This Month's Books

Voyage of the Dreamspeaker: Vancouver/Desolation Sound Highlights
by Anne & Laurence Yeadon-Jones

Harbour Publishing, 2003 ISBN 1-55017-297-2
208 pp, color photos and maps, $42.95 Cdn hardcover www.harbourpublishing.com

In a departure from their previous cruising guides, this latest volume from Anne and Laurence Yeadon-Jones is a more personal account of a four month trip spent revisiting favorite anchorages and friends between their home base in Vancouver and Desolation Sound to the north.

Each of the fourteen chapters hops another step up the coast, taking a close look at the pleasures, both cultural and natural, to be found along the way, and introducing us to some of the people who have made the coast their home.

Illustrated by color photos and Laurence’s hand drawn maps, Voyage of the Dreamspeaker is a wonderful read for armchair travelers or for all of us who share Anne and Laurence’s love of the BC coast. Previous titles in the Dreamspeaker Cruising Guide series: Gulf Islands & Vancouver Island from Sooke to Nanaimo, Desolation Sound & the Discovery Islands, and Howe Sound & the Sunshine Coast.

A Guide to Sea Kayaking in Newfoundland & Labrador

by Kevin Redmond and Dan Murphy

Nimbus, 2003 ISBN 1-55109-434-7 200
pp, color photos and maps, $21.95 Cdn softcover, www.nimbus.ns.ca

Actively involved in outdoor education and paddling, the authors of this guide are well qualified to inform and instruct those who are considering sea kayaking on the rocky eastern coast of Canada.

In the first four chapters they provide interesting information about the Newfoundland coastline, the natural history of the region, ocean hazards, and preparing for sea kayaking in general.

The second section contains specific information about more than fifty paddling routes in five areas of the province: Labrador, Northern Peninsula/West Coast, South Coast, Avalon and North East Coast.

The details of each trip are organized under consistent headings and accompanied by a clear map. Although designed for sea kayakers, this guide is a valuable and entertaining source of information for anyone wanting to explore the remote areas of Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s beautifully illustrated with color photographs, serving as an excellent introduction to this amazing coastline.

Unnatural Law: Rethinking Canadian Environmental Law and Policy

by David R. Boyd

UBC Press, 2003 ISBN 0-7748-1049-1 (paper), 416 pp $29.95 Cdn softcover

While the Canadian government asserts that Canada is a world leader in sustainability, Unnatural Law provides extensive evidence to refute this claim. This comprehensive assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Canadian environmental law provides a balanced, critical examination of Canada’s record, focusing on laws and policies intended to protect water, air, land and biodiversity.

Although David Boyd has undertaken a daunting task, the book is surprisingly accessible, well-written, and persuasive. Boyd massively documents the facts every step of the way, leaving the reader with no doubt of the truth of the matter: that Canada is in the rearguard of environmental law.

He notes that in a recent University of Victoria study of environmental indicators of 28 industrialized countries, Canada was not among the top five in any category and among the five worst countries on seventeen of the indicators. Despite enormously high public support for strong environmental qualities and policies, the government is clearly not doing enough