By Ted Simpson –
MPP for Ottawa Centre, Yasir Naqvi, is keeping his summer reading fairly rooted in his work and his book recommendations will appeal to the political junkies out there. That being said, it’s worth pointing out that he does often take a break from serious reading to share a book with his three-year-old son, Rafi.
“His favourite book is The Big Book of Engines, and we have spent many hours learning all about the different characters in the exciting world of Thomas the Tank Engine,” says Naqvi.
Being such a busy person, it’s hard to believe Naqvi can find the time to read. He pops up at just about every community event in the ward, he even ran this year’s Hintonburg 5K, with a very respectable time of 21:11.
For his personal choice, Naqvi is currently enjoying Paikin and the Premiers, by Steve Paiken. Paiken is a journalist who has been covering Queen’s Park for TVO for many years. The book is a mix of Paiken’s interviews and personal perspectives on Ontario’s premiers from Bill Davis up to Kathleen Wynne.
“It captures the trajectory of various economic and social issues in Ontario over the last 50 years?from Premiers of all three major political parties, and I have found it to be a really interesting read,” says Naqvi.
Next up from the MPP is more political history that he picked up at Elmdale School’s Bookfest this spring: The Morning After: The 1995 Quebec Referendum and the Day that Almost Was by Chantal Hebert. The title being fairly self explanatory, Herbert sought out 17 key political leaders from that time to create an in depth account of the ‘95 referendum.
“I am looking forward to learning more about what was going on behind the scenes during this pivotal period in our country’s history,” says Naqvi.
This post is part of our KT summer reads issue. Read all of our other profiles right here.