Author William Marsden Wins National Business Book Award

    TORONTO, April 22 /CNW/ - This year's National Business Book Award winner
is William Marsden for his book Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta is
Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (and doesn't seem to care)
published by Knopf Canada. The announcement was made this afternoon at an
award luncheon in Toronto.
    In his book, Marsden argues that Alberta is sacrificing a sustainable
future for short-lived prosperity from the oil and gas industry. He claims the
government is ignoring the environmental devastation caused by 300,000 oil and
gas wells dotting the province's landscape. A tour of the oil sands provides a
first-hand account of workers driving the boom of the 24/7 industry.
    Marsden interviews experts who predict the industry's impact will sap
Alberta's water supply, destroy rangeland, wipe out forests and wildlife, and
increase greenhouse gas emissions. Marsden paints a bleak picture of a
province causing its own destruction.
    In its 23rd year, the National Business Book Award is considered one of
Canada's most prestigious and respected literary awards. Co-sponsored by
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and BMO Financial Group, the National Business Book
Award honours the author of an outstanding Canadian business-related book with
a $20,000 prize.
    The Honourable William G. Davis, former Ontario premier and jury chair,
spoke on behalf of the five-member jury that selected this year's winner as he
congratulated Marsden and his publisher, Knopf Canada, on the in-depth look
into the industry driving the country's richest province.
    In addition to The Honourable William G. Davis, this year's jury
included: Jane Cooney, President, Books for Business; William Dimma, Chairman,
Home Capital Group Inc.; Anne Kingston, journalist and winner of the 1994
National Business Book Award; and Peter Mansbridge, Chief Correspondent, CBC
Television Network.
    The Honourable William Davis announced that he will be stepping down as
Chairman of the jury after many years of service. The new Chairman of the jury
is Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management. He holds the
Premier's Chair in Competitiveness and Productivity and is Director of the AIC
Institute for Corporate Citizenship. Also joining the jury will be Pamela
Wallin who is an award-winning journalist and diplomat. She is Senior Advisor
to the President of the Americas/Society Council of the Americas in New York.
She recently became an Officer of the Order of Canada and was appointed to the
Independent Panel on Canada's Future Role in Afghanistan by Prime Minister
Harper.

    About William Marsden

    William Marsden is co-author of the international bestsellers Angels of
Death and The Road to Hell. He is an award-winning senior investigative
reporter for the Gazette in Montreal.

    Finalists for 2007 National Business Book Award:

    -   Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce (Toronto) for Enter the Babylon
        System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent, published
        by Random House Canada.

    -   Naomi Klein (Toronto) for The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster
        Capitalism, published by Knopf Canada.

    -   Jacques Poitras (Fredericton) for Beaverbrook: A Shattered Legacy,
        published by Goose Lane Editions.

    -   Chris Turner (Calgary) for The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World
        We Need, published by Random House Canada.

    The National Business Book Award winner for 2006 was Thomas Homer-Dixon
for The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of
Civilization.

For further information: or to arrange interviews, please call: Mary Ann
Freedman, (416) 868-1500, Email: mafreedman@freedmanandassociates.com,
www.pwc.com/ca/nbba