The historical and contemporary challenges of Canada's division of powers

Abstract

Like any federation, Canada's is a dynamic and frequently unsettled one. The range of diversities and differences that the federation has to accommodate make for an always interesting present. Canada is a multinational federation, but its geographic and economic diversity are as challenging as the cultural differences that figure in most discussions of Canadian federalism. I note these multiple diversities from the start because they often interact with the institutions of the federal system in ways that are much different from the cultural and national differences seeking accommodation from the federation. From its inception, the division of competences or powers was seen as the key to the success of the Canadian federation. Canada's founders were in large part reluctant federalists, more inclined to the unitary statecraft of Great Britain than what they saw as the fractious and failed federalism of the United States. Therefore, the drafters of Canada's 1867 constitution sought to define competences in a way that would accord with their centralist goals. Not surprisingly, they tried to tilt the game in the central government's favour by giving the federal parliament legislative sovereignty over the pre-eminent governmental concerns of the day.