SIMPSON, Jeffrey (Carl) 1949-

PERSONAL: Born February 17, 1949, in New York, NY; son of Robert Lawrence and Eve Cloud (Matheson) Simpson; immigrated to Canada, 1959; married Wendy Elizabeth Bryans, June 15, 1974; children: Tait, Danielle, Brook. Education: Attended University of Toronto Schools, 1967; Queen's University, B.A., 1971; London School of Economics, M.Sc. (International Relations), 1972. Religion: Anglican. Hobbies and other interests: Skiing, tennis, music, reading.

ADDRESSES: Home—413 Third Ave., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 2K6. Office—165 Sparks Street, 3rd Floor, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5B9, Canada. Agent—David Lavin Agency, 24 Duncan St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 2B8.

CAREER: Globe and Mail, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, reporter, 1973-79, Ottawa bureau chief, 1979-81, European correspondent, 1981-83, London correspondent, 1981-84, columnist, 1984—.

AWARDS, HONORS: Governor General's Award in nonfiction, Canada Council, 1980, for Discipline of Power: The Conservative Interlude and the Liberal Restoration; John S. Knight Fellow, Stanford University, 1993; Distinguished Visitor, University of Alberta; John V. Clyne Fellow, University of British Columbia; Skelton-Clark Fellow, Queen's University; Hymon Solomon Award for Public Policy Journalism.

WRITINGS:

Discipline of Power: The Conservative Interlude and the Liberal Restoration, Personal Library (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1981.

(With Ged Martin) The Canadian Guide to Britain, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1985.

Spoils of Power: The Politics of Patronage, Collins (New York, NY), 1988.

(With Ged Martin) Canada's Heritage in Scotland, Dundurn Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1989.

Faultlines: Struggling for a Canadian Vision, Harper-Collins (Scranton, PA), 1993.

The Anxious Years, Lester Publishing (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Star-spangled Canadians: Canadians Living the American Dream, HarperCollins (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

The Friendly Dictatorship, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Contributor to periodicals, including Saturday Night.

SIDELIGHTS: "Widely read in political history, and no mean historian in his own right, [Jeffrey Simpson] is one of the most scholarly of Canadian journalists," declared Michael Bliss in Saturday Night. Simpson is not a native Canadian, however, having been born in the United States. He immigrated to Canada at the age of ten. Educated in University of Toronto schools, Simpson later received his bachelor's degree from Queen's University in 1971. Further graduate study took him to England where he received a masters degree from the London School of Economics in 1972. Returning to Canada, Simpson has had a long career as a journalist with the Toronto Globe and Mail. His duties have ranged from reporter to bureau chief, foreign correspondent, and columnist. He has also written six books examining the state of Canadian politics. His first volume, Discipline of Power: The Conservative Interlude and the Liberal Restoration, received the Canadian Governor General's Award in nonfiction in 1980.

Discipline of Power is a descriptive analysis of the limitations and cultural context in which the modern politician must confront the realities of running for office and governing. In his in-depth study of the 1979 election of Conservative Joe Clark as Canadian Prime Minister, Simpson examines Clark as a candidate, the role of television, the manipulation of political images, the sudden collapse of the Clark government after only 259 days, and the return of Liberal government under Pierre Trudeau.

Simpson viewed the 1979 election as a watershed in the history of Canadian elective politics that signaled the increased use of negative campaigning, and marked "the triumph of partisan politics over government," as noted in Discipline of Power. Essentially, Simpson concludes, the Conservatives were elected in 1979 because voters had basically grown weary of the incumbent Trudeau administration. Furthermore, upon taking office the Conservatives could not wield the type of political power needed to sustain themselves nor provide a clear direction for Canada's future. They lacked the discipline necessary to be effective agents of change. Sixteen years as the opposition party, according to Simpson, made the Conservatives reactive and unaccustomed to ruling. In particular, Simpson cites the Conservative Party's mistakes concerning a "no confidence" budget vote that began the downward spiral of the Clark government and signaled the rise of Trudeau's comeback in 1980.

A critic in Publisher's Weekly praised Discipline of Power as "deeply analytical" and "well-written." Writing in Saturday Night, Ramsay Cook cited Simpson's "talent for lucid explanations" and called Disciple of Power, "the work of an intelligent and informed political reporter who is anxious to understand what has been going on in [Canadian] politics." In writing the volume, Simpson draws on inside information from meetings of the cabinet and party managers, Conservative Party documents, and interviews. "The result," judged Cook, "is an informative work which advances a clear and convincing argument."

Turning from political topics to travel, Simpson's next book written with coauthor Ged Martin, The Canadian Guide to Britain, is a tour of places in England with a special connection to Canada. In the introduction to the guide, the authors welcome the readers with a simple entreaty: "Leave all the 'how to' and 'where to' questions for others. This book is about Canada in Britain, the intermingling of two histories, a guide and perhaps an inspiration for the thousands of Canadians who visit Britain every year to look about them and discover part of their country's own history." The guide includes all sorts of hotels, monuments, statues, and places, such as the location of the Canadian Red Cross Hospital. Built on the grounds of Lady Astor's estate, the staff of this hospital treated thousands of Canadian soldiers during World War I and World War II. At England's largest military cemetery, Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, the traveler can view the graves of approximately 2000 Canadian World War II service personnel. Unusual places are also listed, such as the boyhood home of the famous Canadian Indian named Grey Owl. Writing in the Toronto Globe and Mail, Alan Pearson observed: "The Canadian Guide to Britain is a compendium of well researched and interesting information, much of it surprisingly new."

Following along the lines of his descriptive analysis of Discipline of Power, Simpson set his aim on the method politicians use to reward supporters—patronage. His effort, Spoils of Power: The Politics of Patronage, is a "wonderfully rich account of the role played by patronage in Canadian political history," according to Joseph Wearing, writing in the Toronto Globe and Mail. Broadly, the book focuses on the historical development of patronage (the practice of rewarding supporters with advantageous posts, contracts, and other perks) at the federal level and in the ten Canadian provinces, and offers historical references, such as how nineteenth-century politicians wielded appointments and used the perks of office to help build a cohesive party system. Tracing patronage in politics as far back as the 1840s, Simpson shows in the Spoils of Power how it has been used skillfully and abusively throughout the nation's history. He contends that reforms have had some impact, albeit mostly limited. "Meticulously researched and fluidly written, Spoils of Power is a serious book about a controversial subject," stated Pamela Young in Maclean's. Michael Bliss, writing in Saturday Night, concluded: "Spoils of Power is a richly detailed study of a major aspect of Canada's old political system."

Simpson's Star-Spangled Canadians: Canadians Living the American Dream focuses on Canadians who left their homeland to pursue success in the United States. He examines groups and individuals who have crossed the border, discusses the similarities and differences between the two countries, and addresses the issue of "brain drain"—that is, the idea that the most talented and intelligent people in Canada are abandoning the country for the lure of American-style success. Simpson conducted 250 interviews while researching his book, speaking with people from a wide variety of careers who had moved to the United States.

In The Friendly Dictatorship, Simpson discusses the lack of political diversity in Canada, which he maintains has essentially become a one-party state. He illustrates the considerable power of the Prime Minister, and explores how various forms of patronage influence that power. He analyzes changes in the parliamentary system, the political parties themselves, and the electorate. Presenting evidence that voter turnout has dropped considerably, he questions why this is so—and why those in power do not address the problem. John Geddes, in a Maclean's review of The Friendly Dictatorship, said Simpson shows "deep understanding" of Canadian government and "unmatched authority" on the workings of the government. Simpson's style is "not spritely," commented Geddes, "but he never talks down to the reader."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario), May 25, 1985; September 24, 1988.

Maclean's, October 10, 1988, pp. 61-62; November 28, 1988, p. 42; November 22, 1993, review of Faultlines: Struggling for a Canadian Vision, p. 67; October 30, 2000, Julian Beltrame, "Lessons of Uncle Sam: Two Authors Explore Canadians' Fixation on Their Southern Neighbour," p. 57; December 24, 2001, John Geddes, review of The Friendly Dictatorship, p. 75.

Saturday Night, November, 1980, pp. 73-75; November, 1988, pp. 63-65.