National Business Book Award Unveils Long List

TORONTO, MARCH 1, 2016 — The long list for the National Business Book Award, one of Canada’s most prestigious literary awards, was announced today by co-sponsors PwC Canada and BMO Financial Group. The long list authors will vie for a $30,000 prize that will be awarded on April 21, 2016, to the author of the most outstanding Canadian business-related book published in 2015.

This year’s submissions cover a range of topics that reflect the conversations that are going on in Canadian businesses from the environment to technology to the economy. The six-member independent jury evaluates eligible nominations based on five key criteria including originality, relevance, excellence of writing, thoroughness of research and depth of analysis.

The long list for the National Business Book Award is:

• Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff, Losing the Signal: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Blackberry, published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. Losing the Signal covers the rise of Research in Motion and the transformative technology that changed the way people everywhere communicate with one another. Centred on the complex relationship between RIM’s founders, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the narrative provides many lessons about start-ups, early-stage financing, the stress of rapid growth, the imperative for high standards of corporate governance and professional management.
• David Mulroney, Middle Power, Middle Kingdom: What Canadians Need to Know About China in the 21^st Century, published by Allen Lane Canada (Penguin Random House Canada). David Mulroney, Canada’s former ambassador to China and a career diplomat, takes a hard look at the opportunities - and the hurdles - for Canada as China move forward economically and socially .Cutting right to the heart of the issue, Middle Power, Middle Kingdom is an inside account of how foreign policy works, and how policies must be changed if Canada is to prosper. 
• Jeff Rubin, The Carbon Bubble: What Happens to Us When it Bursts, published by Random House Canada. In The Carbon Bubble, Rubin argues that climate change could shift the focus on Canadian natural resources from oil to our water and our land. While Canada may not be an energy superpower in the future, it has the potential to become of one of the world's leading food providers.
• John Stackhouse, Mass Disruption: Thirty Years on the Front Lines of a Media Revolution, published by Random House Canada. The former editor of The Globe and Mail newspaper has written a book that chronicles the ongoing shift from print to digital journalism. He questions the long-term implications for democracy if there is no longer a robust fifth estate to demand truth from power.
• Kirstine Stewart, Our Turn, published by Random House Canada. In Our Turn, Stewart draws on her own leadership experience to tackle the conversation about women and work. The digital revolution, and the wave of millennials who are entering the work force with very different expectations than previous generations, requires a new style of leadership. In many cases, she posits, women have the skills and instincts that make them front-runners.
• William Watson, The Inequality Trap: Fighting Capitalism Instead of Poverty, published by The University of Toronto Press. The Inequality Trap is a thought-provoking economic treatise in which Watson argues that the traditional public policy focus on eradicating poverty is misdirected and damaging to the capitalist system.

The National Business Book Award jury is chaired by Peter Mansbridge, Chief Correspondent, CBC Television News. Other jurors include: William Dimma, Chairman Emeritus, Home Capital Group, Inc.; Deirdre McMurdy, Adjudicator; David Denison, businessman and Chair of Hydro One; author and publisher Anna Porter and The Honourable Pamela Wallin.

Celebrating its 31^st year, the National Business Book Award is an annual celebration of Canadian authors of extraordinary non-fiction business-related books. It continues to gain attention from not only the Canadian business world, but also publishers, authors, journalists, academics, economists and business leaders internationally.

The winner of the National Business Book Award will be announced on April 21, 2016 at a luncheon in Toronto hosted by PwC and BMO Financial Group.

Last year’s National Business Book Award winner was Alfred Hermida for his book Tell Everyone: Why We Share and Why it Matters.

About BMO Financial Group
Established in 1817, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services provider based in North America. With total assets of $699 billion as of January 31, 2016, and close to 47,000 employees, BMO provides a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

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To arrange an interview, please contact:

Mary Ann Freedman
Freedman & Associates Inc. for the National Business Book Award
Tel: 416 868 1500
Email: mafreedman@freedmanandassociates.com