First book off press tells of forgotten policy

The new University of Regina Press released its first book in June, Clearing the Plains. The book, by James Daschuk, examines Canadian history and the policy of starvation implemented by Prime Minister John A. MacDonald to clear the Plains in order to push the railroad through. Aboriginal people were denied food or given diseased animals and rotten meat. Thousands died. In the end the railway went through, speculators got rich, and the policy was considered a success. Daschuk, who has a Ph.D. in History from the University of Manitoba and is an assistant professor at the University of Regina and a researcher with the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit, told the Leader-Post that the book was at times depressing to write, but he hopes it will help “mainstream Canada” appreciate the link between Aboriginal health today and government decisions made in the past.