Search

Elsewhere (as shown in Chapter 4), Malraux delivered speeches about Culture and the Arts, privileging themes such as destiny and praising the renewed friendship between France and Canada. Malraux visited Quebec during the era of Georges-Émile Lapalme, who (beginning in 1961) was the first Minister of Culture for the province of Quebec, and counterpart to Malraux in that position (there was no minister of culture as such within the Canadian federal government, only in the ten provinces). Propos et discours: edited by Claude Corbo, Montréal, VLB éditeur, Études québécoises series, 2022, 171 pp., CAN $26.95 (paper) ISBN: 978-2-8964-9868-0. [Extracted from the article]

In 2017, the government of Quebec revisited the seemingly dormant question of Quebec's place in Canada by releasing a Policy on Quebec Affirmation and Canadian Relations. While the policy statement checks off most of the boxes associated with Quebec's traditional positions on federalism, I contend that it fails to diagnose the crux of the obstacles confronting Quebec and therefore it is likely to be reduced to a mere footnote in our ongoing deliberations around Canada's constitutional impasse. Following an examination of the policy statement, the chapter turns to an exploration of the growing gulf between Quebec and its federal partners with regards to the purposes of federalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the unelected nature of the Senate is an inherent feature of Canadian parliamentary democracy and is a central pillar of the constitution. Members of the Upper House are appointed by the Governor General, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister. The decision taken by the Prime Minister is not subject to review by Parliament or the provincial legislative assemblies. Patronage appointments have given the Senate a reputation as a dumping ground for political friends and party insiders. In 1989, the province of Alberta enacted the Senatorial Selection Act, arguing that it would serve as a stepping stone for substantive reform to the Senate. The province has held four elections in which the people of the province have chosen senators-in-waiting. This article argues that the Court's opinion in Reference re Senate Reform undermines the foundation upon which the provincial statute rests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is strong evidence that gender mainstreaming (GM), a gender equality governance strategy, is performing poorly across jurisdictions. While many national and regional governments have adopted gender equality policy tools, developing and implementing an integrated GM strategy requires substantive reforms to existing procedures and institutional settings. The goal of the article is to demonstrate that, in Canada, current gender equality policy using a gender-based analysis (GBA) approach does not feature the same governance arrangement as the alternative GM approach would entail. Using the Canadian federal government as a case study, the gender equality policy instrument mix is examined to demonstrate how different problem definitions result in suboptimal performance. The article concludes that Canada’s current gender equality policy regime only advances the mainstreaming of GBA, and not the mainstreaming of gender equality in general. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Regionalization tendencies have often been regarded, in academic and political debates, as a serious challenge for Canadian federalism and the national unity of Canada. This article argues that regionalism—and increased regionalization processes in the context of neoliberal globalization tendencies—is not a contradictory force that threatens federalism and national unity, but that it is and has historically been a decisive feature of Canadian civic nationalism from the beginning of the nation-building project. As a consequence, and for better or worse, processes of devolution under the current politico-economic regime will stabilize Canadian national unity rather than undermine it: regionalization can strengthen civic nationalism in Canada by adding a cultural dimension as a vehicle that negotiates between individual citizens, identity groups, and state institutions. Regionalisms—such as Québécois nationalism—are malleable structures of belonging and provide institutional frameworks (e.g., informal constitutions) and forums of dialogue that enrich the political culture of federalism. We conclude that increased regionalization can help to strengthen Canadian (and other forms of) civic nationalism by preventing them from slipping into monistic unitarism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Federalism is often praised for being able to accommodate diversity within the confines of a single state while preventing secession. Federalism, however, is fraught with tensions and instability. Federalism is typically adopted as a second-best alternative among actors whose first choice is either a more centralized state or a more decentralized state. These preferences persist over time. Instability in federation, then, comes from federal partners pushing in opposite directions at the same time. From this dynamic comes the much-examined propensity for secessionism to develop within federations. Largely unexamined in the literature on federalism, but equally problematic from the standpoint of stability, is the equal and opposite risk of consolidation (or centralization). This article examines sources of federal instability by exploring the origins and evolution of federalism. I use examples from Canada to demonstrate the extent to which my argument is applicable to real world federations. In conducting the exploration, we come to understand how federations can be both unstable and durable. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the development of immigration federalism in Australia and Canada (expressed through the establishment of state/provincial/territorial immigrant selection programs) and its implications for immigrants’ rights and immigration opportunities. Given the very limited scholarship on the issue, and the lack of previous comparative studies on immigration federalism in Australia and Canada, our research is exploratory by nature. Our finding is that provincial/state/territorial programs offer some advantages to prospective applicants (such as increased immigration opportunities), but, at the same time, raise a number of concerns (such as an increased dependence on employers). As our study reveals, the costs and benefits of immigration opportunities under state/provincial/territorial programs differ for skilled and low-skilled workers, whereby the latter are given only limited access to permanent residence, and on more onerous conditions than skilled workers. Drawing on these findings, we identify areas in need of further research and policy response. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article historically assesses Canada’s role in developing new constitutional mechanisms in the global economy. Drawing on the literatures of International Political Economy and analyses of Canadian foreign policy, a reassessment of Canada’s position in the international economic order is proposed. As a consequence of the geostrategic advantages afforded Canada between successive global hegemons, Canada’s path-dependent development has situated the country to benefit and insist on disciplinary mechanisms for all states. Canada’s defense of a rules-based order demands the country adopt an increasingly unfamiliar role as crisis threatens the stability of the global economy. Consequently, Canada has become a primary defender of the new constitutional order of global capitalism, a position that seems opposed to traditional cooperative visions of Canadian foreign policy. Moreover, as the Canadian state becomes an active global proponent of neoliberal economic reforms it undermines the intermediary role of the Canadian state in its own markets, potentially undermining one of the historical purposes of Canadian federalism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the mid-1990s, the Canadian federal government was challenged by the ascendence of nationalist politics in Québec. This article will show how the federal government has used social policy to create and maintain a broader pan-Canadian identity in the face of sub-state nationalism in Québec. Linking literature on nationalism, identity, federalism, and regime support, it will examine the impact of social welfare policies on political identification in Québec to determine the extent and efficacy of the Canadian federal government's social policy responses to sub-state nationalism. Findings include a marked preference for direct service delivery by the federal government and a coincident rise in affective and instrumental support for federal spending and jurisdiction in areas of sole provincial responsibility. Using the cases of child care and post-secondary education, this article argues that the Canadian government has been successful in reinforcing attachment to a pan-Canadian identity through direct transfers to citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]