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  • Comparing Quebec and Ontario: Political Economy and Public Policy at the Turn of the Millennium by Rodney Haddow
  • Murray Cooke
Rodney Haddow, Comparing Quebec and Ontario: Political Economy and Public Policy at the Turn of the Millennium (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 2015)

Political scientist Rodney Haddow sets out to examine whether sub-state jurisdictions within liberal democracies can “pursue fundamentally different social and economic policies” amid the pressures of globalization and post-industrialism. (3) His “goal … is to determine whether distinctive policymaking processes and outcomes emerged or [End Page 290] persisted in Ontario and Quebec in spite of these shared pressures.” (15)

Haddow describes “the theoretical ambition” of this book as “establish[ing] the suitability of insights from comparative political economy scholarship for a study of inter-provincial differences in Canada.” (265) In doing so, Haddow applies the concepts of institutionalist political economy to the study of contemporary public policy in Québec and Ontario from 1990 until the end of 2010. In particular, Haddow focuses on four policy fields: budgeting, social assistance and income supports, childcare and family benefits, and economic development policies.

Haddow’s theoretical approach is informed by the “varieties of capitalism” literature and welfare state typologies which he presents in Chapter 1. Proponents of the varieties of capitalism approach argue that states retain the authority and ability to sustain different choices in economic and social policy. In other words, there is no inexorable race-to-the-bottom in the face of neoliberal globalization. However, the room to manoeuvre may vary among different policy fields.

As introduced in Chapter 1 and developed more fully in Chapter 2, Haddow views Québec as a “coordinated market economy” and Ontario as a “liberal market economy.” Haddow identifies three key differences between Ontario and Québec: the extent of collaboration (or concertation, as it is termed in Quebéc) between the state and social forces, the degree of polarization between the major political parties, and the ability and willingness of the state to intervene in economic development. “Quebec’s political economy is far more collaborative and statist than Ontario’s, while the later approximates its liberal and market-oriented alternative.” (37) This second chapter provides a very solid introduction to the political economy of Québec, Ontario, and Canadian federalism.

Students of federalism, provincial politics, social policy, and political economy will find much that is valuable here. Chapters 3 to 6 provide excellent comparative overviews of the specific policy fields since approximately 1990. They can be read as richly informative stand-alone comparative chapters on provincial fiscal policy, social assistance, day care, and economic development policies in the two provinces through successive provincial governments. In Ontario’s case, this includes the Bob Rae ndp government, the Mike Harris Conservative years, and the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty. In Québec, the Liberals were replaced by the Parti Québécois in 1994, but returned to office in 2003.

These narrative chapters shed light on important topics like taxation and income redistribution. Haddow points to the existing comparative political economy literature to argue that the gap between high and low-tax jurisdictions is likely to persist, but that all jurisdictions face downward pressure on taxing corporations and mobile capital. Thus, higher spending jurisdictions tend to rely heavily on taxing immobile labour and consumers. In other words, “generous and redistributive welfare states are financed more regressively than liberal ones.” (19)

In terms of social policy, there has been a remarkable resurgence in the distinction between the “deserving” and “undeserving” poor. Social assistance rates for individuals have stagnated at best. Social supports are increasingly directed at children (and their families) rather than “employable” individuals. Both provinces expanded income-tested child benefits for parents. The period under examination also includes the development of Québec’s daycare system and Ontario’s extension of full-day kindergarten to four and five year olds.

Chapters 6 and 7 which provide the regression analysis are less accessible. [End Page 291] Advocates of quantitative methods will appreciate this work and applaud the rigorous nature of the study. This is definitely a political science book. It is certainly not directed at the general reader or...

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