The book cover for "We Breed Lions: Confronting Canada's Troubled Hockey Culture" by sports journalist Rick Westhead — THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — The Writers' Trust of Canada (Mandatory Credit)
September 28, 2026 - 9:05 PM
TORONTO — Authors of books on hockey’s troubling culture, forest fires and the rise of big tech platforms are among the five finalists for the Writers' Trust Balsillie Prize for Public Policy.
The annual $70,000 award recognizes non-fiction books that advance policy discussions on social, political, economic and cultural topics. Runners-up receive $7,500.
The finalists include veteran Toronto sports journalist Rick Westhead for "We Breed Lions: Confronting Canada’s Troubled Hockey Culture," which looks at the sport’s reckoning with allegations of sexual assault, hazing and abuse.
Also in the running is Toronto-raised tech policy expert Tim Wu for “The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity,” which examines how tech platforms continue to consolidate power and the links between technology and income inequality.
Vancouver writer and photographer Jesse Winter is nominated for “Wild Fire: Dispatches from a Country Ablaze,” which explores the pressing issue of forest fires in Canada.
Other contenders include national security expert Dennis Molinaro for "Under Assault: Interference and Espionage in China’s Secret War Against Canada," which details Beijing’s five-decades-long effort to influence and interfere in Canadian political life, and Toronto Star reporter Moira Welsh for “The Astonishing Lives of Older Women: How to Create Pleasure Over Peril in Peak Longevity” which explores growing older as a woman today.
A three-person jury selected the five books from 36 titles by 24 publishing imprints.
The winner will be announced Nov. 24 in Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2026.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2026