Canada The State Of The Federation 1993

The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism investigates the groundbreaking inquiry launched to reconstruct Canada’s federal system. In 1937, the Canadian confederation was broken. As the Depression ground on, provinces faced increasing obligations but limited funds, while the dominion had fewer responsibilities but lucrative revenue sources. The commission’s report proposed a bold new form of federalism based on the national collection and unconditional transfers of major tax revenues to the provinces. While the proposal was not immediately adopted, this incisive study demonstrates that the commission’s innovative findings went on to shape policy and thinking about federalism for decades.

In the Fall of 1992, public events in Canada reached a climax that had far-reaching effects for the future of the country. For the first time in their history, Canadians were asked to give their approval to a sweeping set of constitutional proposals in a national referendum. The first serious and informed analysis of these proposals took place at a conference at York University that September. Sponsored by the Centre for Public Law and Public Policy, and the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies at York University, the conference drew major speakers including Peter Lougheed, former premier of Alberta; Peter Hogg of Osgoode Hall Law School; Judy Rebick, president of the National Action Committee on the Status of women; Senator Gerald-A. Beaudoin; Professor Ronald Watts of Queen’s University; Michael Adams of Environics Research Group; Jeffrey Simpson of the Globe and Mail; Reg Whitaker of York University; Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, Council of Canadians; David Elton, president of Canada’s West Foundation; and Raymond Giroux of Le Soleil, among others. The papers of the conference, most of which were later revised in light of the 26 October referendum results, present a record of Canadian thought during a period of profound national change. They are grouped here under such topics as ‘The Reform of Central Institutions,’ ‘The Division of Powers,’ ‘Distinct Society, Aboriginal Rights, and Fundamental Canadian Values,’ ‘The Referendum,’ and ‘The Future of Canada.’ In this book, leading scholars, government decision-makers, interest groups, and journalists come together to debate the country’s future. Their papers provide an independent and informed analysis of the choices confronting Canadians at a decisive moment in their collective history.

This interim report covers the activities of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada since the appointment of the current three Commissioners on July 1, 2009. The report summarizes: the activities of the Commissioners, the messages presented to the Commission at hearings and National Events, the activities of the Commission with relation to its mandate, the Commission's interim findings, the Commission's recommendations.

Federal systems are praised for creating political stability, but they are also blamed for causing rigidity. They are said to balance powers, but apparently they are also threatened by instability due to drifts in power. Federalism should support democratization, but it can also constrain the power of the demos and strengthen the executive. In short, there is widespread agreement that federal systems are dynamic. The forces, mechanisms and consequences of federal dynamics, however, are not sufficiently understood so far. This book brings together leading experts in the field of comparative federalism to highlight how the interplay of continuity and change systematically generates and reinforces varieties of federalism and varieties of federal dynamics. Federal Dynamics: Continuity, Change and Varieties of Federalism investigates mechanisms and resulting patterns of federal development. It offers new analytical concepts and discusses different theoretical propositions to systematically compare convergent and divergent trends in federal systems. Acknowledging the theoretical pluralism that dominates the field, the book is organized around four sections: Models, Varieties and Dimensions of Federalism; Timing, Sequencing and Historical Evolution; Social Change and Political Structuring; and Actors, Institutions and Internal Dynamics. The contributions to this volume are variously concerned with three guiding questions: What changes within federal systems, how and why? The focus provided by these three guiding questions allows for a dialogue between strands of the literature that have not talked to each other in a sufficient manner. In this way, the book makes a significant contribution to the growing literature on continuity and change in federal systems. Ultimately, it represents a substantive effort in advancing research on comparative federalism.

Federalism is about dividing and sharing government, often in complex ways that involve some tasks being done jointly. Are federal systems capable of effective joint policy-making? Is this possible in the fast-moving context of globalization? In Market Rules Douglas Brown examines these questions through a comparative study of Australia and Canada, looking at recent major reforms to the economic union in the two federations and comparing them with the evolving European Union (EU). Brown argues that internal barriers to trade and competition in these countries were significant obstacles to competition in the global economy and shows that the old market rules were rooted in longstanding political and regional compromises. He describes the process of detailed and difficult intergovernmental collaboration required for the EU, and now Canada and Australia, to produce new market rules. The resulting reforms created new regimes that provide deeper and broader national economic integration in Canada and Australia than in the EU. The new rules entrench neo-liberal values, retaining some room for diversity and flexibility for equity goals. Built on a careful analysis of the differences and similarities in political economy, constitutional design, federal culture, and history of intergovernmental relations in Canada and Australia, Market Rules provides fresh evidence that federal states can be strong and autonomous in the global society, while underscoring the conditions for effective collaboration that make this sustainable. Rich in detail, broad in scope, Market Rules makes a significant contribution to knowledge about federalism and economic policy-making in the era of globalization.