Governing Ourselves? The Politics of Canadian Communities, Marie Louise McAllister, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2004, pp. 334.

This book will become a reference text for urban students and scholars with an interest in the Canadian urban local governance system because of its outstanding and up-to-date bibliography, a significant achievement given the volume of academic contributions on recent municipal reforms. Marie Louise McAllister introduces the politics of Canadian communities as a topic of contention—the position that local politics matters is not obvious and, in fact, may actually be arguable. However, she makes a strong case for a far-reaching but nuanced answer.