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Summing up the thinking of twenty social action groups and various independent economists, this new volume shows how federal programs in many areas--including unemployment, poverty, education, health care, the environment and public housing--can be improved without increasing the public debt. The background papers include a detailed description of a wealth tax. The contributors to this volume include many leading academic economists. Co-published with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. ... Read more

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Stephen Harper. Conservative Party of Canada leadership election,2004, Canadian federal election,2004, Canadian federal election, 2006, Premiership of Stephen Harper, Domestic policy of the Harper government, Foreign policy of the Harper government, International reactions to the 2006 Lebanon War, Canada ? United States relations, Canadian federal election,2008, 2008?2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute, 28th Canadian Ministry ... Read more

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First published in 1991, The Unmaking of Canada offers a concise overview of the main currents of Canadian political economy in the period since 1945.

The focus is on providing background to the key issues facing English Canada in the last decade of the twentieth century: relations between Quebec and the rest of Canada; relations between Canada and the U.S.; regional tensions within English Canada; relations between Native peoples and the Canadian state; and Canada's economic development problems.

The authors make wide use of the literature on the Canadian economy and recent political history, and address current Canadian political issues in a straightforward and informative manner. ... Read more

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At times the deep disagreements surrounding Canada's constitutional debates have led Canadians to wonder whether the country can - or should - survive. In "Reimagining Canada", Jeremy Webber argues that there is a viable basis for a Canadian community, one which would enjoy the robust allegiance of the vast majority of Canadians. Webber begins by showing how different conceptions of culture, language, and nation shaped Canada's constitutional negotiations from 1960 until the referendum of 1992. He then calls for a reconception of the terms of the debate, claiming that the terms now used, often borrowed from quite different societies, have made resolution of the constitutional issues more difficult. He rejects the language of nation and nationalism, and the tendency towards exclusiveness implicit in that language, arguing for a Canadian community founded not on a rigid set of "shared values" but on shared debates and shared engagements through time.Recognizing that Canadians belong simultaneously to the larger community and to other more local communities -- each generating its own sense of allegiance -- Webber describes how their relationships are shaped by institutional, linguistic, and cultural factors and notes that these multiple influences produce an asymmetrical structure. Webber offers both an overview of the constitutional negotiations and a set of reflections on the appropriate relationship between culture, language, and political community in Canada. These reflections, while rooted in the Canadian context, hold lessons for other pluralistic federations, or for nations confronting similar issues of cultural accommodation. ... Read more

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Framing Canadian Federalism assembles an impressive range of scholars to consider many important issues that relate to federalism and the history of Canada's legal, political, and social evolution. Covering themes that include the Supreme Court of Canada, changing policies towards human rights, First Nations, as well as the legendary battles between Mitchell Hepburn and W.L. Mackenzie King, this collection illustrates the central role that federalism continues to play in the Canadian polity.

Editors Dimitry Anastakis and P.E. Bryden and the volume's contributors, demonstrate the pervasive effects that federalism has on Canadian politics, economics, culture, and history, and provide a detailed framework in which to understand contemporary federalism. Written in honour of John T. Saywell's half-century of accomplished and influential scholarly work and teaching, Framing Canadian Federalism is a timely and fitting tribute to one of the discipline?s foremost thinkers.

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An interesting way to frame a current debate
Samuel LaSelva's probing examination of the Canadian federalism debate, published just after the failed Quebec sovereignty referendum in 1995, is a timely examination of the roots, circumstances, key players, and future of this debate.He frames the founding concepts of Canadian government as moral foundations rather than political theories, asserting that the goal of Canadian federalism is a sort of cooperative fraternity.This book is an engaging, historically rich, well-evidenced examination of Canada's nationhood and its future.

LaSelva begins with an overview of Canadian history, framing in terms of tragedy, justice, and community.The great tragedy of Canadian society stems from its multiculturalism, since both Anglophone and Francophone Canadians have legitimate claims to their own culture and sovereignty, but in a unified nation it is difficult to satisfy both sufficiently.Creating a just society for all the cultures and nationalities that make up Canada is the central challenge faced by the founders of over a century ago and the modern leaders.The most recent attempt to guarantee justice, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is contested as well in terms of its fairness to all groups and its compatibility with the Canadian brand of federalism.

LaSelva describes Canada as "a country of solitudes, such that the Aboriginal solitude joins the French and English solitudes" (11).The paradox of Canadian government is to find unity within this diversity and develop a national identity without sacrificing the multiculturalism that makes Canada different from the United States.Unfortunately for the success of that task, maintaining multiculturalism has often been accomplished through demands of self-government by the French and Aboriginal populations.However, through the confusion and conflict over Canadian federalism, LaSelva sees opportunity for intellectual development and a rethinking of Canadian government as it exists today.

He goes on to examine the origins of modern Canada, beginning with Confederation, where he asserts that their problems began: "Confederation has failed Canadians in a crucial respect: it has not provided them either with a foundation myth or with a moral ideal that can sustain them during their times of trouble" (21).LaSelva argues that this is because Confederation was born out of internal conflict and not successful revolution like that of the United States.Founder John MacDonald never intended Confederation to turn into a Federalist government, but rather a more unitary nation focused on material wealth and commercial growth.LaSelva credits George-Étienne Cartier with pushing federalism and arguing that because of the multiple loyalties within Canada to both one's province and the nation, there must be a strongmoral unifying bond between citizens themselves for Federalism to work.Hence flows LaSelva's examination of the moral foundations of Federalism in Canada and his argument that federalism requires a sense of fraternity to succeed.

LaSelva's deeper examination of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms concludes that it rests on a destructive premise of conflict which is antithetical to Canadian communitarian ideals, meaning that it is just a little too "American" for many Canadian's tastes.However, the reasonable limits clause effectively give judges all the power to enforce the charter or ignore it completely.The Charter does answer one problem with federalism though, which is that "Federalism simply fails to provide a satisfactory answer to the most basic question of freedom: it shows how to protect freedom, but not whose freedom should be protected" (68).The unique problem with Canada is that its heterogeneity means democratic ideals are not always fair, hence the need for the Charter, as contested as it is.Canadian communitarians fear that the Charter will turn Canada into the litigious, rights-driven society of the United States, and they would rather see a more unified nation.

LaSelva argues that the Charter is not only valuable for its justice-increasing potential, but "by providing individuals and minorities with explicit standing in the constitutional order, the Charter not only gives greater prominence to their rights, but also remedies a failure of federalism" (80).He recognizes that Trudeau's intention in forming the Charter was to help Canada evolve toward a more just society, which would therefore be more unified under a federalist system.However, Trudeau's vision for Canada is inadequate in that it does not encompass the multiple cultures that thrive within Canada.

LaSelva goes on to re-examine the conflict between democracy and federalism in Canada through the lens of French and Aboriginal self-government.Since these different groups all have a desire for their own form of government, there is disagreement about the meaning and practice of democracy within and between them as well.There is conflict as well between different Aboriginal tribes about what form of government they want for themselves, which makes it hard for a national government to hear them as a united voice.

Finally, LaSelva places Cartier at the center of the debate.His vision of federalism of federalism as a way for different cultures to live together while maintaining and re-creating a solid national identity appeals to LaSelva.He seems o suggest that this is the "right" way to approach Canadian reconferderation projects because of its congruence with the original intent of the founders.The moral foundations he advocates are those of the founders, because the constitution began on those same moral foundations of federalism.Of course LaSelva realizes that if it was politically legitimate, a rethinking of this constitution could be undertaken, but as long as the public initiative is lacking there, it is important to honor the moral view of the Canadian founding fathers.

The most important purpose of LaSelva's book is to suggest that the solution to Quebec's call for sovereignty and the Aboriginal people's claim to self-government is simply to accept a sort of lopsided federalism.This vision, Cartier's vision, would allow the French and Aboriginals to keep their own culture and maintain their own government, but stay focused on a single, overarching Canadian identity.If Canada is going to survive as a nation, this is a critical proposition that should be taken very seriously.Additionally, it is important, as LaSelva advocates, to observe, but not be a slave to, the moral foundations that the fathers laid for Canada.Though their views of confederation were highly informed at the time by the American Civil war, which the United States obviously overcame with its democratic structure intact, it is still valuable to consider original intent.This book is an important and valuable historical contribution to the debates over reconfederation and Quebec sovereignty that still rage in Canada today. ... Read more

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Constitutional Odyssey is an account of the politics of making and changing Canada's constitution from Confederation to the present day. Peter H. Russell frames his analysis around two contrasting constitutional philosophies ? Edmund Burke's conception of the constitution as a set of laws and practices incrementally adapting to changing needs and societal differences, and John Locke's ideal of a Constitution as a single document expressing the will of a sovereign people as to how they are to be governed.

The first and second editions of Constitutional Odyssey, published in 1992 and 1993 respectively, received wide-ranging praise for their ability to inform the public debate. This third edition continues in that tradition. Russell adds a new preface, and a new chapter on constitutional politics since the defeat of the Charlottetown Accord in 1993. He also looks at the 1995 Quebec Referendum and its fallout, the federal Clarity Act, Quebec's Self-Determination Act, the Agreement on Internal Trade, the Social Union Framework Agreement and the Council of the Federation, progress in Aboriginal self-determination such as Nunavut and the Nisga'a Agreement, and the movement to reduce the democratic deficit in parliamentary government.

Customer Reviews (1)

An interesting trip through Canadian constitutional history.
Peter Russell presents a wonderful account of the Canadian peoples' constitutional journey from confederation in 1867 through the modern constitutional struggles over redefining the Canadian nation. Russell begins with the basic dichotomy between Burkean evolutionary change and Lockean revolutionary change. The bulk of Canadian history has been defined by a slow evolutionary development. But, beginning in the 1960s, many Canadians began to agitate for a more Lockean series of changes that aimed at fundamentally altering the Canadian constitution: the most successful of which being the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While it is clear that Russell opposed many of these changes, he writes in an objective manner that lays out the arguments and negotiations that backed the Charter, Meech Lake, and Charlottetown. Upon finishing this book one comes away with some understanding of the constitutional fatigue that Canadians were experiencing after decades of nearly constant constitutional debates.

My own interests in comparative constitutional development were well rewarded by Russell's book. Canada purposefully sought to create a highly centralized system to avoid the problems that came about as a result of the decentralized system of the U.S. Yet, ironically, the final result has been that the U.S. has become a highly centralized system while Canada is decentralized. Additionally, the process of independence by stages is also fascinating. Canada was still under the constitutional umbrella of the British Empire until 1980 when Canada was finally given the power to amend and control its constitution directly. Finally, Canada's constitutional system melds in an interesting manner the values of Westminster parliamentary system with the American values of federalism, judicial review, and individual rights. If you're interested in American constitutionalism, this book helps to illuminate how other states have learned from and adapted our constitutional ideas and built upon them to match their political needs. ... Read more

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The US, Switzerland and Canada are wealthy democracies that should be conducive to effective decentralized or cooperative environmental policy-making. However, a closer examination of their environmental policy over many decades finds no evidence that these approaches have worked. So, does it matter who does what? Can cooperation between sub-national governments protect the environment? Building on comparative case studies on air, water and fluoride pollution and making use of extensive historical material, Inger Weibust questions how governance structure affects environmental policy performance in the US, Switzerland, Canada and the European Union. Breaking new ground by studying formal and informal environmental cooperation, Weibust demonstrates that federal systems with more centralized policy-making produce stricter environmental policies and suggests that devolution and subsidiarity will lead to less environmental protection. An essential insight into the complexities of policy-making and governance structures, this book is an important contribution to the growing debates surrounding comparative federalism and multi-level governance. ... Read more

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Contested Federalism: Certainty and Ambivalence in the Canadian Federation examines the relations between and within the two main orders of government in Canada--the federal government and the provincial and territorial governments, the two central players in the intergovernmental system. The text also examines other orders of government, or would-be governments, which can be considered part of the broader federal and intergovernmental framework, even if these governments or proto-governments lack explicit constitutional recognition--that is, municipalities and First Nations, and other Aboriginal peoples' governments. In doing so, the book focuses on three areas: basic federal and intergovernmental structure, the constitutional and institutional framework, and what can be termed 'federal governance'.

Federalism, and particularly the Canadian variant, involves an ongoing contestation of interests, ideas, and identities. It is a contestation that sometimes clarifies but often obscures the nature of conflicts and the manner in which they are resolved. Because of the great degree of ambivalence associated with federalism, the authors provide students with the conceptual tools and basic knowledge of various governmental processes that will allow them to analyze and, if necessary, critique intergovernmental relations. ... Read more

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Reprinted with a new introduction, from the winter 1984 issue of PUBLIUS, these 17 articles represent an attempt to assess the state of the Canadian federal system, especially in the wake of the patriation of the Constitution in 1982. While assessments of Canadian political life are certainly not novel, the contributors to this volume examine Canadian Federalism in a broad context while addressing theoretical issues. Co-published with the Center for the Study of Federalism. ... Read more