Federalism

Page 2: Topic and Outline

  • Topic: regions and regionalism in Canada

  • How regional differences have developed and impact Canadian politics

  • Role of government in facilitating and managing regional differences

  • Theoretical framework to understand regionalism

  • Regionalism in practice at various points in Canadian politics

  • National Policy and National Energy Program as examples of regionalism

  • Electoral politics and Western Alienation

  • Point of today: understand key attributes of regional differences and their impact on Canadian politics and government

I Page 7: Canada's Regions

  • Canada divided into six regions: The North, The West, Quebec, Atlantic, Ontario, and Canada

Page 8: Physiographic Regions

  • Innuitian Region

  • Arctic Lowlands

  • Canadian Shield

  • Hudson Bay Lowlands

  • Cordilleran Region

  • Interior Plains

  • Appalachian Region

  • St. Lawrence Lowlands

Page 9: Canada's Political Borders

  • Map of Canada with provincial and territorial borders

  • Major cities and capitals marked on the map

Page 10: Canada - 1867

  • Colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick united in a federal state

  • Ontario and Quebec established as provinces

  • North-Western Territory

Page 11: Canada - 1870

  • Canada acquires "Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory"

  • North-West Territories created

  • Manitoba becomes the fifth province

Page 12: Canada - 1871

  • British Columbia joins the federation as a province

Page 13: Canada - 1873

  • Prince Edward Island joins Confederation as the seventh province

Page 14: Canada - 1882

  • Provisional districts of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Athabasca, and Alberta created in the North-West Territories

Page 15: Canada - 1905

  • Alberta and Saskatchewan created as provinces

  • District of Keewatin transferred back to the Northwest Territories

Page 16: Canada - 1949

  • Newfoundland enters Confederation as the tenth province

Page 17: Canada - 1999

  • Nunavut becomes Canada's third territory

Page 18: Definitions and Regional Differences

  • Regions are bounded entities with a population that identifies as a community and has a link to that territory.

  • Listing Canadian regions is a matter of contention.

  • Regional differences are driven by space, distributional, economic, and political/institutional factors.

  • Regionalism is a shared sense that regions exist and are differentiated from one another.

Page 19: Space and its Impact

  • The physical geography of Canada divides regions into seven physiographic regions.

  • Immense distances in Canada impact settlement, regional economic activity, and government programs and infrastructure.

  • Space has impacted the unity of the country.

Page 20: Population Distribution

  • Where people live impacts their sense of community.

  • Population density along the southern border has limited east/west linkages and facilitated north/south linkages.

  • Early settlement patterns concentrated groups with similar cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

  • Contemporary migration patterns are changing demography.

Page 21: Economic Activity and Specialization

  • Economic activity and public policy choices can create and reinforce regional differences.

  • The Staples Theory explains how Canadian economic development relied on resource exports.

  • Early economic development created significant differences in regional economic specializations.

  • Today, access to natural resources, particularly oil and gas, creates a significant divide in regional economic patterns.

Page 22: Political/Institutional Factors

  • How political actors behave and institutions are organized can reinforce regional differences.

  • Early policies like the National Policy and critical junctures like the National Energy Program created lasting divisions.

  • Federalism and its institutions reinforce division across the country.

  • Political parties and actors can play on divisions, contributing to regionalism.

Page 23: Snapshot 1: National Policy

  • The National Policy was introduced in 1879 to promote national unity and economic development.

  • It had three core planks: trade tariffs, transportation links, and population growth through increased immigration.

  • The policy helped unify Canada but also reinforced regional differences.

Page 24: Snapshot 2: National Energy Program

  • The National Energy Program was introduced in 1980 to address the significant increase in oil prices.

  • It imposed new federal taxes, increased the federal share of oil revenue, and established Petro Canada.

  • The program created divisions between Ottawa and Alberta, known as "western alienation."

Page 25: Snapshot 3: Electoral Politics & Parties

  • Political parties and electoral politics shape and reflect regional differences and regionalism.

  • Regional grievances stemming from national policy led to the founding of the CCF/NDP and Social Credit parties.

  • The emergence of the Reform and Bloc Quebecois parties in the 1990s reflected heightened regionalism/nationalism.

  • National political party support remains highly regionalized, challenging Canada's traditional 'brokerage' politics.

Page 26:

Equalization

  • Significant regional disparities between provinces in terms of economic potential and government revenue

  • Equalization is a federal government program established in 1957 to alleviate regional disparities

  • Provides federal funds to bring provinces with lower fiscal capacity up to the national average

  • Approximately $18 billion transferred in 2018

  • Fiscal capacity is calculated by looking at sources of revenue and accounting for different combinations of provinces

  • Program has become a source of regional grievances

  • Oil-producing provinces have battled over inclusion of their non-renewable resources in the formula

  • Alberta politicians claim they send their money to other provinces, targeting Quebec's long-standing payments from the program

Page 27:

Western Alienation

  • Political ideology of regional discontent

  • Targets federal government as an agent controlled by central Canada

  • Deep roots with many continuing grievances

  • Oil and gas a recurrent theme, historically pricing and today environmental regulation

  • Central premise is for the West to be better represented in federal government to shape decisions

  • Senate reform seen as a means to address this

  • Became less acute during PM Harper's time in office but has re-emerged strongly with PM J. Trudeau

  • Today, there is a more pronounced streak seeking autonomy for provinces and regions (WEXIT/Alberta "firewall")

Page 28:

So What: What's the Big Deal Anyway?

  • Regionalism is a key force in Canadian politics and government

  • It reflects real regional differences and politically constructed ones

  • The political system both reflects and reinforces these regional differences

  • Ironically, some government policies intended to unify the country have facilitated regionalism

  • The most obvious manifestation of regionalism today is Western Alienation, which has deep roots in the past with early