What shapes our ideas about northern territories? How should a new government tackle
its first term in office? How can political ideals thrive in a homogenized global
marketplace? How can honourable relations be created between the different cultures of
natives and settlers?
These are the types of questions asked and answered by Tony Penikett, a former Yukon
Premier and a writer who kept writing during an almost accidental political career that
lasted a quarter of a century. He brings both the writer's eye and the insider's insight to
events at the local, national and international levels.
Early essays reflect on the forces that have shaped the North and on creating one's own
political compass. Later work focuses on balancing the complexities of power: economy
and environment, European and aboriginal, regional and national, principles and
practicalities. A writer's sense of humour appears, too, when describing the "politics of
moose" to his constituents or his life as "a meeting man" to his children.