Studies
on the Canadian Constitution and Canadian Federalism
Last
revised: 19 February 2001 |
Decentralization
Claude
Bélanger,
Department of History,
Marianopolis College Vague
formula under which various constitutional reforms have been proposed. Decentralists
argue that Canada has become, since the Depression, far too centralized, that
powers, constitutional and financial, have been too concentrated in the hands
of the federal government and bureaucracy and that, as a result, Ottawa has been
less and less responsive to local needs and aspirations. The supporters of decentralization
are now found in all parts of Canada although they have especially been prominent
in Quebec. The fundamental basis for
the argument of decentralizing powers in Canada is that Ottawa adopts policies
which may do some good for the nation as a whole (many have argued that, in practice,
this has too often meant Ontario) but might do considerable harm to some specific
regions or provinces. Author Yves Rabaud has argued that Canadian fiscal and monetary
policies are such that when indicators signal that the economy of Canada is overheating
[that is likely because the economy of Ontario is overheating] and that the federal
government applies the necessary breaks, the economies of Quebec and the Atlantic
provinces have barely begun to recover from the last recession. The
proponents of decentralization vary in their propositions from purely administrative
decentralization to a genuine reshaping of Confederation by putting more power,
and financial resources, in the hands of the provincial governments. Decentralization
is rather popular in Canada presently. ©
2001 Claude Bélanger, Marianopolis College
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