This is an engaging chronicle of the extraordinary life of Michael Wilson. It's an inspiring story about an incredible man.
Many Canadians will remember him as one of the politicians who instituted the GST in the 1990's and negotiated the US Canada Free Trade Agreement which morphed into NAFTA. His many accomplishments on behalf of Canada have proven to be long lasting, particularly the trade deals with the United States.

Throughout his life he often followed what he called "the path less travelled". For example, at the beginning of his working life when he was headed for a career in the investment industry, he faced the choice between going to Harvard for a MBA or accepting a 2-year internship at the Canadian Department of Finance in Ottawa. He accepted the latter out of a sense of public duty, wanting to get involved in making public policy. This inclination continued throughout his life, first going into politics, then back to the investment world before becoming Canadian Ambassador to the US. After his ambassadorship ended he returned to business life and academia as the Chancellor of the University of Toronto. Throughout his life he fulfilled his parents advice to give back through charitable work.

He had a strong sense of family especially in face of his busy work life. Unfortunately, he suffered the tragedy of the premature death of a child. Chapter 12 entitled "Cameron" is introduced by the book's prologue. Together they must be read as poignant reflections on an important event in his life, which caused him to become a strong advocate for acceptance of mental illness.

His comments about Canada's relationship with the United States reflecting his time "at the embassy" in Washington are timely in light of the turmoil of the Trump presidency.

The book's written in a low key, dignified style, with a narrative that is conversational and full of anecdotes. There's many words of wisdom scattered throughout the book. For example one that he attributes to former Prime Minister Mulroney is that you can disagree with someone without being disagreeable. Originally, Wilson wrote it with his grandchildren in mind to share with them his heritage, his values and life outlook. As things progressed, the perspective was changed for a general audience. It is published posthumously.

It's an inspiring story well worth reading.

I received a complementary advance reading copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley for my unsolicited review.

An interesting biographical story of one of Canada's premier finance ministers. Whether you subscribe to Mr. Wilson's politics or not, you cannot argue that he had an outstanding impact on the Canadian economy. The implementation of the GST (now HST) taxation model brought many years of budgetary surpluses long after leaving his post.

Michael Wilson gives rare insights into the almost 10 year Mulroney government and major policy impacts like the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement.

His championing of mental health awareness and even just the glances into his personality and personal life were interesting and in my opinion, such an open truthfulness is rarely seen in Canadian political biographies.

This book will make an interesting addition to any Canadian's political collection of books and will be a must-read in the Spring/Summer of 2022. Highly recommended.

Thank you to the University of Toronto Press, the publisher; and to Net Galley for an advance copy in return for my honest opinion. I have not received any compensation nor interference in the posting of my review which remains my truthful thoughts on this book.