John W. Dafoe Prize

The prize is given annually by the J. W. Dafoe Foundation of Winnipeg for writing that contribues to the understanding of Canada and its place in the world. It commemorates long-time newspaper editor John W. Dafoe.

Year	Winner
2023	Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation by Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii)
2022	Seen But Not Seen: Influential Canadians and the First Nations from the 1840s to Today by Donald B. Smith
2021	The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire by Stephen R. Bown
2020	The Good Fight: Marcel Cadieux and Canadian Diplomacy by Brendan Kelly
2019	Power, Politics, and Principles: Mackenzie King and Labour, 1935-1948 by Taylor Hollander
2018	Vimy: The Battle and the Legend by Tim Cook
2017	Lock, Stock, and Icebergs: A History of Canada’s Arctic Maritime Sovereignty by Adam Lajeunesse
2016	Middle Kingdom, Middle Power: What Canadians Need to Know About China in the 21st Century by David Mulroney
2015	Worth Dying For: Canada’s Mission to Train Police in the World’s Failing States by Terry Gould
2014	The Longer I’m Prime Minister: Stephen Harper and Canada, 2006 by Paul Wells
2013	Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark: The West Versus the Rest Since Confederation by Mary Janigan
2012	Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald: His Life, Our Times by Richard J. Gwyn
2011	Polar Imperative: A History of Arctic Sovereignty in North America by Shelagh D. Grant
2010	Newfoundland and Labrador: A History by Sean T. Cadigan
2009	Lord Selkirk: A Life by J. M. Bumsted
2008	At The Sharp End: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1914-1916 by Tim Cook
2007	Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau by John English
2006	Loss of Faith: How the Air India Bombers Got Away With Murder by Kim Bolan
2005	The Ghosts of Medak Pocket: The Story of Canada’s Secret War by Carol Off
2004	Brian Dickson: A Judge’s Journey by Robert J. Sharpe and Kent Roach
2003	The Lawmakers: Judicial Power and the Shaping of Canadian Federalism by John T. Saywell
2002	A Good and Wise Measure: The Search for the Canadian-American Boundary, 1783-1842 by Francis M. Carroll
2001	Memoirs of a Very Civil Servant: Mackenzie King to Pierre Trudeau by Gordon Robertson
2000	J. B. McLachlan: A Biography by David Frank
1999	Fool’s Gold: The Making of a Global Market Fraud by Brian Hutchinson
1998	Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning and the First World War by Jonathon Vance
1997	Shingwauk’s Vision: A History of Residential Schools in Canada by James R. Miller
1996	Rogue Tory: The Life and Legend of John G. Diefenbaker by Denis Smith
1995	Trudeau and Our Times: Volume 2 by Christina McCall and Stephen Clarkson
1994	The Generals: The Canadian Army’s Senior Commanders in the Second World War by J. L. Granatstein
1993	The Worldly Years: The Life of Lester Pearson, Volume 2 by John English
1992	Duff Pattullo of British Columbia by Robin Anthony Fisher
1991	Rome in Canada: The Vatican and Canadian Affairs in the Late Victorian Age by Roberto Perin
1990	Unauthorized Action: Mountbatten and Dieppe by Brian Loring Villa
1989	Diplomacy of Fear: Canada and the Cold War, 1941-1948 by Denis Smith
1988	Land, Settlement, and Politics on Eighteenth-Century Prince Edward Island by J. M. Bumsted
1987	Frank Underhill, Intellectual Provocateur by R. Douglas Francis
1986	Clifford Sifton: The Lonely Eminence, 1901-1929 by D. J. Hall
1985	No prize awarded
1984	Tug of War by W. Denis Whitaker and Shelagh Whitaker

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: John Wesley Dafoe (1866-1944)

Sources:

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 14 October 2023