If you want to know why the provincial government felt compelled to introduce a bill Wednesday forbidding Ottawa from making deals with and offering subsidies to Alberta cities directly (without the consent of the provincial government), consider a Financial Post column last Thursday by former McGill economics chair, William Watson, that asked, “With Ottawa doing everything, who needs provinces anymore?”
“From daycare to denticare to pharmacare to school lunches to housing projects, Ottawa is calling all the shots. Why still have provinces?” Watson asked, tongue-in-cheek.
Watson wasn’t proposing an end to provincial governments, rather he was complaining about the vast overreach of the current Liberal government into a dozen jurisdictions or more given to the provinces in the Constitution.
Intruding on provincial jurisdiction seems to be a Trudeau family tradition. Our current prime minister’s father was famous for it, too, when he was PM. Consider the National Energy Program.
Alberta needs the Provincial Priorities Act because the federal Liberal government believes itself to be superior to the provinces. Under Canada’s constitution, it’s not. The two levels of government are coequal within the spheres of influence granted to each at Confederation and since.
Justin Trudeau and his cabinet, however, think nothing of overriding the Constitution’s division of powers whenever and however it suits them. They seem to believe that whatever policies they favour must be more enlightened than the policies of any province, so no matter whether their policy is clearly unconstitutional, Ottawa must prevail.
In their own minds, their wisdom knows no bounds, so neither should their authority.
In just the past two years, Liberal Ottawa has dictated a failed national daycare strategy, a half-formed dental-care plan, a quarter-formed pharmacare plan, a few billion in dubious homebuilding plans and some ill-defined school lunch program — all with little or no input from the provinces into whose jurisdiction the Liberals have ridden roughshod, time and again.
In addition, there is also Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault’s net-zero power grid regulations — a massive shift in how power is generated in Canada imposed with almost no consultation with the provinces — and arbitrary federal bans on pipeline and oilsands development.
It’s possible, indeed likely, that Alberta would not have co-operated on these matters even if Ottawa had sought joint action. The point, though, is that the Trudeau government never tried.
Indeed, it is entirely possible that the feds went ahead without Alberta (and other provinces) deliberately, so they would anger provincial governments, which would allow them to portray themselves in Liberal regions of the country as defenders of the planet against bad, callous provinces.
If the Priorities Act passes, it will no longer be possible for the federal government or lefty city councils (Hmm, who could that be?) to perform end runs around provincial authority.
This new bill is similar to the Sovereignty Act, but more practical. The Sovereignty Act sought to give the province powers it probably doesn’t have (like rejecting federal legislation). However, the groups covered by the Priorities Act — provincial agencies and municipalities — are all fully within provincial jurisdiction. The ability of these organizations to deal directly with Ottawa or not is in provincial jurisdiction.
For those who will shriek that this is an unprecedented move by Premier Danielle Smith’s government, consider that Quebec has for years had similar legislation requiring its cities and towns to deal with Ottawa through the provincial government.
I don’t expect the province to stand in the way of federal funding to cities for housing or LRT (although I wish it would) or most social services. Rather, I hope this bill will simply force future federal governments to be more respectful of the Constitution and provincial authority.
GUNTER: Smith government right to force feds to deal with province
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11.04.2024
If you want to know why the provincial government felt compelled to introduce a bill Wednesday forbidding Ottawa from making deals with and offering subsidies to Alberta cities directly (without the consent of the provincial government), consider a Financial Post column last Thursday by former McGill economics chair, William Watson, that asked, “With Ottawa doing everything, who needs provinces anymore?”
“From daycare to denticare to pharmacare to school lunches to housing projects, Ottawa is calling all the shots. Why still have provinces?” Watson asked, tongue-in-cheek.
Watson wasn’t proposing an end to provincial governments, rather he was complaining about the vast overreach of the current Liberal government into a dozen jurisdictions or more given to the provinces in the Constitution.
Intruding on provincial jurisdiction seems to be a Trudeau family tradition. Our current prime minister’s father was famous for it, too, when he was PM. Consider the National Energy Program.
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