Dilemmas of solidarity : rethinking redistribution in the Canadian federation

Since the rise of the Canadian welfare state in the aftermath of the Second World War, the politics of social policy and fiscal federalism have been at the centre of federal-provincial relations. Recent events have given impetus for scholars to re-examine these issues. In 2002, the Quebec Commission on Fiscal Imbalance released its report, which introduced the term 'vertical fiscal imbalance' into the vocabulary of Canadian politics. Essentially, the commission determined that a disjunction between revenue-raising capacity and expenditures involving different orders of government vertical fiscal imbalance was an urgent problem that must be addressed. Dilemmas of Solidarity is both a reflection on and response to that finding. Editors Sujit Choudhry, Jean-Francois Graudreault-Desbiens, and Lorne Sossin bring together an array of respected legal and political scholars to reflect on the Quebec Commission's findings. The contributors to this volume illustrate how recent debates surrounding Canada's equalization program suggest alternative ways to approach the issue. The goal of Dilemmas of Solidarity is to stand back from the particulars of different policy debates, to enable scholars to reflect on basic questions regarding redistribution. This fascinating collection will undoubtedly inform a more nuanced and wide-ranging debate both among academics and policy practitioners than has occurred in this past.

Since the rise of the Canadian welfare state in the aftermath of the Second World War, the politics of social policy and fiscal federalism have been at the centre of federal-provincial relations. Recent events have given impetus for scholars to re-examine these issues. In 2002, the Quebec Commission on Fiscal Imbalance released its report, which introduced the term 'vertical fiscal imbalance' into the vocabulary of Canadian politics. Essentially, the commission determined that a disjunction between revenue-raising capacity and expenditures involving different orders of government - vertical fiscal imbalance - was an urgent problem that must be addressed. Dilemmas of Solidarity is both a reflection on and response to that finding.

Editors Sujit Choudhry, Jean-Francois Graudreault-Desbiens, and Lorne Sossin bring together an array of respected legal and political scholars to reflect on the Quebec Commission's findings. The contributors to this volume illustrate how recent debates surrounding Canada's equalization program suggest alternative ways to approach the issue. The goal of Dilemmas of Solidarity is to stand back from the particulars of different policy debates, to enable scholars to reflect on basic questions regarding redistribution. This fascinating collection will undoubtedly inform a more nuanced and wide-ranging debate both among academics and policy practitioners than has occurred in this past.

Contributors:

Paul Boothe
Katherine Boothe
Sujit Choudhry
David Duff
Jean-Francois Gaudreault-DesBiens
Andree Lajoie
Alain Noel
Peter H. Russell
Richard Simeon
Lorne Sossin
François Vaillancourt
Daniel Weinstock.

Contents 5 Acknowledgments 7 Introduction: Exploring the Dilemmas of Solidarity 11 Part One: Social Justice and the Politics of Redistribution 39 Social Justice: Does Federalism Make a Difference? 39 Redistribution in the Canadian Federation: The Impact of the Cities Agenda and the New Canada 53 Social Justice in Overlapping Sharing Communities 65 Part Two: Taxation and the Search for Redistribution 83 Personal Income Tax and Redistribution in the Canadian Federation 83 Taxation, Redistribution, and Fiscal Federalism 113 Is Vertical Equity a Virtuous End ? 124 Personal Income Tax, Redistribution and Fiscal Federalism in Canada: Some Observations 133 Part Three: The Spending Power and the Constitutional Architecture of Redistribution 151 The Federal Spending Power and Fiscal Imbalance in Canada 153 Liberty and Overlapping Federalism 175 Fiscal Federalism: Not Resolvable by Constitutional Law 183 The Irreducible Federal Necessity of Jurisdictional Autonomy, and the Irreducibility of Federalism to Jurisdictional Autonomy 193 Afterword: Solidarity as the Boldness of Modesty 214 Contributors 225