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In this article, I argue that the dialogue debate has obscured a much richer story that can be told about Halpern v Canada, same-sex marriage, and the complex relationship between courts and legislatures. The federal government was deeply divided on same-sex marriage. Parliament, the Liberal government, the federal Cabinet, and the liberal caucus were all deeply divided. From the outside, it may have appeared as a 'courts versus government' battle, with the federal government defending the opposite-sex definition of marriage right up until the Ontario Court of Appeal struck it down as unconstitutional in Halpern. But a closer look shows that the federal government's about-face after Halpern had been in the making for years, with supporters trying to use court decisions as well as changing public opinion to wedge open the marriage issue. The same-sex marriage case study can be retold as a story not of dialogue between courts and Parliament but, rather, as a contestation within government. I argue that this story – of conflict and contestation within government and the use of court decisions by proponents of same-sex marriage – can provide a richer account of the evolution of the federal government and the adoption of the Civil Marriage Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 2005 federal electoral campaign, Conservative leader Stephen Harper announced what he called a "Charter of Open Federalism" to guide relations between his future government and the provinces, offering to put an end to what he described as centralizing federalism. However, ten years later, once three consecutive Conservative governments had elapsed, the state of intergovernmental relations in Canada was precarious. The Conservatives may have used the "open federalism" promise as a cover for a vast program of federal withdrawal from social policy, and centralization of economic and security policies. This doublespeak stressed relations with the provinces and minority nations to the point that the Liberal government formed in November 2015 has taken explicit distance from this legacy to reestablish healthy intergovernmental relations. Confirmation of this project is still a work in progress. The Liberals first year in office was crucial to assess whether continuity or change will prevail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining multi-level vertical party linkages in Canada’s largest province, this paper makes two primary contributions to the literature. First, drawing on data from a unique survey of constituency associations, the paper focuses on an often unexplored aspect of parties: their local organisations. Second, the paper offers an exploratory analysis of constituency level factors in order to determine which types of constituency associations are the most likely to be integrated. The results of the logistic regression demonstrate the possibility of non-party-based factors such as electoral strength that may contribute to vertical party integration. [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]

This article has two objectives. The first is to highlight a turn towards multilateral collaboration in the immigration sector and the resulting focus on pan-Canadian policy objectives and initiatives. This account is set against the current literature, which argues a bilateral approach to intergovernmental relations in the sector has resulted in asymmetrical policies and programs. The second objective is to demonstrate the value of explicitly focusing on the nature of intergovernmental relations as unilateral, bilateral or multilateral. Applying this lens, the article draws out the drivers and complexity of the turn towards multilateral collaboration in the immigration sector, arguing it is motivated by an increased provincial engagement in economic immigration and also by the federal government's desire to reassert its own role in response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are redistributive politics in Canada fading or merely in abeyance? In this essay, I examine the empirical evidence for the 'fading' metaphor, examine new, neoliberal lenses that have shaped recent policy developments, and identify changes in the role of political actors and policy-making institutions that have facilitated the redistributive weakening. Ever the optimist, however, I conclude on an upbeat note on future democratic possibilities for a fairer and more just Canada. La politique de la redistribution au Canada, est-elle en train de s'étioler ou est-elle tout simplement en suspens? Dans un premier temps, je pose le contexte empirique à la fois pour et contre la métaphore d' 'étiolement', tendances concernant la disparité des revenus, la pauvreté, et la répartition du revenu. Dans un deuxième, je me concentre sur le rôle des nouvelles politiques ainsi que sur le soi-disant virage néolibéral dans l'idéologie politique qui ont façonné nos réponses à ces développements. Finalement, je discute le caractère changeant à la fois des acteurs politiques et des institutions politiques qui ont restructuré d'une façon cumulative la politique de la redistribution des revenus au Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1990 and 2010, a gradual process of institutional change has affected Canada's immigration and integration governance regime. The central characteristic of this process is the emergence of a new legitimate institutional group of actors: Canadian provinces. This change corresponds to a federalization of Canada's immigration and integration governance regime. It is a break from the previous pattern of federal dominance and provincial avoidance. It is not the result of diminished federal intervention in immigration and cannot be explained by exogenous shocks. Current explanations of this evolution focus on federal decisions and have trouble explaining provincial mobilization. Using a mechanistic approach to the analysis of social processes and insights on gradual institutional changes, this article demonstrates that provinces have been the central agents bringing about the federalization of Canada's immigration and integration governance regime between 1990 and 2010. Via a mechanism of province building centred on immigration, provinces have triggered and maintained in movement a decentralizing mechanism. The interactions of these two mechanisms, over time, gave rise to the federalization of immigration and integration in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article assesses the performance of Canada's employment policy governance regime post-1996 by explicitly comparing Canadian approaches to those used in the European Union ( EU) through the open method of coordination ( OMC). It concludes that Canada has moved so far along the decentralization continuum - with 13 provincial systems as well as a federal-only system in place - that coordination, coherence, mutual learning and information sharing on a pan- Canadian basis have been lost. While EU OMC approaches hold promise, to be realized stakeholders would need to become more engaged in the policy domain and provinces, rather than the federal government, must take the initiative for enhanced coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares the role of citizens in public reporting exercises of Canada's National Child Benefit and health care service delivery to that of the European Union's open method of coordination ( OMC) for social protection and social inclusion. It finds that the institutional infrastructure providing for coordination across social policy areas and possible roles for non-governmental actors in policy development is more extensive in the OMC than in the 'new modes of governance' in Canada. However, there are obstacles to developing such infrastructure in Canada, given the different histories and political contexts of the European community and the functioning of federalism in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canadian internal trade policy illustrates the challenges that federalism can pose to economic union goals. Although the federal government played a critical role in bringing internal trade to the policy agenda, provincial and territorial governments have driven policy reform over the past decade. Drawing on both historical institutional and ideational approaches, this article argues that the political development of internal trade policy reflects the interplay between institutional realities and politically influential ideational elements. The decentralized nature of Canadian federalism led subnational governments both to establish policy that limited the role of the federal government and then, in the face of dominant beliefs about economic liberalization, to use the newly formed Council of the Federation to take a more active role on internal trade policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Official participation in Canadian First Ministers' Conferences has long been exclusive to federal and provincial first ministers. In March 1992, however, the membership of this intergovernmental arena was expanded permanently to include territorial premiers. Using the tools of historical institutionalism and drawing upon relevant literature and eleven elite interviews with former first ministers and senior civil servants, this paper seeks to explain why this instance of incremental institutional change occurred. It finds that significant friction between the institutional and ideational layers of the Canadian federation during a period of mega-constitutional reform allowed federal, provincial and territorial actors to draw upon ideas about democracy and the political and constitutional maturation of the territorial North to expand permanently the membership of First Ministers' Conferences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Inter-party voting coalitions in three minority cabinets were analysed: the 38th (2004–05), 39th (2006–08) and 40th (2008–11) Federal Canadian Parliaments. The paper begins by developing a simple theory to explain the formation of voting coalitions. The theory predicts that electoral incentives and policy issues drive minority government support. The main contention is that voting coalitions are more likely to form along ideological lines, as proposed by Axelrod [(1970) The Conflict of Interest (Chicago: Markham)]. However, the analysis also demonstrates that voting coalitions form along a second dimension in the Canadian Parliament, mainly on issues related to federalism and the province of Quebec. Some evidence is also provided to show that expected electoral gains could explain why certain parties choose to support the government more, despite ideological incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Governments in Canada have recently been exploring new accountability measures within intergovernmental relations. Public reporting has become the preferred mechanism in a range of policy areas, including early learning and child-care, and the authors assess its effectiveness as an accountability measure. The article is based on their experience with a community capacity-building project that considers the relationship between the public policy, funding and accountability mechanisms under the federal/provincial/territorial agreements related to child-care. The authors argue that in its current form, public reporting has not lived up to its promise of accountability to citizens. This evaluation is based on the standards that governments have set for themselves under the federal/provincial/territorial agreements, as well as guidelines set by the Public Sector Accounting Board, an independent body that develops accounting standards over time through consultation with governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformations in recent patterns of immigration have the potential to reshape the trajectory of Canada's regional political dynamics. Drawing on data from the 1993-2006 Canadian Election Studies, this analysis explores how immigrants adjust to the prevailing regional political norms in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Do newcomers adopt the political orientations (feelings towards Canada and their province, confidence in provincial and federal governments, perceptions about how the province is treated by the federal government and support for the Liberal party! that resemble those of their native-born provincial counterparts? The results suggest that immigrants, especially newer waves from non-traditional source countries, tend to develop orientations that are more federally oriented than the local populations in their province. This tendency is most pronounced in Quebec where both groups of immigrants from traditional and non-traditional source countries internalize political grievances and norms less efficiently than their counterparts in other provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian Constitution remained a British statute from 1867 to 1982, a situation that endured even after the country became independent in 1931. As a result, every time Canadians wanted constitutional changes, legislation had to be passed in Westminster. Between 1980 and 1982, following the Quebec referendum on independence, the then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau undertook to change this situation. This meant devising a Canadian amending formula and, most importantly for Trudeau, the inclusion of an entrenched bill of rights in the constitution. Trudeau's initial project was opposed by eight of 10 provinces and this situation proved difficult for the UK. The opposing provinces lobbied British lawmakers in order to convince them to vote against the federal request. That situation eventually forced Ottawa to accept a diluted version of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we take a look at restructuring initiatives involving functional departments. First, we review the documented reasons leading to the decision to restructure. Next, we compare recent restructuring activities in three Canadian provinces and at the federal government level. The examples used provide us with information on the reasons for engaging in the restructuring process, and its implications. The cases reported (all territories combined) reveal that some areas seem more problematic than others (for example, economic development, environment) – that is, they are the focus of more frequent restructuring, and the subsequent outcome is not always satisfactory. The reasons for explaining the restructurings point to the complexity of the file and government priorities. Furthermore, the consequences of the restructuring process fall into three main areas: implications at the administrative and budgetary levels (costs related to moving, printing, etc.), implications revolving around the department's direction (mission and vision), and implications on personnel (loss of employment, impact on employees' morale, etc.). On a practical level, the premiers must particularly avoid the restructuring of departments during Cabinet shuffles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decade, federal and provincial governments in Canada have made major modifications in the governance of workforce development policy, an area critical to economic prosperity. Governance shifts have been accomplished primarily through devolution from the federal government to the provinces (including the transfer of federal staff) via a variety of bilateral agreements. This article analyses the performance of the intergovernmental relations system in workforce development policy in Canada since 1996. While there has been remarkable success in producing results in the form of agreements, and workability on a bilateral basis has improved – thereby reducing federal-provincial tensions – this has not been accompanied by improved workability on a multilateral basis. In addition, the changes to the system introduced by devolution have not always been consistent with federal principles. The article concludes that, without a more robust multilateral inter-governmental process to bridge the two orders of government, workforce development policy in Canada will remain inadequate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the end of the Second World War, principles of diversity and multiculturalism have increasingly been codified in international law. The present article takes a closer look at the evolution of Canada's attitude towards the recognition of its multinational character over the past 25 years. The article shows that the more recent idea of “open federalism” put forward by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government as a recognition of multinationalism closely resembles the monist idea of the state that was promoted by former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Thus, contrary to what is being portrayed in political discourses, nothing much has changed over the last 25 years. Stephen Harper's “open federalism” remains largely inspired by philosophical elements of monism and does not contribute to making Canada a truly multinational state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada's federal government and several provinces have recently moved to fixed election cycles on the assumption that the ability to pick the election date endogenously (1) gives the incumbent government an unfair advantage and (2) curbs the discretionary powers of the Governor General. Electoral opportunism is posited as a problem that fixed election cycles will remedy by virtue of ensuring greater turnover among governments. This article subjects these claims to empirical scrutiny. It examines why Canada did not follow the American example in the first place. It surveys some of the unintended consequences of fixing election cycles. And it ponders some of the complications that might arise when trying to reconcile a key constitutional principle of the Westminster parliamentary system, responsible government, with fixed election cycles. Evidence for the apparent democratic merits of a fixed election cycle is found to be less conclusive than its proponents acknowledge. The article concludes by speculating about the motivations behind Canada's new-found passion for electoral reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that while asymmetrical arrangements among the units of any federation are necessary and even desirable, federal encroachments on provincial jurisdiction in Canada over the past few decades have triggered a protective impulse in the provinces that has resulted in a multiplication of deals recognizing provincial differences. The nature and variety of such arrangements are undermining the sense of federal comity, goodwill, and understanding so critical to national unity. To avoid heading further down this trajectory and attenuating the bonds that hold the nation together, the federal government should reconsider its role in the federation. While the current Conservative government policy of open federalism begins this reconceptualization of federal and provincial roles and responsibilities, more constructive and principled action is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]