Growing discontent between feds and provinces

PORTLAND, OREGON—Recently, there has been a growing and dangerous discontent between the federal government and the provinces, including over allocating more funds to health care, which ended in a discord. The crux of the issue is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's insistence of strings attached, whereas the premiers were strictly asking for more funds.The Canada Health Act (1984) was an intrusion of the federal government into a sole provincial responsibility, but that was a precedent. The governing Liberals increasingly tend to push into areas of provincial constitutional responsibility by withholding cash from provinces. Another example is Bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act, which is now used as a sword over Ontario Premier Doug Ford's intention to build Highway 413, a strictly provincial mandate.A pushback has started to form: building up on the Commons' historic landmark motion, to the effect of "Québécois are a nation within a united Canada," and more so recently and brazenly—the House's 2021 motion declaring that "Quebec is a nation, whose sole official language is French"—Quebec Premier François Legault has passed Bill 96, which unilaterally amended the Canadian Constitution, symbolic as it may be. The re-elected premier has now upped the ante by removing a mandatory oath to King Charles, which used to prevent democratically elected members of the Quebec National Assembly from taking their seats. While I strongly protest against Bill 96 and the overuse of Sec. 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms' notwithstanding clause, to override potential challenges, Legault does have a point here pertaining to the oath. Polls consistently show that most Canadians (57 per cent), let alone in Quebec (87 per cent), are in favour of abolishing the monarchy and electing (or selecting) a Canadian head of state (as Barbados has just done). Legault has seized on Trudeau's hesitancy to go up against Quebec to advance his priorities; therefore, he signalled to other premiers that it's okay to push the envelope in federal-provincial relations and employ quasi-constitutional, legally dubious or murky power to fill a vacuum the federal Liberal government has shied away from; namely, not only removing the notwithstanding clause, but also moving to a more democratically balanced system of division of powers, including putting the question of the future of the monarchy to Canadians.Ford has also sensed that something is broken, and his increasingly so-called tyrannical wielding of his power as manifested in Bill 39, "Strong Mayor Act" to advance provincial priorities with a municipal vote of one-third of the council, on top of his utilization of Sec. 33 to enact Bill 28 and others, is a showcase. While I decry his abuse of powers, he has a point here: first of all, cities in Ontario are a creation of the provinces as is the case in most Westminster-style democracies. The Constitution allows him to use the notwithstanding clause, like it or not. But a much more serious issue lurks here. Danielle Smith's "Alberta Sovereignty Act within a United Canada" is purported to withstand a so-called intrusion into provincial jurisdiction, as in resource management; Smith is also correct in her assessment that both Ontario and Quebec have their own provincial police forces, Quebec also has its own pension plan.These late moves by the premiers of Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario to wield a stronger hand vis-a-vis federal power is a wakeup call for Trudeau to listen more to his premiers. There is certainly a division of power which the federal government has consistently crossed. The latter nominates Supreme Court justices, lieutenant-governors and even provincial courts of appeal justices. They also have a disallowance power over provincial legislation. All this could have been changed for the better had then-prime minister Brian Mulroney's Meech Lake Accord passed. A balance—including a Triple-E Senate (equal, elected, and effective), mandatory provincial input in nominating Supreme Court justices, and other goodies contained in the Meech Lake Accord—would have guaranteed provinces have their fair shake. Just as Ford, Smith and Legault are called dictatorial, Trudeau's conduct could be considered likewise. Passing a Meech Lake-like constitutional accord would be the only way to save the country from disintegrating. Danny Dean Greer studied political science at Carleton University in Ottawa. He currently resides in Vancouver, Washington, and is working as a legal assistant in Portland, Oregon. He is an advocate of closer ties between Canada and the U.S. The Hill Times

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Growing discontent between feds and provinces

Passing a Meech Lake-like constitutional accord would be the only way to save the country from disintegrating.

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