1. The Evolution of Canadian Federalism: 1867-1967 and beyond Douglas Brown Political Science 321 2012

2. The Evolution of Canadian Federalism, 1867-2012 Forces of Change in the Federal System The Imperial federal government, 1867-1896 Rise of Provincial Rights The era of classical federalism: 1896-1939 Centralization and the welfare state: 1939-66 The rise of executive federalism: 1966-2006 Harper era: disengagement?

3. Forces of Change in the Federal System 1 – exogenous Geopolitical: rise and fall of British empire, increasing econ and social integration with USA, globalization Economic: patterns of booms and recessions, depressions, industrialization Social: population growth, waves of immigration, westward expansion, urbanization Political culture: increasing democracy, participation, rights and entitlements

4. Forces of Change in the Federal System 2 – institutional evolution Formal constitutional amendment Judicial review -- Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (UK), Supreme Court of Canada “Organic” statutes -- e.g. Elections Act, Supreme Court Act Informal political conventions – e.g.’s: decline in use of disallowance and reservation powers, role of territories in intergovernmental conferences

5. The Imperial Era – 1867-1896 – Macdonald in power – follows as much as he can the original plan – Provinces treated as junior partners – “National Policy”, railways and territorial expansion – A gradual reaction to over-centralization sets in – The fate of French outside Quebec, Louis Riel and the erosion of bicultural consensus

6. Rise of Provincial Rights Role of partisan politics: Conservative centralists vs. Liberal provincialists Ontario and Quebec governments push back Role of JCPC to define and strengthen provincial powers: – Parsons 1881 – Maritime Bank 1892 – Labour Conventions 1937

7. Era of “Classical” Federalism, 1896-1939 Federal and provincial governments seen as legal equals Laurier government supports federal principles Resource economies lead to growth in provincial revenues Henri Bourassa: concept of English-French duality

8. Wartime and the rise of Central Power Effects of the Great Depression: rise of left-central critique Rowell-Sirois report: long-term blueprint for cooperative federalism World War II fiscal and economic centralization The effect of the Keynesian economic model and building the welfare state Modernization and the apparent obsolescence of federalism

9. Post-war Cooperative Federalism Tax rental agreements and gradual decentralization Federal spending power Cost-shared programs Quebec opposition: Duplessis and the Tremblay Report

10. Post- 1967 Federalism The Trudeau era: – Competitive federalism – “Province-Building” – Rising Quebec nationalism – Constitutional Politics Mulroney –Chrétien – Constitutional crisis – Fiscal crisis – Free trade and globalization

11. Executive Federalism Response to interdependence in federal system Executive dominance comes from “Westminster” form of government Bigger role due to poor degree of regional representation in central institutions Growing importance over time

12. Changing role of Executive Federalism Early inter-provincial conferences Dominion-Provincial conferences Post war fiscal federalism Growth of functional ministerial conferences First Ministers and their increasing role of regional representation Reaching Limits: Constitutional Reform

13. Constraints on effectiveness of Intergovernmental Relations (Executive federalism) Strong provincial autonomy Competitive political culture Lack of institutionalization, no constitutional status Ad-hoc working rules Democratic deficits

14. The Smiley critique Undue secrecy Low citizen participation Weakened accountability Freezing out some issues and interests Contributes to the growth of government Continuous and unresolved conflict

15. The Harper Era “Open federalism” (i.e. return to “classical” division of powers) Link with Conservative ideology: reducing the (Liberal) State. Pulling back from: FMCs, intergovernmental solutions, third order of government (aboriginal) Take-it or leave it fiscal relations