Abstract
Like any federation, Canada’s is a dynamic and frequently unsettled one. The range of diversities and differences that the federation has to accommodate make for an always interesting present. Canada is a multinational federation, but its geographic and economic diversity are as challenging as the cultural differences that figure in most discussions of Canadian federalism. I note these multiple diversities from the start because they often interact with the institutions of the federal system in ways that are much different from the cultural and national differences seeking accommodation from the federation. From its inception, the division of competences or powers was seen as the key to the success of the Canadian federation. Canada’s founders were in large part reluctant federalists, more inclined to the unitary statecraft of Great Britain than what they saw as the fractious and failed federalism of the United States. Therefore, the drafters of Canada’s 1867 constitution sought to define competences in a way that would accord with their centralist goals. Not surprisingly, they tried to tilt the game in the central government’s favour by giving the federal parliament legislative sovereignty over the pre-eminent governmental concerns of the day.
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Notes
- 1.
An important exception to this characterization of the fiscal system is the requirement in section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982 for some form of federal redistribution of funds to ensure that provinces can provide comparable levels of public services at comparable levels of taxation.
- 2.
Smith (1983), pp. 115–134.
- 3.
- 4.
Banting (1987).
- 5.
- 6.
Bailey and Curry (2011).
- 7.
Taber (2011).
References
Ian Bailey and Bill Curry “Flaherty’s 10-year health-care plan divides provinces” The Globe and Mail December 19, 2011
Gerald Baier, Courts and Federalism: Judicial Doctrine in the United States, Australia and Canada (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2006)
Herman Bakvis, Gerald Baier and Douglas M. Brown, Contested Federalism: Certainty and Ambiguity in the Canadian Federation (Don Mills: Oxford University Press Canada, 2009)
Keith Banting, The Welfare State and Canadian Federalism 2nd ed. (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1987)
Jennifer Smith, “The Origins of Judicial Review in Canada,” Canadian Journal of Political Science XVI, no. 2 (1983): 115-134
Jane Taber, “Harper's 'refreshing' approach to shipbuilding contracts gets thumbs up from lobbyist” Globe and Mail October 21, 2011
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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Baier, G. (2013). The Historical and Contemporary Challenges of Canada’s Division of Powers. In: López Basaguren, A., Escajedo San Epifanio, L. (eds) The Ways of Federalism in Western Countries and the Horizons of Territorial Autonomy in Spain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27720-7_22
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