Continuity and Change in Canadian Politics : Essays in Honour of David E. Smith

The state of Canadian politics is in constant flux. Current and recent issues and events have led to a host of changes in the way politics is done in this country and there are no signs of this trend coming to an end. In Continuity and Change in Canadian Politics , Hans J. Michelmann and Cristine de Clercy, along with some of the leading names in Canadian political scholarship, provide a many-sided assessment of contemporary Canadian government and politics to honour the career of their eminent colleague, David E. Smith. The contributors to this collection address a range of policy sectors and institutional features. These include the changing constitution, the senior civil service, the impact of NAFTA, federal-provincial relations, unilateralism in social policy, Aboriginal self-government, citizenship and immigration policies, coalition governments, agriculture, and, of course, Smith's impact on the political scholarship of Western Canada. Change and Continuity in Canadian Politics gets to the heart of key issues and provides important insights into contemporary Canadian government and politics. Contributors: Christine de Clercy Ken Coates Thomas J. Courchene Joseph Garcea Roger Gibbons Brooke Jeffrey Gregory P. Marchildon Hans J. Michelmann Éric Montpetit Greg Poelzer Peter H. Russell Donald J. Savoie Grace Skogstad Contents 5 Acknowledgments 7 Introduction 9 1. Constitutional Politics: In a New Era Canada Returns to Old Methods 27 2. The North American Free Trade Agreement and Canadian Federalism 47 3. Intrastate Federalism and the Civil Service 72 4. Declining Legitimacy and Canadian Federalism: An Examination of Policy-Making in Agriculture and Biomedicine 97 5. From Collaborative Federalism to the New Unilateralism: Implications for the Welfare State 125 6. Aboriginal Peoples and the Crown in Canada: Completing the Canadian Experiment 155 7. Provincial Coalition Governments in Canada: An Interpretive Survey 178 8. The Third Phase of the Canadian Citizenship Project: Reform Objectives and Obstacles 203 9. The Liberal Party, Insensitivity, and Western Canadian Agriculture: Does the Account Still Stand Up? 10 The West in Canada: Through the Scholarship Lens of David E. Smith 233 10. The West in Canada: Through the Scholarship Lens of David E. Smith 253 Conclusion 270 Contributors 279 This provocative book explains how divergent views of Canada's past have sown dissension between Québécois and other Canadians, disclosing a lost middle ground between the Canadian nationalist and Québec nationalist visions of Canadian history