Osgoode Professor Paul Emond wears many hats, but it’s his publishing business that has grabbed the limelight recently.

On May 1, 2012, it was announced that "Democratizing the Constitution: Reforming Responsible Government" by Peter Aucoin, Mark D. Jarvis and Lori Turnbull, and published by Emond Montgomery Publications, had won the $50,000 Donner Prize for the best public policy book in 2011 by a Canadian. 

Emond, who is Director of Osgoode’s Professional LLM in Alternative Dispute Resolution, founded Emond Montgomery Publications Limited in 1978 with Ann Montgomery and developed it into one of Canada’s top academic publishers. 

What started with Emond’s idea to build better teaching materials for Canadian law students, “lead to a company that has not only become a leading a voice in Canadian academic and school publishing, but a strong voice in stimulating public policy debate in Canada,” Emond said in an e-mail message.

The winner of the Donner Prize was chosen from an impressive list of 58 submissions and a shortlist of four by the five-member jury: A. Anne McLellan (Jury Chair), Wendy Dobson, Kevin G. Lynch, Marcel Boyer, and Denis Stairs.

The Donner Prize jury described Democratizing the Constitution as “an important and timely book - one that calls into question the legitimacy of our most fundamental institutions of democracy."  Aucoin, who passed away last July, was Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Public Administration at Dalhousie University.  Jarvis is a doctoral candidate at the University of Victoria and Turnbull is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Dalhousie University.

The Donner Prize, established in 1998, annually rewards excellence and innovation in Canadian public policy thinking, writing and research in Canada. In bestowing this award, the Donner Canadian Foundation seeks to broaden policy debates, increase general awareness of the importance of policy decision making and make an original and meaningful contribution to policy discourse.