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The state of Canadian politics is in constant flux. Current and recent issues and events have led to a host of changes in the way politics is done in this country and there are no signs of this trend coming to an end. In Continuity and Change in Canadian Politics, Hans J. Michelmann and Cristine de Clercy, along with some of the leading names in Canadian political scholarship, provide a many-sided assessment of contemporary Canadian government and politics to honour the career of their eminent colleague, David E. Smith.

The contributors to this collection address a range of policy sectors and institutional features. These include the changing constitution, the senior civil service, the impact of NAFTA, federal-provincial relations, unilateralism in social policy, Aboriginal self-government, citizenship and immigration policies, coalition governments, agriculture, and, of course, Smith’s impact on the political scholarship of Western Canada. Change and Continuity in Canadian Politics gets to the heart of key issues and provides important insights into contemporary Canadian government and politics.

Contributors:
Christine de Clercy
Ken Coates
Thomas J. Courchene
Joseph Garcea
Roger Gibbons
Brooke Jeffrey
Gregory P. Marchildon
Hans J. Michelmann
Éric Montpetit
Greg Poelzer
Peter H. Russell
Donald J. Savoie
Grace Skogstad

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This second edition renews the promise of the first: it offers a fresh and comprehensive exploration of the complexity of Canadian federal politics. It begins with a comprehensive section on constitutional politics, which examines topics ranging from executive federalism to multiculturalism including new chapters on judicial review and the division of powers, Aboriginal governance and federalism, and the implication of treaty rights for self-governance. This is followed by seven chapters that both provide a select survey of public policy areas and explore the impact of federal-provincial relations on policy evolution and outcomes. Updated chapters on trade policy, labour policy, the environment, regionalism, and, of course, health care are all to be found, alongside new work on social assistance and Canadian federalism and federation in comparative perspective. Throughout, the book reveals the visions that have animated Canada's longstanding constitutional debat!es, the role of executive federalism and the courts in relation to the evolution of federalism, and the essential dynamism of policy development. Together they demonstrate that, despite the lack of a formal constitutional agreement, important changes are occurring in the Canadian federal system. ... Read more

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Constitutionalist Ted McWhinney draws on his extensive experience in the workings of our federal system to discuss the need for modernization and updating to meet the radically new demands of the plural, multicultural Canada of the twenty-first century. His thinking has the advantage of his personal exchanges with prime ministers from the time of John Diefenbaker, as well as his recent direct participation in governmental decision-making in Ottawa during two elected terms as Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary to several ministries. Proposals for reform are canvassed frankly. More importantly, practical ways out of our present constitutional straight-jacket--the result of the failure of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords--are put forward for debate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

McWhinney's Memoirs
I was thoroughly disappointed with this book.Rather than discuss politics and the constitution 1993-2002, the author chose to share with his readersa glimpse into his life as an MP. The strategies he employed, the goals he achieved and the role he played in the decision making process. If you are expecting a discussion about politics and the constitution, you've come across the wrong book. Much of the text is written in first person, and very little addresses 'the need for modernization and updatng to meet the radically new demands of the plural multicultural Canada'. If the photos in the book are any indication of the balance of the text, consider this - of the 23 photos inlcuded, McWhinney appears in 22, Chretien appears in 3. ... Read more

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This collection of essays examines federalism and nationalism in Canada, emphasizing issues surrounding the Canada/Quebec question since 1971. It analyzes the singularity of Quebec within the larger Canadian mosaic, providing a reasoned defence for the recognition of Quebec's distinctiveness within a reformed federal system. The author brings to his reflections on nationalism and federalism the fruits of a more universal philosophical discourse rooted in the Enlightenment and before. Its hallmarks are terms such as recognition, self-determination, atomism, and modernity. Notwithstanding his long involvement in philosophical reflections, Taylor has avoided the role of the disengaged intellectual, always remaining close to political action and debate in Canada. To his philosophical discourse, therefore, is added a knowledge of Quebec society from the vantage point of an English-speaking citizen with profound roots within it. He suggests that it will be necessary to think in terms of deep diversity if Canada is to stay together in the 21st century.Eight of the essays, published between 1965 and 1992, are drawn from the "Queen's Quarterly", edited scholarly books, a research study for the MacDonald Commission on Canada's Economic and Political Future, and an English translation of his submission to Quebec's Belanger-Campeau Commission. The concluding paper was written specially for this volume. ... Read more

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This text presents a collection of Stephane Dion's speeches from 1996 to 1998. Organized around four central themes, the book shows the breadth and strength of Dion's convictions. Dion believes that Canada is first and foremost a nation of caring people, in contrast to the image projected by the endless, dry constitutional debate. He argues that the melding of diversity and unity that is the basis of this nation is possible only because of the particular federalism that Canadians have invented. This federalism, however is far from perfect and it is the responsibility of government to continue to work to improve it, always remembering that its core must be the quality of service it provides to Canadians. The author believes that the Quebec question is not a constitutional question but one that concerns identity: many francophones believe that their identity and culture are not respected in the rest of Canada and see the anglophone majority as a force for assimilation, while many in other provinces feel that separatists do not share the same values of openness and tolerance.He believes strongly that the secession process the Parti Quebecois has proposed - effecting independence on the basis of incorrect legal theory, an unclear referendum question, and a majority of 50 percent plus one - is difficult to reconcile with democracy and raises questions that must be discussed openly and resolved democratically. ... Read more

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First published in French in 2006, Le fédéralisme canadien contemporain was immediately recognised as the most comprehensive collection of reflections on Canadian federalism by leading Québécois scholars. This remarkable translation of a range of Québécois voices makes their insightful and underrepresented perspectives available to English-language audiences.

Offering alternative views of the Canadian federal model's realities by covering its foundations, traditions, and institutions, Contemporary Canadian Federalism considers the ways in which federalism relates to issues such as regionalism, multiculturalism, rights and freedoms, financial distribution, and public policy. Filled with stimulating work that bridges the gap between distinctive traditions in English- and French-Canadian scholarship on federalism, this important volume is required reading for understanding provincial-federal relations and Canadian governance.

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Seven leading experts examine various aspects of the Agreement and consider whether it fulfils its expected role with respect to intergovernmental relations and social policy, whether it is a viable arrangement given the non-participation of one of its partners, and whether it should be renewed and under what conditions. The contributors include Christian Dufour (ENAP), Roger Gibbins (Canada West Foundation), Alain Noel (Universite de Montreal), Susan Phillips (Carleton University), Michael Prince (University of Victoria), Bruno Theret (Universite de Paris, Dauphine), and Yves Vaillancourt (UQAM). ... Read more

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The long-continuing constitutional debate within Canada has brought a search today for new constitutional-govermental models of paradigms capable of taking us all safely into the 21st century. For students of contemporary constitutionalism, no country's experience has been more seriously studied than that of the West German federal state formed out of the three Western zones of Germany in 1949 and endowed with what was then described as a temporary governmental charter, pending final reunification of Germany. This volume is the result of a special bilateral Canadian-German conference organised by the Simon Fraser University and the Goethe-Institute of Vancouver in 1991 on the theme "The Challenge of Contemporary Constitutionalism: Canadian and German Federalism-in-the Making". The essays it contains, from many distinguished judges and professors from both countries, form a unique contribution both to scientific knowledge in constitutionalism and to current ventures in constitution-making and drafting in a number of countries - Western and Eastern Europe, North America - around the world. ... Read more

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When the prairie region was transferred to Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company, the central government acquired control over a territory that had a 200-year history of economic and cultural interchange between Indians mixed-bloods, and whites. The federal government was determined to administer the new lands in the interests of the dominion as a whole, and to that end the relationship of the prairie west to the central government was to be that of a colony, a statement borne out by the acts establishing Manitoba and later Saskatchewan and Alberta as provinces, for control over the public lands and resources in all three provinces was retained by the federal government until as late as 1930. Furthermore, the federal government wished to see established in the prairie west a society based on the values that were thought to be embodied in Central Canada, the values of a peaceful, ordered, and law-abiding community-essentially British values.

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The Mountie may be one of Canada’s best-known national symbols, yet much of the post-nineteenth century history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police remains unexamined, particularly the period between 1914 and 1939, when the RCMP underwent enormous transformation. The nature of this transformation as it took place in Alberta and Saskatchewan – where the Mounties have traditionally dominated policing – is the focus of Steve Hewitt’s Riding to the Rescue.

During the 1914-to-1939 period, the nineteenth-century model of the RCMP was evolving into a twentieth-century version, and the institution that emerged responded to a nation that was being transformed as well.Forces such as industrialization, mass immigration, urbanization, and political radicalism compelled the Mounties to look away from the frontier and toward a new era.

Incorporating previously classified material, which explores the RCMP both in the context of its ordinary policing role and in its work as Canada’s domestic spy agency, Hewitt demonstrates how much of the impetus behind the RCMP’s transformation was ensuring its own survival and continued relevance. Riding to the Rescue is a provocative and incisive look behind one of Canada’s most enduring icons at the cusp of the modern era.

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An up-to-date collection of papers on the current state of Canadian federalism, this book is organized around three themes: performance, effectiveness, and legitimacy. It is intended as the core text for courses on Canadian federalism and intergovernmental relations and also may be useful to those interested in public policy and public administration. ... Read more

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The possibility of Quebec's departure has long haunted Canadian politics, and English-speaking Canadians have resisted such a break. But why, and how, does Quebec's membership in the existing constitutional order matter to Canadians outside Quebec? "Secession and Self" goes beyond debates over the economic and institutional effects of Quebec separation to look at the normative dimensions of resistance to secession. Drawing from Charles Taylor, James Tully, and many others, Gregory Millard explores the central role Quebec plays in ideas of what makes Canada worthwhile. He argues that a break with Quebec would impair Canada's ability to realize ideals such as liberalism, fraternity, and developmental accounts of citizenship and would undercut attempts to locate Canadian identity in narratives of history and place.In lieu of a single argument against the departure of Quebec, Millard considers the variety and richness of the affirmations involved in Quebec-in-Canada as a particular kind of multinational state.Taking into account the many efforts to grapple with one of the deepest challenges in Canadian history, "Secession and Self" provides an insightful account of the variegated ties between Canada, Quebec, and visions of the good. ... Read more