RESISTANCE IN CANADA'S FEDERAL SYSTEM AND THE STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL STABILITY, EQUALITY, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: THE BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF NEWFOUNDLAND'S OFFSHORE OIL, 1960-1985.

The conundrum for all political systems has been to ensure fairness and equity to all political communities regardless of place while maintaining social cohesion and national unity. How national governments have sought to accommodate the goals and aspirations of various subnational groups within a country has been one of the pressing concerns of federalist states. The failure to do so had created periods of resistance in Canada. This paper examines Newfoundland and Labrador's fight with Ottawa for control over offshore oil and gas from the 1960s to the 1980s. This paper shows that the province believed it was not only articulating and championing its own limited interests but also engaging in a process to solve larger problems facing the nation. Federal leaders, such as prime minister Pierre Trudeau, believe that only they can protect the national community; they had to resist attempts by provincial premiers to strengthen their economies. Yet no resolution to the offshore dispute was possible until the election of a new prime minister who realized that sometimes the existing constitution does not meet the specific objectives of all provincial political communities. The resistance of provinces could only be addressed by finding political accommodation among the political elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]