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This paper examines judicial reasoning in the area of Aboriginal title, paying particular attention to the Supreme Court of Canada's Tsilhqot'in Nation (2014) decision. While the decision has been heralded as a ‘game-changer’ within media circles and legal commentaries for its recognition of a claim to title under section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982, the authors argue that the decision does not depart substantially from prior judicial logics predicated upon the production of Crown sovereignty and the denial of Indigenous legal orders. In fact, the authors argue that the decision displays a clear judicial orientation towards the present jurisdictional divisions of Canadian federalism which not only serves to eliminate Indigenous legal orders and territorial responsibilities, but also provides federal and provincial governments with enhanced powers of ‘incursion’ into Aboriginal title lands. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article critically examines the Conservative government's approach to official languages, through a policy instrument framework. Special attention is paid to the third federal roadmap for official languages--the first having been unveiled by the Liberal government in 2003 and the second by the Conservative minority government in 2008--and how this roadmap conveys a new representation of official languages in relation to Canadian identity and citizenship. The focus on the linguistic integration of new immigrants in the 2013 language roadmap generates interest. The policy instrument framework also shows how language roadmaps represent the fourth generation of official language policies in Canada; the first three generations found their respective bases in the 1969 Official Languages Act, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1988 Official Languages Act. The article concludes that an analysis of language roadmaps elucidates transformations initiated by the Conservative governments in the area of official languages in Canada. It also promotes further exploration and analysis of language policies through the policy instrument framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no unifying theory to guide the study of partisan political staff. The literature suggests staffers may be variously mechanisms for resolving principal-agent problems, extensions of centralized political control or spoils given as rewards inside the core executive. Annual Public Accounts data, available only since 2007, offer a promising new addition to the debate over federal exempt staffs. This paper presents descriptive and linear regression results on staffing expenditures for five years of federal data in Canada. Using the construct of "revealed preference," predictors of variance in ministerial spending on staffing may provide new, objective information on their function in Canadian government. Results of this study demonstrate that quantitative methods can be applied to the study of political staff and may be a helpful addition as the field continues to develop, test and refine theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Usually, the state of urban research in Canadian political science leads to pessimistic evaluations. This pessimism is belied by one emerging area of study: research on Canadian municipal public policies and immigration, which has flourished over the last 20 years. This article tracks the evolution of this research. First, I retrace how municipal policies for immigrants have been studied, and show how comparison is a central component of this literature. Second, I analyze the dynamics of agenda setting, as well as variables for decision making and implementation. Third, I make three propositions for future research, which are i) to examine the reciprocal relationship between attitudes towards immigration and local public policies and politics; ii) to study local public policy as constructions rather than responses and iii) to revisit the use of national models of integration for cities. In conclusion, I underline the positive outcomes of "bringing cities back in" to Canadian political science, not only to better understand political regulation and Canadian federalism, but also to have a more complete view of the immigrant integration policies. [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]

The maintenance of Canadian federalism, and Canada itself, depends on workable relationships between its constituent parts that are able to secure political agreement through accommodation. This argument is developed by examining the dispute between Newfoundland and Ottawa over the control of offshore oil and gas from the late 1950s to 1985, which also became a subtext for the pursuit of economic security, justice, and equality for the province. Energy policy, including the offshore, was often a key issue in the fractious intergovernmental relations in Canada in this period, and this article argues for the inclusion of political actors as an important force in shaping politics and political decisions. While it does not ignore partisan divisions and issues of constitutionalism, the article makes the case that political stability in Canada also depends on relationships. As such, the article offers a unique opportunity to reframe our understanding of interstate federalism and redirect the discussion of politics and federalism away from constitutionalism and judicial review to the role of politicians and personal relations in federal-provincial governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike the historic settlement of the rest of Canada, treaties with the First Nations originally occupying most of present-day British Columbia have never been finalized. Since 1993, the federal government of Canada, the provincial government of British Columbia, and approximately two-thirds of the First Nations in British Columbia have been engaged in treaty and land claim negotiations under a unique British Columbia treaty process. To date the process has produced only five agreements, three of which are fully ratified, one of which is in the ratification process, and one of which was rejected by the First Nations membership. This article reviews the history of treaties in British Columbia and uses exploratory illustrative case studies to examine two of these recent treaty negotiations-the Lheidli T'enneh First Nations and the Tsawwassen First Nations. These case studies demonstrate that treaty negotiations are very complex processes and do not always achieve mutual agreement, yet features of governance and land ownership included in these agreements have implications for land use policy and planning that affect all First Nations people in British Columbia, in Canada, and around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Province of Alberta seems an unlikely early advocate of multiculturalism; yet, several months before the federal government unveiled its official policy on this issue, it was an Alberta premier, Harry Strom, who demanded that multiculturalism be a condition for constitutional reform during the 1971 Victoria Constitutional Conference. What explains this puzzle? Using William Riker's concept of heresthetics and the literature on Alberta politics, Western alienation, and Canadian federalism, the authors argue that Strom introduced multiculturalism at the conference as a strategic manoeuvre to bolster and defend Alberta's compact perspective on federalism and to block any constitutional change that would prevent Alberta from recognizing itself as an equal and autonomous partner in the Canadian federation. The authors' findings suggest that Riker's concept of heresthetics may be useful for analyzing other instances of intergovernmental relations in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Both Canada and the European Union ( EU) have been active in developing pension policies despite the lack of formal mandates to do so. While the Canadian government used its fiscal powers to expand its role in pension programs when pension emerged as a policy issue, the EU has been strongly limited by its lack of resources, institutional complexities, and the maturity of public pension programs in its member states. The EU experience generates interesting lessons for Canadian policy makers who are dealing with increasingly complex pension issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The articles in this issue suggest that intergovernmental governance takes a different form in Canada and the EU, raising questions about the transference of practices and institutions from one to the other. In both systems, non-hierarchical modes of governance provide coordination in social policy. Hierarchy also plays a role, though not in a manner that one might expect. In the EU, hierarchy is tempered by members' direct participation in policy formulation. In Canada, hierarchy is important, but within rather than between governments, resulting in executive dominance of the intergovernmental process at the expense of devolving power to civil society and sub-provincial governments. [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]

A key challenge for comparative politics is to explain the varying degrees of political conflict triggered by the territorial redistribution of financial resources. Federal systems pose this question particularly acutely since they typically operate equalization programs that generate different levels and patterns of intergovernmental conflict. For instance, in Canada equalization has generated serious conflict between federal and provincial governments whereas in Australia it has only led to low-level grumblings on the part of some states which have taken shots at others. This article sheds light on the causes for conflict around the territorial redistribution of financial resources by explaining why equalization has produced more severe intergovernmental conflict in Canada than in Australia. It argues that institutional factors linked to the governance structures of equalization and the nature of federalism are at the heart of the cross-national difference. More specifically, the presence of an arms-length agency administrating equalization in Australia compared to executive discretion over the program in Canada and the weaker status and lesser power of states in comparison to Canadian provinces means that equalization policy is more subject to political challenges in Australia than in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Disagreement over how and between whom power should be shared has led to competing conceptions of federalism in Canada. The model of federalism adopted in the Constitution Act 1867 divides power between the provinces and the federal government to the exclusion of Aboriginal peoples. However, pre-Confederation documents such as the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the early treaties suggest that federalism is founded on the coexistence of self-governing nations. This paper presents a case study of how one Aboriginal people, the Métis, are reviving the pre-Confederation vision of federalism founded on mutual recognition by carving out a space for themselves in Canada's political and institutional landscape. We argue that by delivering an expanded array of programs and services to their citizens, creating innovative governance structures, adopting legislation in key areas of Métis interest and fostering economic self-sufficiency, the Métis are reshaping federalism from the bottom up. [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]

The current heritage landscape in Canada was shaped between 1980 and 2008 by provincial legislation and grants, by federal government influence and funding, by private provincial and federal foundations, but most important of all by the realities of the property development and the opposition and foresight of local community action groups. The ability of government to make any real change was tempered by the belief that less government was better and that the forces of the marketplace were best placed to do - termine the shape of a society and its heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]