Why focus on provincial politics?
Studying Canadian democracy without an eye to provincial politics is like trying to understand the Atlantic Ocean from a floatplane: the view is interesting, but you miss most of the elements that give it life. Look closely and you will see its strongest undercurrents, its contours, its depths, and its most colourful characters.
Like the ocean, most of Canada’s politics take place below the surface of federal developments. Few countries have regional governments as influential. Most of the highest-profile issues impacting Canadians, from health and education to community safety and social services, fall squarely within provincial jurisdiction. Others, such as Indigenous relations, the environment, infrastructure, and economic development, require significant coordination between federal and provincial governments.
“Like the ocean, most of Canada’s politics take place below the surface of federal developments. Few countries have regional governments as influential. Most of the highest-profile issues impacting Canadians, from health and education to community safety and social services, fall squarely within provincial jurisdiction. Others, such as Indigenous relations, the environment, infrastructure, and economic development, require significant co-ordination between federal and provincial governments.”
Domestic observers may be forgiven for missing the importance of provincial politics, given the media’s fascination with all things Ottawa and certain global affairs, in particular the politics of the United States. Grand national policy plans, regardless of whether they come to fruition, often seem more attractive to the national consciousness than are provincial initiatives. This public focus does not give licence to conflate “Canadian politics” with “federal politics.” Forces at play at the national level are not necessarily at play in the provinces. A cursory glance at the distinct political party systems, voter turnout rates, and proportions of women in legislatures reveals as much. We cannot simply learn about federal politics and expect to apply the same lessons at the subnational level.
By the same token, we cannot understand pan-canadian institutions and dynamics without due attention to the goings-on provincially. Just ask Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose top policy priorities have run headlong into the quagmire of federal-provincial negotiations. The federal Liberal government is unable meet its commitments to Canadians on issues such as legalizing marijuana, constructing pipelines, reducing carbon emissions, enhancing infrastructure, improving health care and child care, or many other areas without cooperation or acquiescence (if not consensus) among (most) provincial premiers. Beyond Canada’s borders, provincial governments played a leading role in the negotiation of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union and the Paris climate agreement, for instance. They are also at the centre of trade disputes with the United States over industries such as softwood lumber
“… A lot has changed in the arenas of provincial politics. We cannot rely on the accepted wisdom of the last wave of provincial scholarship produced in the 1980s. New Democratic Party (NDP) governments were formed in Nova Scotia and Alberta — two bastions of Canadian conservatism, albeit of different flavours. Eight women have led provincial governments as premiers: two in the 1990s and six in the twenty-first century.”
and dairy.
Studying provincial politics and governance is arguably more important than ever. In recent years, political scientists have realized the importance of studying provincial politics in Canada. After decades of relative quiet -- with some notable exceptions particularly works by Rand Dyck and Christopher Dunn and his contributors — a series of new edited volumes and pan-canadian studies such as Vote Compass, Making Democracy Work, and the Comparative Provincial Elections Project have reinvigorated interest in provincial governance among scholars and students.
Here are two reasons why this cutting-edge research is important, and why Canadians beyond the academy, including citizens, public servants, and legislators, should take note.
First, a lot has changed in the arenas of provincial politics. We cannot rely on the accepted wisdom of the last wave of provincial scholarship produced in the 1980s. New Democratic Party (NDP) governments were formed in Nova Scotia and Alberta — two bastions of Canadian conservatism, albeit of different flavours. Eight women have led provincial governments as premiers: two in the 1990s and six in the twenty-first century. A Progressive Conservative Premier (Danny Williams) openly campaigned to defeat a Conservative Prime Minister (Stephen Harper). That same Prime Minister granted plum foreign affairs appointments to two former premiers, neither of whom was from his own party. These are just some of the many ways that provincial politics has evolved considerably over the past three decades. Scholarship is beginning to catch up.
Second, provinces are the primary sites of policy innovation. They routinely experiment with approaches that often find their way across borders and to the national level. This is particularly true in the areas of democratic reform, climate change, and reconciliation. Some provincial governments have driven the movement towards gradual tightening of campaign finance rules. They have led a push to ban union and corporate donations and to restrict partisan government advertising. Some have led efforts to increase government transparency, through open-data initiatives and freedom-of-information reforms. Provincial governments across Canada have established fixed election dates, and struck numerous democratic reform commissions. To date, four province-wide referendums have been held on electoral reform, although none of the proposed changes came to fruition. In terms of environmental policy, provinces are at the forefront of efforts to place a price on carbon, experimenting with a variety of mechanisms including capand-trade and carbon taxes. To advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, provincial premiers meet annually with the leaders of the national Indigenous organizations on issues ranging from education and child care to resource development and violence against Indigenous women and girls. At annual Council of the Federation meetings, premiers assert collective leadership over pan-canadian issues such as Indigenous children in care, health care, disaster response and recovery, energy development, climate change, and internal trade.
In sum, while the federal government has vacated certain areas of pan- Canadian policymaking, provincial governments are leading the response to many of the most pressing issues facing Canadians. For these and other reasons, observers of Canadian politics must cast their eyes below the glossy surface of the federal level. Volumes such as The Democracy Cookbook are crucial in that endeavour.
Jared Wesley (Political Science, University of Alberta) is co-author of Inside Canadian Politics (Oxford University Press, 2016) and editor of Big Worlds: Politics and Elections in the Canadian Provinces and Territories (University of Toronto Press, 2016). His research interests are in the areas of comparative provincial public policy and the politics of bureaucracy.
Editor’s note: As a regular op/ed feature, The Telegram is printing articles from the soon-to-be published “The Democracy Cookbook: Recipes to renew governance in Newfoundland and Labrador.” Look for the next article in tomorrow’s edition.