A great book often leaves room for very different interpretations. In this dual review, OHASSTA’s Vice Presidents, Butch Rickeard and Meghan Cameron dive into The Prime Ministers: Canada’s Leaders and the Nation they Shaped by J.D.M Stewart to offer their individual takes on it.
Beyond the Podium: A Fair-Minded Deep Dive into Canada’s Prime Ministers
By Butch Rickeard
This second examination of Canada’s leaders takes a more thorough look, examining each PM’s time in office and their key issues under fair historical analysis. The time spent on relations between prime ministers and Indigenous Peoples is well-timed for today’s discussions about Truth and Reconciliation. The pressures on prime ministers and the decisions they are forced to make are well examined in a national and international analysis. The debate over conscription during the First World War? A new Canadian flag? Free trade with the U.S in 1988? It’s all here.
Overall, after reading these chapters on each PM, readers will have a more thorough understanding of their time in office using strong historical analysis including pros and cons of each leader’s legacy. Stewart quotes Peter C. Newman in his introduction, saying “every hour a prime minister spends in that office is an hour in his country’s history.” This book demonstrates that it’s true. The chapters can be used in a variety of contexts for teachers and can stand alone in analysis for a variety of pedagogical techniques to extract key points. Teachers will enjoy the strong modelling of historical thinking and inquiry skills as an exemplar of solid research techniques.
I highly recommend the book for all Canadian History teachers; it will be a great reference tool (it has a 17-page index) for key issues and a fine example of fair historical analysis.
The Prime Ministers: A Essential Resource for Modern Canadian History Teachers
By Meghan Cameron
“Prime ministers offer an important entry into many issues in Canadian history. As Peter C. Newman wrote, ‘an hour in the office of the prime minister is an hour in the history of the country.’ We know that leadership matters, and the consequences of leadership are key matters for students to grapple with.” (J.D.M. Stewart, The Prime Ministers, 2026)
J.D.M. Stewart is a former high school history teacher who has a mission to increase our literacy about Canadian history. In his most recent book, he has produced a comprehensive overview of the political leadership of this country with The Prime Ministers: Canada’s Leaders and the Nation They Shaped (Sutherland House, 2026). The book does a very good job of providing a balanced assessment of every prime minister this country has had, including challenging some past historians’ claims about each person’s contribution to Canadian identity and history.
There is an emphasis on each person’s environmental legacy and their relationship with and impact on Indigenous peoples in this country. This is a refreshing approach that considers our present concerns, put in historical context. The further away we get from each prime minister, the more is written. So, with more recent leaders, Stewart provides plenty of opportunities for further study and analysis by subsequent scholars and students.
This book can also be used as a teaching tool to show students how historiography is done as each chapter references the works of past scholars on each prime minister with some discussion of their approach.
The index is searchable, making it another excellent resource for teachers and students alike. This allows the book to be read in whole or used in sections. Each chapter stands on its own and can be used in a variety of pedagogical contexts: individual study, whole-class discussion, station activities. The chapters can be used in whole or in part and are written almost formulaically which provides teachers with an effective tool for differentiation.
Whether you are a new or veteran history teacher, this book is an invaluable resource to refresh your approach to teaching political history to young people.
From the author: “I think this book will be very useful for teachers of Grade 10 Canadian History. Much of the content aligns with curriculum expectations, including environmental history and the government’s relationship with Indigenous peoples. I am grateful to the Canadian Institute for Historical Education for sponsoring this initiative to get a useful resource into the hands of teachers and students.”
These books are free to teachers across Canada. If you would like one for your school or department, please use this link.
The author will also be an exhibitor at this year’s OHASSTA Fall Conference with books available free of charge.
