The Case for Centralized Federalism

Table of Contents

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pp. v-

Foreword

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pp. vii-viii

This volume is one of a pair of books published in its Governance Series by the University of Ottawa Press that have been the outcome of the Federalism Redux Project that was undertaken in 2008. These two books are designed to provide the requisite vocabulary...

Introduction

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pp. 1-17

In the 2008 federal election, the Conservative party won 21.7 percent of the popular vote in Quebec, which gave it 10 seats. In the previous election, in 2006, the party also won 10 seats but its popular vote total in the province was 24.6 percent (Elections Canada 2009). What is interesting about these figures is that between 2006 and 2008 the Conservative party declared...

1. Ottawa’s Deferential Approach to Intergovernmental Relations

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pp. 18-72

In his 2009 budget, the federal Minister of Finance announced his intention to establish a single Canadian securities regulator to improve the regulation of capital markets. But rather than make clear that the regulator would operate for ALL of Canada, the Minister indicated that he would work with “willing provinces and territories” to establish...

2. Asymmetrical Federalism in Canada: Magic Wand or Breaking the Ties that Bind?

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pp. 73-107

Asymmetrical federalism most certainly is neither a new nor a uniquely Canadian concept. Informal and formal federal asymmetries can be found in virtually every federation worldwide but have only received serious scholarly attention in the past half century (Griffiths 2002; Watts 2005). Indeed, an American political...

3. Prime Minister Harper’s Open Federalism: Promoting a Neo-liberal Agenda?

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pp. 108-136

Like the Rt. Hon. Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Prime Minister Stephen Harper spelled out his views on Canadian federalism in considerable detail before becoming prime minister. But Trudeau had nearly sixteen years to implement his vision, most of the time with the benefit of a strong majority...

4. Is Canada Ready for a New Universal Social Program? Comparing the Cases of Universal Medicare in the 1960s and ‘Universal’ Child Care in the New Millennium

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pp. 137-173

On April 29, 2005 Prime Minister Paul Martin and Manitoba Premier Gary Doer, along with their respective federal and provincial social services ministers, announced an ‘agreement in principle’ on early learning and child care (ELCC). The agreement set out a “long-term vision, principles, and goals to guide...

5. The Practitioner’s Perspective: Canada is a Journey, Not a Destination

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pp. 174-214

Almost one hundred and fifty years ago, a group of men came together to begin the journey towards creating Canada. Canada was to be greater than the sum of its parts. Driven by many considerations, they had a mutual respect for their history, law, convention and personal...

6. The Great Green North? Canada’s Bad Environmental Record and How the Feds Can Fix It

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pp. 215-250

Canada’s environmental policy is broken and only federal government action can fix it. Since the late 1970s, the federal government has limited its role in Canadian environmental policy, particularly for regulation. The federal government no longer promulgates environmental regulations...

CONCLUSION: The Federal Government Is Not Simply One Government Among Many

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pp. 251-259

The chapters in this book have tried to show how and why the federal government has transformed itself from a government of the people to a government of the provinces. On internal trade, child care, the environment and several other policy areas not discussed in this book...

Index

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pp. 260-287