, between January 1, and December 31, 2003, are eligible.

Last year's winner of the $25,000 Donner Prize was John F. Helliwell for his thought-provoking book GLOBALIZATION & WELL-BEING published by UBC Press. The two runner-up books, which were awarded $10,000 each, were TAKEN BY STORM: The Troubled Science, Policy and Politics of Global Warming by Christopher Essex and Ross McKitrick (Key Porter Books) and WHO GETS IN: What's Wrong With Canada's Immigration Program - And How to Fix It by Daniel Stoffman (Macfarlane Walter & Ross).

The jury for the 2003 Donner Prize is a distinguished group of academics and business people from across Canada. The jury will be chaired by Grant Reuber, Senior Advisor and Director, Sussex Circle; Senior Fellow, C.D. Howe Institute; and former Chairman, Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation. His fellow jurors are Paul Boothe, Professor and Director of the Institute for Public Economics at the University of Alberta and former Deputy Minister for the province of Saskatchewan; Claude E. Forget, Consultant and former Minister of Health for the Quebec government and former Chairman of the Commission of Enquiry on Unemployment Insurance; and Elizabeth Parr-Johnston, Consultant and former President of the University of New Brunswick and of Mount St. Vincent University.

First elected to the House of Commons in 1962, new jury member The Hon. Donald S. Macdonald served as Member of Parliament for sixteen years, nine of them as Minister, holding in succession, the portfolios of Government House Leader, Minister of National Defence, Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources and Minister of Finance. From 1982 to 1985, Mr. Macdonald chaired the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada (the Macdonald Commission); from 1988 to 1991 he was Canadian High Commissioner to Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, as of 2002, is Senior Advisor, Public Policy of Lang Michener.

The deadline for submissions for this year's prize is November 30. A shortlist will be announced late March 2004, and the winner will be proclaimed at a gala dinner in Toronto in April 2004.

For further information or to book an interview, please contact:
Sherry Naylor
Meisner Publicity (Toronto)
Phone: (416) 368-8253