From Ragged Ass Road to Rideau Hall: Stories of Canada - Softcover

Fraser, Whit

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1771624698 ISBN 13: 9781771624695

Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre, 2026

Synopsis

Veteran journalist Whit Fraser recounts the stories behind the stories in this collection of tales drawn from fifty years of reporting on nation-changing events.

From Ragged Ass Road to Rideau Hall is a sweeping memoir from veteran journalist and northern chronicler Whit Fraser, tracing a lifetime spent at the front lines of the events that shaped modern Canada. From his youth in Nova Scotia to decades reporting across the Arctic, Fraser offers a riveting, behind-the-scenes account of major national turning points—stories he reported on up close, but never fully had the chance to tell until now.

Fraser brings readers into the cold, stunned morning when the Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 rained nuclear debris across the Northwest Territories, igniting one of the most secretive international military operations in Canadian history. He revisits the tragedy of the Ocean Ranger, one of the world’s most advanced oil rigs that became the site of an unthinkable disaster. On Parliament Hill, he reports from inside the storm of the National Energy Program and the tense constitutional negotiations that affirmed Indigenous rights while dividing the nation anew.

Woven throughout is Fraser’s personal journey—his years living in the North, his friendships with leaders who transformed the political landscape, and his partnership with Mary Simon, whose swearing-in as Canada’s first Indigenous Governor General brings his story full circle.

Anchored by vivid reporting and personal reflection, From Ragged Ass Road to Rideau Hall is a powerful journey through the people, politics, and places that have defined Canada—and the shifting landscape of journalism itself.

About this title

About the Author

Whit Fraser is a journalist, broadcaster, author, and spouse of Canada’s Governor General, Mary Simon. Over his long career with the CBC, he has covered Arctic news, worked for eight years on Parliament Hill, and worked as a primetime anchor for CBC Newsworld. Fraser was the founding chair of the Canadian Polar Commission (1991–97) and executive director of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (2001–06), an organization founded in 1971 to give national representation to Inuit voices. He is the author of True North Rising (Penguin, 2019), a memoir which won the NorthWords Book Prize, and Cold Edge of Heaven (Boulder Books, 2022). Fraser and Simon now live at Rideau Hall in Ottawa where they continue in public service.

Edition details

• Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1771624698
• ISBN 13: 9781771624695
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 232