Author of fifteen previous books, James Laxer is a professor of political science at York University in Toronto. He is well known for his frequent media appearances and newspaper columns. In 1988, he won a Gemini award for his work on Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada, a series of NFB films. Long active on the left, Laxer was a leader of the Waffle Movement in the NDP, and in 1971, he ran second to David Lewis for the national leadership of the party. His most recent book is The Border: Canada, the US and the Dispatches from the 49th Parallel. A devoted runner, he takes to the road six days a week.