Summer Reading List

Summer Reading List

The warm summer months are a perfect time for recharging, especially with a book. We asked leaders from across government to share what they look forward to reading or revisiting.

Ursula Gobel

Chair, IPAC National Capital Region & Vice-President, Stakeholder Engagement and Advancement, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

  • Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces (2022) by Elamin Abdelmahmoud
  • Life in the City of Dirty Water (2022) by Clayton Thomas-Muller
  • Braiding Sweetgrass (2015) by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Marie-Élise Maurice

Former Board Director, IPAC National Capital Region & Director, Critical Minerals Infrastructure and Regional Strategies, Natural Resources Canada

  • Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (2021) by Patrick Radden Keefe
  • Radical Candor (2017) by Kim Scott
  • Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert

Michael Wernick

23rd Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet & Jarislowsky Chair in Public Sector Management, University of Ottawa

  • How to be a Climate Optimist (2022) by Chris Turner
  • The Story of More (2019) by Hope Jahren
  • Canada and China: A Fifty-Year Journey (2022) by B. Michael Frolic

Clinton Lawrence-Whyte

Former Chair, IPAC National Capital Region & Director General, Procurement Assistance Canada, PSPC

  • The Changing World Order (2021) by Ray Dalio
  • SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (2015) by Mary Beard
  • Les Trois Mousquetaires (1844) par Alexandre Dumas

Catherine MacQuarrie

Fellow, Carleton School of Public Policy and Administration & Project Manager, Rebuilding First Nations Governance Project

  • Rebuilding Native Nations (2007) edited by Miriam Jorgensen
  • Gonzo Governance (2022) by David L. Altheide
  • The Wheel of Time series (1990–2013) by Robert Jordan
  • Moon of the Turning Leaves (2023) by Waubgeshig Rice

Christopher Khaalid Scipio

Director-at-Large, IPAC National Capital Region & Deputy Director, Secretariat, The Black Executives Network

  • Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto (2022) by Tricia Hersey
  • The Price of the Ticket (1985) by James Baldwin
  • True Reconciliation (2022) by Jody Wilson-Raybould

Noah Pollak

Director, Events, IPAC National Capital Region & Policy Advisor, Tourism, ISED

  • Smart Brevity (2022) by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz
  • The Wager (2023) by David Grann
  • Killers of the Flower Moon (2017) by David Grann

Céline Nadreau

Director, Communications, IPAC National Capital Region & Manager, Prime Minister’s Products, Privy Council Office

  • Je ferai le tour du monde (2023) par Alexandra Szacka
  • Superfan (2023) by Jen Sookfong Lee
  • We Are All Perfectly Fine (2021) by Dr. Jillian Horton

David Fulford

Chief Executive Officer, The Institute of Public Administration of Canada

  • The Pentagon, Climate Change, and War (2022) by Neta C. Crawford
  • The Next Age of Uncertainty (2022) by Stephen Poloz
  • Greenlights (2020) by Matthew McConaughey