University of Toronto professor Dan Breznitz wins $60K policy book prize

TORONTO — The Writers’ Trust of Canada has named University of Toronto professor Dan Breznitz the inaugural winner of the $60,000 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy.

The new annual award, backed by former BlackBerry chief executive Jim Balsillie, recognizes a non-fiction book shaping Canadian discourse about public policy.

Breznitz received the honour at a private Toronto dinner on Tuesday for “Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World,” published by Oxford University Press.

The book examines how policy-makers prioritize invention over innovation to the detriment of their communities.

In their citation, the jury said Breznitz “offers advice for leaders at all levels: you don’t have to invent it; you do, however, have to bring it to market in a better way.”

The runners-up, who each received $5,000, include former MP Jody Wilson-Raybould for “‘Indian’ in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power,” published by HarperCollins Canada; Globe and Mail health columnist André Picard for “Neglected No More: The Urgent Need to Improve the Lives of Canada’s Elders in the Wake of a Pandemic,” from Random House Canada; and Victoria journalist Gregor Craigie for “On Borrowed Time: North America’s Next Big Quake,” published by Goose Lane Editions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2021.

The Canadian Press