Canada

Federal framework Canada is another decentralized federation, in which provinces enjoy a large degree of autonomy. In contrast to Switzerland but similar to the United States, Canadian federalism relies on a dual distribution of power (Börzel and Hosli 2003) given that each level of government is responsible for legislation and the implementation of policies within its areas of jurisdiction. However, some legislative overlaps exist (Bolleyer and Thorlakson 2012), and Canadian governments have signed agreements in such areas as taxation and pensions that have created further interdependencies. Canada is both a holding-together federation and a coming-together federation (Stepan 1999). In 1867, the British North America Act (BNA Act) split the Province of Canada back into Ontario and Quebec to accommodate the cultural distinctiveness of French-speaking Quebec after assimilation had failed. However, the BNA Act simultaneously marks the beginning of a process of association of the two provinces into the federal Dominion of Canada, as well as of further provinces until what is now known as the Canadian federation (Cameron 2005).1 Even though Canada was a centralized union in the beginning (in contrast to the United States), with the federal government enjoying broad powers of oversight over the provinces, it has become a highly decentralized system. Four factors account for this (Cameron 2014): Supreme Court rulings fostering an interpretation of the distribution of power in favor of the provinces; the failure of the federal government to represent Canada’s

heterogeneous character; the emergence of the welfare state enhancing provincial action due to their jurisdiction over major policy areas related to welfare; and, finally, Quebec nationalism and the province-building aspirations of several other provinces. An important milestone in Canada’s federal history was what is called the “patriation” of the constitution in 1982. The Constitution Act (1982) gives Canada’s government the authority to amend its constitution without the British House of Commons needing to approve it. The patriation of the constitution marks the final step of independence from Britain after Canada became formally independent in 1931. The aftermath of the “patriation” of the constitution marked the beginning of a new period of federal relations. After two attempts to amend the constitution after 1982 and bring Quebec back on board in constitutional politics2 failed,3 explicit constitutional politics have cleared the path for implicit change (Behnke and Benz 2009) through intergovernmental coordination (Cameron and Simeon 2002). Initially focusing on the adaptation of the federal distribution of power, intergovernmental coordination has subsequently switched its attention to policies related to the welfare state. However, Canada’s intergovernmental relations tend to be quite competitive, even conflict-laden (Cameron 2005). Another characteristic of federal-provincial relations is the distinct status of the only French-speaking province, Quebec. Quebec’s eagerness to be recognized as a “distinct society” and its many opting-outs of federal programs have been profoundly shaping federal relations in Canada. Canada has a regionalized, disintegrated party system in which provincial and national branches of the same party have developed their own structures, leaders and policies. In addition to that, a number of regional parties run for elections on the provincial level,4 whereas some parties participate in federal elections only (Filippov, Ordeshook and Shvetsova 2004; Inwood, Johns and O’Reilly 2011).