The Case for Multinational Federalism: Beyond the All-Encompassing Nation by Alain-G. Gagnon

Author:Alain-G. Gagnon [Gagnon, Alain-G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Ethnic Studies, History & Theory, Social Theory, Political Ideologies, Comparative Politics, Social Science, Political Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781135211424
Google: xDyMAgAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 17511321
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2009-09-10T00:00:00+00:00

When majority nationalism trumps executive federalism

By all accounts, at a theoretical level, shortcomings associated with executive federalism in Canada have little to do with its perceived democratic deficiencies. The greatest problems of representation linked to a system of executive federalism arise in the special context of a single-nation conception of a country. Criticisms of executive federalism too often veil manifestations of majority nationalism, which is precisely what the institution of federalism is meant to preclude.

We have already examined some of the challenges posed to executive federalism during the patriation debates of 1981–1982. Most of the process involved federal–provincial actors at a time when executive federalism was considered a defining feature of Canadian federalism. It must be remembered that Trudeau threatened to call a referendum after negotiations between the provincial governments and Ottawa had reached an impasse. Trudeau denounced the institutions of executive federalism at the time, suggesting that they were unrepresentative of the general will of citizens and that there was an urgent need to eliminate a growing democratic deficit in Canada. Once he had his way, Trudeau did not call a referendum to settle the issue.

Trudeau was more interested in breaking the provincial governments’ common front than in giving a voice to Canadians. Towards the end of the process, his strategy succeeded, and the coalition collapsed. Ironically, Pierre Trudeau, the very person who had challenged the legitimacy of executive federalism, accepted becoming the godfather of a constitutional accord reached at night behind closed doors between executive branches, and without any representation from Québec. This inevitably caused unprecedented friction with the Government of Québec.48

For Trudeau, only Ottawa could speak on behalf of all Canadians. He believed he was the only political leader who had a pan-Canadian mandate and could act as a true representative of the national interest of Canada. From his point of view, whether the system was federal or not, there could be only one demos and it would have been a grave constitutional error to admit that the provinces could present themselves as the spokespersons of other demoi.49 This way of seeing things led to clashes between the member states of the federation and the central government because both orders are legitimate representatives and speak, at different levels, on behalf of their respective communities.

André Burelle, a former speech-writer and long-time advisor to Trudeau, summarized the emerging monistic vision of Canada that grew in popularity under Trudeau’s federal Liberals beginning in the 1960s and that has never lost ground:

This vision, promoted by Trudeau, Chrétien and company, is that of a civic “one-nation” Canada, subject to a “national” charter of rights and freedoms, allergic to the collective rights of the country’s founding peoples, and served by a federal system that pits thirteen “junior” governments against one “senior” government responsible for ensuring that the “national” interest prevails over the parochialism of the provinces and territories. In this conception of Canada, “national sovereignty” belongs entirely to the “Canadian people” who give Ottawa the exclusive responsibility of ensuring the greater good of the nation and guaranteeing equal rights to citizens across the country.

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