Mobility Rights The Economic Union And The Constitution

Although economic union and free trade among the provinces were major reasons for Confederation, the provisions of the Constitution itself proved defective in ensuring such an outcome. By the beginning of the 1980s, concerns were increasingly raised as to the state of the Canadian economic union. This document puts these matters in an historical context. It also provides an interpretation of section 121 of the Constitution Act of 1867, and includes a debate on economic union prior to 1982.

"The approach taken in this monograph reflects a need to try to understand the Constitution in theory and practice. The study addresses the range of powers available to respective governments and then looks again at the limits to which governments have gone to utilize levers traditionally thought to be outside their responsibility - to see, in otherwords, whether the constitutional text can be circumvented by the actions of government. As well, the study looks at developing areas of controversy in the financial field to try to position the debate for the next amendments to the Bank Act. At stake is the use of vast pools of capital. It will be an area in which we may soon again see constitutional litigation."--Preface.

Essays on the relevance of the common market concept for economic policy in Canada - discusses the role of marketing boards in the agricultural sector, state intervention in commerce, labour mobility and capital flows; considers legal aspects and institutional frameworks of economic unions in the USA, Australia, EC and developing countries. References, statistical tables.

"This report relates the experience of four other federations-the United States, Switzerland, Australia and the Federal Republic of Germany-and the European Economic Community (EEC) to concerns about free movement of goods, services, people and capital in Canada"--Foreword, page vii.