This book would not exist without the help and support of my editor and publisher at HarperCollins, Patrick Crean; his wife, author Susan Swan; and my friend Janice Zawerbny, now fiction editor at the House of Anansi. Janice and Patrick saved the book when the company that had contracted for it in 2013 went out of the book business. Tilman Lewis did an amazing job of copy editing. Any mistakes are mine, though whatever embarrassment I might feel is tempered by the knowledge that Tilman caught some real whoppers that I’m very glad didn’t make it into the book.
There are quite a few people in Ottawa who should be thanked. Things get tricky here. I had a lot of help, encouragement, and a few arguments with people working for Stephen Harper and in senior roles in some ministerial offices. I’ve also come to know and like a number of Tory senators. They may not appreciate a big shout-out, so I’m afraid I will have to thank them personally.
The same goes for friends in the bureaucracy and the military. I’ve been lucky to know some brilliant members of the Canadian Forces and the public service, and some of these people have helped me to put issues in focus.
There are some people whom I will thank personally: Kevin Page, Munir Sheikh, Alex Himelfarb, Pat Stogran, Katie Gibbs, Ken Rubin, Michael Ignatieff, Michael Marzolini, Robert MacBain, and Maria Minna.
I appreciate the help of Ian McDonald and the rest of the staff of the Library of Parliament, who hunted facts, books and articles without complaint and with a very high level of dedication.
I also appreciate the help, support and ideas of colleagues and friends Tom Korski, Glen McGregor, Steve Maher (who read the manuscript and helped with details on the robocalls scandal), Jonathan Kay, Derek Finkle, Kaven Baker-Voakes, Courtney Towers, Paul MacLeod, Kathryn May, Kady O’Malley, Susan Delacourt, Paul Delahanty, E. Kaye Fulton, Tim Naumetz, Dayanti Karunaratne, Fateema Sayani, Sarah Brown, Mark Weisblott and Christopher Guly. Also Michael Osman, M.J. Sheppard, John Bell, Mike McCaffrey, Ian Harvey, Rick Donnelly, Elizabeth McLoughlin, Noah Richler, Stevie Cameron, Michael Dorland, Vince Mosco, Christopher Waddell, Sean Holman, David Hayes and especially Lawrence Martin.
And I’d love to thank my family. My wife, Marion, and I had to develop a sort of wall between her professional life as a lawyer working for the federal government and this project. That meant I didn’t ask questions or draw her into the project. However, writing this book was an exhausting, stressful and sometimes depressing exercise, and she helped me through moments when I felt overwhelmed. She, along with our children, Maia, Ian and Megan, are always the rock upon which my life is built, and I am always grateful to them.