In this new and updated edition, the authors once again examine policy making in one of the most significant areas of activity in the Canadian economy – natural resources and the environment – and discuss the evolution of resource policies from the early era of exploitation to the present era of resource and environmental management.

Using an integrated political economy and policy perspective, the book provides an analytic framework from which the foundation of ideological perspectives, administrative structures, and substantive issues are explored. Departing from traditional approaches that emphasize a single discipline or perspective, it offers an interdisciplinary framework with which to think through ecological, political, economic, and social issues. It also provides a multi-stage analysis of policy making from agenda setting through the evaluation process. The integration of social science perspectives and the combination of theoretical and empirical work make this innovative book one of the most comprehensive analyses of Canadian natural resource and environmental policy to date.

Its illumination of the key elements of government policy making in this critical sector and its new outline of the evolution of the Kyoto Protocol makes it a useful textbook and resource for students of environmental and public policy, policy makers, and environmental organizations.

"A useful addition … [There is a] paucity of readable and perceptive political science in this field … [this book] crackle[s] with interesting ideas and testable hypotheses." - Canadian Public Policy

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Praise for the 1st edition

An excellent book … accessible, well written and well researched. It provides a first-rate introduction to the dilemmas and controversies surrounding Canadian natural resource and environmental policy and as such it will facilitate discussion in the classroom and encourage students to think about the issues.