Alvin Finkel has taught Canadian history at Athabasca University since 1978. His main areas of research and teaching are the history of social policy, labour history, and Western Canadian history. Best known for his co-authorship with Margaret Conrad of the two-volume History of the Canadian Peoples, his other publications include The Social Credit Phenomenon in Alberta and Our Lives: Canada After 1945. His latest book is Social Policy and Practice in Canada: A History. Sarah Carter is professor and Henry Marshall Tory Chair in both the Department of History and Classics and the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. Recent books include The Importance of Being Monogamous: Marriage and Nation Building in Western Canada and Montana Women Homesteaders: A Field of One's Own. Peter Fortna is a historical and traditional land use consultant in the Fort McMurray area. His research interests include Aboriginal history, traditional environmental knowledge, and public history. He was also the co-organizer for "The West and Beyond: Historians Past, Present and Future" conference, on which The West and Beyond is based.