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MINISTER DION STATES THAT CANADA IS A
DECENTRALIZED FEDERATION THAT HAS MADE
GREAT PROGRESS IN THE PAST TWO YEARS
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, March 25, 1998 – The President of the Privy Council
and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Honourable Stéphane Dion, said
today at the University of Ottawa that the decentralized nature of our
federation, which is striking in comparison with other federations, is a good
thing and well serves the interests of Canadians: "Such a large and
diversified country as Canada could not function other than under a very
advanced federative form. It is a good thing that we have strong
provinces."
The Minister refuted the very widespread myth that Canada has evolved from a
decentralized confederate regime to a centralized federation. In fact, he
pointed out that Canada has lost the centralism it had at its inception and
taken on the decentralized form it needs in order to develop. "Canada is
not the champion of decentralization in everything, but the fact is that, in the
very real world of federations, there is doubtless nothing more autonomous than
a Canadian province," the Minister added.
Mr. Dion pointed to two important areas that are currently the subject of much
debate, health care and financial assistance for students. He stressed that in
these two areas, "the current Canadian arrangement is in no way a
centralizing straitjacket."
The Minister referred to polls indicating that a majority of Canadians,
including a majority of Quebecers, do not want substantial movement toward
centralization or decentralization, but want their governments to work together
more effectively. The federal government and the provinces have oriented their
joint efforts in that direction to improve the federation, and impressive
results have been obtained in the past two years, the Minister stated.
In that regard, he listed no fewer than 17 measures completed or underway that
have made it possible, while respecting the Constitution, to clarify the roles
of and strengthen cooperation between the two orders of government. Mr. Dion
mentioned, for example, the federal spending power, stressing that this power
exists in all major federations, but the Government of Canada is the only
federal government that has voluntarily placed limits on the use of that power,
and the only one that provides for arrangements for opting out with
compensation. The Minister added that this commitment goes further than the
Meech Lake Accord.
He also highlighted the reduced conditionality of the main federal transfer to
the provinces, which are unquestionably less dependent on conditional transfers
from the federal government than are the components of other comparable
federations. "Our federal government clearly attaches the fewest conditions
to its intergovernmental transfers," the Minister stated.
Among the other examples mentioned, Mr. Dion noted the National Child Tax
Benefit, agreements in the areas of environmental harmonization and job
training, a major upcoming social policy reform, the agreement on liberalizing
internal trade, the constitutional amendments to secularize school boards in
Quebec and Newfoundland, and support for the Calgary Declaration.
The Minister highlighted the "inevitable relation of interdependence"
of governments to take on the challenges ahead, while respecting the
constitutional jurisdictions of each. "We are no longer in the 19th
century, when the financial weight of the public sector as a whole was marginal
in the economy. It now accounts for almost half, so that government
jurisdictions meet in almost all activity sectors," he stated. "The
success of modern federalism lies in interdependence and clearly defined
roles," Mr. Dion concluded.
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For information: André Lamarre
Press Secretary
(613) 943-1838
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