The “voice” of Margaret Philp was eloquent in the pages of the Globe and Mail and other papers for over twenty years. Initially she wrote for the Globe’s Report on Business, and then moved over to write feature-length articles on the social issues of our time, some 2,000 all told. In 2001 she won a National Newspaper Award for her writing about the homeless living in Toronto’s ravines. In that same year, she won an Atkinson Fellowship and wrote extensively on adoption in Canada. In the words of the editor of the 130 articles collected here, Philp “approached each issue with care and deliberation, and her integrity garnered the confidence of the people she interviewed, whether homeless people or distinguished physicians. She would continue to develop her analysis and understanding of topics over an extended period after the initial article was published, coming back to issues to assess whether there had been measureable progress, whether public policy had truly addressed social and economic needs.” The “many” are the people caught up in the harsh circumstances of life and the social deprivation that exists in our society: street people, children born into poverty and ill health, spousal abuse, food banks, housing policy, social assistance, workplace discrimination, First Nations children, and needy seniors. There are also insightful articles on the mundane matters of daily life and death: children’s homework, parenting skills, midwifery, and cancer care. Philp came to journalism with a university degree in commerce. Her writing in the early ‘90s for the ROB constitutes about 30 per cent of the book. Here you will find articles on investor relations, real estate, foreclosure, access to credit, mismanagement in corporate finance, and the French economy. Editor Sarra has recruited some 48 people – fellow journalists, professors, social workers, lawyers, and friends – to contribute introductions (and a poem) to this topical collection, adding useful context in terms of public policy effects from Philp’s pieces, their personal reflections about her, and how the issues so dear to her have changed since her writing. In 2009, Margaret Philp died at the age of 43. This book is a worthy testimony to a contemporary Canadian Charles Dickens, a passionate journalist who, in the words of a colleague at the Globe , “was able to face each day with a question, and end it with a concern.”
