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"Something within me: a personal and political memoir"

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The late Honourable Michael Wilson was a Canadian politician and business professional. As Minister of Finance under Brian Mulroney, Wilson was one of the key negotiators of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement – one of Canada’s most important economic agreements in the last 50 years, later superseded by NAFTA. In addition, Wilson was responsible for implementing the controversial Goods and Services Tax (GST), which remains key to the federal government today. After his life in Parliament, Wilson served as Ambassador to the United States and Chancellor of the University of Toronto. Outside of politics, Wilson was active in raising awareness of mental health issues following the traumatic loss of his son, Cameron, to suicide. Devoting considerable time to advocacy, he established the Cameron Parker Holcombe Wilson Chair in Depression Studies at the University of Toronto and served as Board Chair for the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Something within Me highlights how Wilson’s personal life blended with his political life and accomplishments, detailing his advocacy for mental health awareness as well his involvement in important pieces of legislation that made significant impacts in Canadian political and economic history. These deeply personal stories, particularly those of a father grappling with his son’s illness and death, remind us of the lives behind the political personas that shape our world.

352 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2022

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Michael Wilson

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
782 reviews15 followers
March 31, 2022

This is an engaging chronicle of the extraordinary life of Michael Wilson. It's an inspiring story about an incredible man.
Many Canadians will remember him as one of the politicians who instituted the GST in the 1990's and negotiated the US Canada Free Trade Agreement which morphed into NAFTA. His many accomplishments on behalf of Canada have proven to be long lasting, particularly the trade deals with the United States.
Throughout his life he often followed what he called "the path less travelled". For example, at the beginning of his working life when he was headed for a career in the investment industry, he faced the choice between going to Harvard for a MBA or accepting a 2-year internship at the Canadian Department of Finance in Ottawa. He accepted the latter out of a sense of public duty, wanting to get involved in making public policy. This inclination continued throughout his life, first going into politics, then back to the investment world before becoming Canadian Ambassador to the US. After his ambassadorship ended he returned to business life and academia as the Chancellor of the University of Toronto. Throughout his life he fulfilled his parents advice to give back through charitable work.
He had a strong sense of family especially in face of his busy work life. Unfortunately, he suffered the tragedy of the premature death of a child. Chapter 12 entitled "Cameron" is introduced by the book's prologue. Together they must be read as poignant reflections on an important event in his life, which caused him to become a strong advocate for acceptance of mental illness.
His comments about Canada's relationship with the United States reflecting his time "at the embassy" in Washington are timely in light of the turmoil of the Trump presidency.
The book's written in a low key, dignified style, with a narrative that is conversational and full of anecdotes. There's many words of wisdom scattered throughout the book. For example one that he attributes to former Prime Minister Mulroney is that you can disagree with someone without being disagreeable. Originally, Wilson wrote it with his grandchildren in mind to share with them his heritage, his values and life outlook. As things progressed, the perspective was changed for a general audience. It is published posthumously.
It's an inspiring story well worth reading.
I received a complementary advance reading copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley for my unsolicited review.
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122 reviews9 followers
September 5, 2022
An interesting biographical story of one of Canada's premier finance ministers. Whether you subscribe to Mr. Wilson's politics or not, you cannot argue that he had an outstanding impact on the Canadian economy. The implementation of the GST (now HST) taxation model brought many years of budgetary surpluses long after leaving his post.

Michael Wilson gives rare insights into the almost 10 year Mulroney government and major policy impacts like the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement.

His championing of mental health awareness and even just the glances into his personality and personal life were interesting and in my opinion, such an open truthfulness is rarely seen in Canadian political biographies.

This book will make an interesting addition to any Canadian's political collection of books and will be a must-read in the Spring/Summer of 2022. Highly recommended.

Thank you to the University of Toronto Press, the publisher; and to Net Galley for an advance copy in return for my honest opinion. I have not received any compensation nor interference in the posting of my review which remains my truthful thoughts on this book.
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