The rise and fall of Dr. Morton Shulman as chief Coroner of Toronto was the most sensational period that that office has ever known. From the moment he was appointed in 1963 Dr. Shulman brought his extraordinary energy to bear on an enormous variety of hazards to public safety and security, which in previous years had been overlooked, or ignored, or covered up. As Chief Coroner he acted as public watchdog and soon became an international figure. Dr. Shulman believed that the coroner’s job was not merely to determine the cause of unnatural deaths, but to take steps to prevent similar deaths in the future. The elimination of cancer quacks, the scandal of construction site safety, the exposure of medical incompetence and carelessness, a determined and far-sighted campaign to lower traffic deaths — these were only a few of the many battles Morton Shulman fought with an uninhibited vigour which shocked and enraged many public officials and professional bodies. Apparently quite fearless in pursuing his objectives, he clashed with civic and provincial leaders, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Supreme Court of Ontario and even the United States Navy. So spectacular was his performance in office that he became the model for the successful T.V. series Wojeck. Meanwhile, having previously made a million on the stock market he proceeded to write a book on the subject which netted another substantial fortune. Ultimately the provincial government, smarting from yet another attack on its integrity, dismissed him and, for good measure, eliminated the position he held as well. So great was the public outcry that a Royal Commission was set up to look into the matter. Subsequently Dr. Shulman, running on the N.D.P. ticket, won an overwhelming victory at the polls and took his seat in the legislature in opposition to the Conservative Government which had hired and fired him. Morton Shulman’s own account of these extraordinary events is lively, self-critical, excoriating of hide-bound officialdom, good-humoured and often hilarious. He tells these stories of political pay-offs, scandals, disasters, human tragedies, triumphs and pratfalls with startling candour and gusto.

This is Morton Shulman's own fast- moving story of his eight years in politics. It is sharp but full of public concern, opinionated but self-critical, serious in intent but often hilarious in the telling. It reflects perfectly the life-style of its author-- there is never a dull moment. During his eight years as a member of the provincial Legislature, Morton Shulman's name was rarely off the front pages. Here Shulman tells the dramatic stories behind the headlines, and the stories that never made the front page. For Shulman, an "unrepentant capitalist" millionaire, the decision to run for the NDP was a chance to get back at the Conservative government that had fired him as Coroner. But it became much more than that, as Shulman, the man who always was approachable, became an unofficial ombudsman for the province and the people. Shulman's career as a Member of the Legislature was as stormy as his record in office as Chief Coroner. He smuggled a camera into the House and took pictures of government members asleep during debates. Disguised as a workman, he walked into the INCO plant at Sudbury and spent the night measuring sulphur dioxide levels which proved that in spite of government inspectors' assurances the pollution levels were dangerously high. He exposed Mafia connections with union leaders, politicians and police, and ended up with a Mafia contract on his life and a full-time police guard. He put on a hard hat and walked unchallenged into the Pickering Nuclear Power Plant to show that there was virtually no security in this potentially dangerous area. All these capers had but one goal -- to expose the bureaucratic bungling that affected and sometimes even endangered the lives of the ordinary Canadians who paid the tax bill. One after another he took on the Departments of Labour, Health, Highways, Reform Institutions, Natural Resources, Energy, the Attorney General, Bell Canada and more. His eight years as a Member of the Legislature brought some changes in government policies, Royal Commissions and numerous editorials about the situations he brought to public attention. Sometimes he lost, but the degree of public trust in Morton Shulman brought him national attention. There's never been another Member like Shulman.