This annual prize is awarded by the J. W. Dafoe Foundation of Winnipeg for the best book on Canada, Canadians and/or Canada’s place in the world” published in the previous calendar year.
It commemorates long-time Winnipeg Free Press editor John W. Dafoe.
The 2013 finalists are:

Let the Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark: the West versus the rest since Confederation (M) 
by Mary Janigan
Warrior Nation: rebranding Canada in an age of anxiety  (M)
by Ian McKay and Jamie Swift
What We Talk About When We Talk About War  (M)
by Noah Richer
Chronic Condition: why Canada’s health care system needs to be dragged into the 21st Century (M)
by Jeffrey Simpson
Secret Service: political policing in Canada from the Fenians to Fortress America (ILL)
by Reg Whitaker, Gregory S. Kealey and Andrew Parnaby.

Source: http://www.thereader.ca/2013/04/the-john-w-dafoe-book-prize.html