One Solid Nation or a Community of Communities?

Prime Minister Joe Clark:

   “In an immense country, you live on a local scale. Governments make the nations work by recognizing that we are fundamentally a community of communities. Whatever cultures we come from, whatever heritage we bring to these shores, we are all of us North American in aspiration. We want to build. We want to grow. Generally, the goals of Canadians are personal goals. A few people in our history have helped build our nation by consciously pursuing national goals, but many more have built this nation by pursuing the personal  goals which the nature of this nation allows. The personal goal of most Canadians has been freedom and some security for their family. That caused the settlement of new regions, caused the immigration of new citizens, caused the transplanting of old roots to new ground. A policy designed to make the nation grow must build upon and must not frustrate the instinct of most Canadians to build a stake for themselves.”

What is “Federalism”?

—  A system in which government powers are shared by a national government and provincial (or state) administrations.

Examples:

—  The United States

—  Mexico

—  The former Soviet Union

—  Germany

The roles of the different levels of government are defined in constitutions but usually remain in flux. Sometimes the system collapses entirely, as in the American Civil War.

Canada had just three regions when the three provinces of British North America were joined in a Confederation in 1867:

—  The Maritimes

—  The St. Lawrence Valley

—  Southern Ontario

Canada also had “territories”:  The Pacific Coast, which was a separate set of colonies, but what are now Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta were “territories” under federal government control in 1867, as was the arctic.

Prince Edward Island was also a colony with some self-government until 1871. Newfoundland remained a separate country until 1949.

Is Canada – or the US or Germany – a collection of independent countries (states/nations) or one country that allows lower level of governments to exist and exercise power? Is Canada – or the US or Germany – a collection of independent countries (states/nations) or one country that allows lower level of governments to exist and exercise power? That was the question that started the U.S. Civil War and has been argued for generations in Canada, especially regarding Quebec.

Because, if a federation is actually a group of countries joined together, they can be “unjoined”

The trend in the last century is toward federation breakdown:

—  Austria-Hungary (1918)

—  The Turkish empire (1918)

—  The Russian Empire/Soviet Union (1918-1921; 1990s)

—  Yugoslavia (1990s)

—  The United Kingdom of Great Britain (“Devolution” underway in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

And as-yet unfilled national aspirations:

—  Kurds

—  Basques

—  Catalonians in Spain

—  Mexican Native groups

—  Canadian and US First Nations

.

National Government Powers

—  Immigration

—  Transportation

—  Telecommunications

—  Some resources

—  Native Affairs

—  Foreign Affairs

—  Defence

—  Criminal justice

—  Agriculture

—  Industry

—  Banking and macroeconomic issues

—  Some labour law

—  Regulation of key sectors

—  Fisheries

—  Environment (some)

—  Energy

—  Health (standards)

—  Unemployment Insurance

—  Old Age Pensions

—  RCMP

—  Prisons

—  Parks

—  Federally-chartered corporations

Provincial Powers

—  Health care

—  Education

—  Highways

—  Municipalities (creatures of the provinces)

—  Electricity

—  Resources

—  Environment

—  Administration of most of the courts

—  Civil law

—  Rules regarding securities (stocks and bonds)

—  Corporation rules

Look at how many of those powers and services overlap… (and we’ll ignore the overlap with cities…)

Canadian de-Confederation Movements

—  Nova Scotia before World War I

—  Newfoundland

—  Quebec

—  Alberta (and sometimes Saskatchewan)

—  First Nations 

Nova Scotia:

—  Nova Scotia felt strong-armed into Confederation

—  Almost all of the members of the first Nova Scotia legislature and the MPs elected by Nova Scotians in 1867 wanted out of Confederation.

—  Many gripes the same as Nova Scotia’s

Newfoundland:

—  Idea that Britain forced the colony into Confederation in 1949

—  Many Newfoundlanders believe Ottawa has cheated the province re: resources

—  In the early 2000s, the Newfoundland government took down all the flags on provincial buildings

Quebec

—  Strong nationalist movement with Survivance as the underlying idea.

—  World War I and World War II conscription (forced military service)

—  The Quiet Revolution

—  The 1976 Parti Quebecois victory

—  The 1980 Referendum

—  The Meech Lake-Charlottetown Accord

—  The 1995 Referendum

—  “Quebec is a Nation”

—  “Values “ Charter

Alberta

—  The National Energy Program

—  The Western Canada Concept

—  The Rise of the Reform Party

First Nations

—  Are they part of the Confederation pact?

—  Have they ever given up sovereignty

—  Self-government: more than just “reserves”?

—  Plus, “regions” do not fit provincial boundaries

—  And within the giant provinces, there are communities within communities: ethnic groups, linguistic minorities, First Nations, and even sub-regions (Northern Ontario-Southern Ontario)

Challenges for the Future

—  Immigration: Are Canada’s old fights relevant to new Canadians?

—  Is power actually shifting?

—  Does regionalism hide more fundamental problems?

—  Could the national government become irrelevant?