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Federalism, Like It's 1867

by Brigitte Pellerin on June 19, 2009 | Federalism, Future of Conservatism

How often do you get a blast from the present while reading history books? It certainly happens when the subject is Canadian unity. For instance, if you heard a Quebec politician complain about a supposed fiscal imbalance within our federation because “the share of income tax collected by the province . . . is still clearly inadequate” and claim that “by so often giving short shrift to Quebec’s pleas up to now, the federal government has acted as though it meant to put a brake on our province’s social and economic development”, you could be forgiven for believing that former Parti Québécois premier Bernard Landry had made a comeback. In fact, a Liberal Premier, Jean Lesage, uttered these criticisms in 1963. [i]

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What Quebec's Election Results Really Mean

by Adam Daifallah on June 22, 2009 | Federalism

Jean Charest’s impressive majority victory in the December 8, 2008 Quebec election should, at best, be met by conservatives with a collective shrug. The return to power of the Quebec Liberals is no great cause for enthusiasm, but no reason to fret either. The results confirm a regrettable truism of Canadian politics that if you do essentially nothing and govern simply by trying to offend the least number of people possible, you will likely be rewarded at the polls.

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“A Long Time Coming”: Parliament's Prorogation Crisis

by John von Heyking on February 08, 2010 | Federalism, Future of Conservatism, Democracy

Harper’s decision to request prorogation has proven controversial because his critics (some of them sympathetic to his political program) believe he is abusing his executive power over Parliament. Harper’s defenders point out that there is nothing unconstitutional about prorogation and that Parliament’s current dysfunction justifies it.

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