Canadian Federalism Threatened essays

Canadian Federalism Threatened essays The Issues of Quebec Nationalism and Regionalism The Issues of Quebec Nationalism and Regionalism When it was it first conceived in 1867, Canada was founded as a state that would create a government structure based on federalism. Federalism is defined as: A political system in which legislative power is distributed between a national, central, or federal legislature and a level of state or provincial legislatures. The relationship between the two different governments in Canada is characterized by a National government in Ottawa and 10 Provincial governments across the country. Federalism is also characterized in Canada by the constant problems that plague Canadian federalism. Major problems of Canadian federalism (defining the authority structure, drawing out responsibilities, control over spending and raising revenues, outlining standards, and a growing threat of the country splitting up), are among countless other minor problems. However, these problems are all attributed to the fundamental problem of Canadian federalism: the conflict between central Canada and the periphe ral regions. In order to trace the fundamental problem of Canadian federalism, it is important to first define what is central Canada and to note that the problem of federalism is both regionalist and nationalist in nature. Central Canada is comprised of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, but more specifically always includes the national government in Ottawa and its preference to these two provinces. The problem of Canadian federalism is regionalist in nature in that it pits the peripheral regions against central Canada: All of the non-central provinces have grievances with Central Canada and its governments in Ottawa, Ontario and Quebec. It is also nationalist in nature in that although Quebec makes up part of Central Canada, Quebec presents the problem of nationalism to Canadian federalism. Throughout Can...