OTTAWA -- Political commentator John Duffy has won the 2003 Writers' Trust of Canada Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for his book, Fight of Our Lives: Elections, Leaders, and the Making of Canada.

In announcing their decision yesterday, the judges said the story of five key general elections in Canada, "flies in the face of all the tired, cynical, old cliches about politics being boring and irrelevant."

"Its smart, well-written prose all flows from two boldly sunny premises: that elections matter and that Canadian political history is interesting.

"In these days when too many people are cynical or skeptical of even the most basic exercises of democracy, a book that celebrates politics is a book that deserves to be celebrated itself."

Duffy wins a $10,000 award, sponsored by television network CTV.