When Canadian voters reduced Justin Trudeau’s majority government to a minority in October of 2019, they could be forgiven for believing that they had curtailed his powers and put him on a leash. Having a minority of seats in Parliament, the prime minister would be forced to work with other parties to pass legislation. But – my sweet summer child – that would require Parliament to have much in the way of power to exercise. In reality, the House of Commons has devolved into an electoral college for selecting the prime minister, and which gets to ask questions from time-to-time..The concentration of most power in the executive has left the legislative branch of government with little role other than for show. This allowed the Liberals to impose their sweeping gun confiscation without even bringing it before parliament. It was done without legislation, but through a simple “order in council” (cabinet decree)..Not content with already anemic legislative oversight, the Liberals moved to shut down parliament for nearly two years, and relieve MPs of the burden of passing budgets. The move was designed to concentrate all powers over spending and taxes in the cabinet. No Westminster parliamentary system has concentrated this much power in the executive since Magna Carta in 1215 England..This was a bridge too far even for Trudeau’s Bloc Quebecois and NDP allies in Parliament, and he was forced to back off. Since that time, the prime minister has been trying to strike a bargain to shut down Parliament and reduce oversight to a politically acceptable minimum. On Monday, he got that..Jagmeet Singh’s NDP agreed to back the Liberal plan to effectively shut down Parliament until the fall in exchange for a commitment from Trudeau for a federal sick leave program..In its usual deferential manner, the Toronto Star’s headline ran, “Liberals, NDP work on sick leave to secure deal on future of Parliament”. One could be forgiven for believing that the Liberals and NDP had struck a bargain to save democracy..The Trudeau-Singh deal will see Ottawa try to rope the provinces into an additional 10 days guaranteed sick leave, ostensibly due to Covid-19. With a majority of workers either covered by their employers, unemployed, or working from home, the urgency of the policy escapes me..More importantly though, it would see Ottawa blow its way into another area of exclusive provincial jurisdiction: labour law..Outside of a few federally regulated industries, sick leave, union laws, and minimum wage, all belong exclusively to the provinces. The Singh-Trudeau agreement seeks to bring them in line with federal oversights, as Ottawa already has done with healthcare and social policy..While the Liberals have traditionally paid lip service to constitutionally protected provincial jurisdiction, the NDP has, since its inception, disregarded it as a needless barrier to socialism on a national scale. That is, except in Quebec..To do this, Ottawa has several tools at its disposal, all of which violate the spirit of the division of powers set out in the British North America Act, 1867. The most likely tool, is with money. As it does with the Canada Health Transfer ($42 billion) and Canada Social Transfer ($15 billion), it can collect taxes from Canadians, and recycle some of that money back to provinces that agree to fall in line with its policy directives..This means that if Ottawa cannot convince the provinces to go along with its policy voluntarily, it has the option of imposing major fiscal penalties on the taxpayers in the less cooperative provinces. If for instance, all provinces agree to fall in line except for Alberta and Saskatchewan, the federal government will continue to collect taxes from all 10 provinces, but only transfer some of it back to provinces that comply. In short, Alberta and Saskatchewan taxpayers would pay into the program, but receive nothing back; not unlike Equalization..The result would be to accentuate the already acute fiscal gap between what Ottawa collects in taxes from Alberta and Saskatchewan, and what it sends back..But this doesn’t mean that provinces should surrender their exclusive constitutional jurisdiction to avoid being further shortchanged. On the contrary, the provinces should refuse to even discuss areas under their jurisdiction with Ottawa. Ottawa has no more right to impose its labour policies on Alberta, than Alberta has the right to dictate naval defence policy to Ottawa..If Ottawa opts to use the fiscal carrot and stick approach, its a good bet that poorer, “have-not” provinces will quickly fall in line. Quebec and the Maritimes are simply too reliant on federal largess to say “No” when push comes to shove. But provinces that pay the bill – BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and sometimes Ontario – must draw a line in the sand..While BC Premier John Horgan will feel a partisan and ideological obligation to follow Singh’s lead, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe have more freedom of action. They have an easy opportunity to give an unshakable “No” to any additional federal intrusion..This will further the gap between what Albertans and Saskatchewanians send to Ottawa and what they get back, but the blame will rest with Trudeau, not Kenney and Moe..The federal NDP’s sick leave-for-Parliament trade won’t be the last of its kind. So long as this minority government lasts, the NDP will be in a position to trade its support for trinkets, most of which involve provincial jurisdiction..If the Buffalo provinces are at all serious about getting a “fair deal”, they will not give an inch..Derek Fildebrandt is Publisher of the Western Standard and President of Wildrose Media Corp. dfildebrandt@westernstandardonline.com
When Canadian voters reduced Justin Trudeau’s majority government to a minority in October of 2019, they could be forgiven for believing that they had curtailed his powers and put him on a leash. Having a minority of seats in Parliament, the prime minister would be forced to work with other parties to pass legislation. But – my sweet summer child – that would require Parliament to have much in the way of power to exercise. In reality, the House of Commons has devolved into an electoral college for selecting the prime minister, and which gets to ask questions from time-to-time..The concentration of most power in the executive has left the legislative branch of government with little role other than for show. This allowed the Liberals to impose their sweeping gun confiscation without even bringing it before parliament. It was done without legislation, but through a simple “order in council” (cabinet decree)..Not content with already anemic legislative oversight, the Liberals moved to shut down parliament for nearly two years, and relieve MPs of the burden of passing budgets. The move was designed to concentrate all powers over spending and taxes in the cabinet. No Westminster parliamentary system has concentrated this much power in the executive since Magna Carta in 1215 England..This was a bridge too far even for Trudeau’s Bloc Quebecois and NDP allies in Parliament, and he was forced to back off. Since that time, the prime minister has been trying to strike a bargain to shut down Parliament and reduce oversight to a politically acceptable minimum. On Monday, he got that..Jagmeet Singh’s NDP agreed to back the Liberal plan to effectively shut down Parliament until the fall in exchange for a commitment from Trudeau for a federal sick leave program..In its usual deferential manner, the Toronto Star’s headline ran, “Liberals, NDP work on sick leave to secure deal on future of Parliament”. One could be forgiven for believing that the Liberals and NDP had struck a bargain to save democracy..The Trudeau-Singh deal will see Ottawa try to rope the provinces into an additional 10 days guaranteed sick leave, ostensibly due to Covid-19. With a majority of workers either covered by their employers, unemployed, or working from home, the urgency of the policy escapes me..More importantly though, it would see Ottawa blow its way into another area of exclusive provincial jurisdiction: labour law..Outside of a few federally regulated industries, sick leave, union laws, and minimum wage, all belong exclusively to the provinces. The Singh-Trudeau agreement seeks to bring them in line with federal oversights, as Ottawa already has done with healthcare and social policy..While the Liberals have traditionally paid lip service to constitutionally protected provincial jurisdiction, the NDP has, since its inception, disregarded it as a needless barrier to socialism on a national scale. That is, except in Quebec..To do this, Ottawa has several tools at its disposal, all of which violate the spirit of the division of powers set out in the British North America Act, 1867. The most likely tool, is with money. As it does with the Canada Health Transfer ($42 billion) and Canada Social Transfer ($15 billion), it can collect taxes from Canadians, and recycle some of that money back to provinces that agree to fall in line with its policy directives..This means that if Ottawa cannot convince the provinces to go along with its policy voluntarily, it has the option of imposing major fiscal penalties on the taxpayers in the less cooperative provinces. If for instance, all provinces agree to fall in line except for Alberta and Saskatchewan, the federal government will continue to collect taxes from all 10 provinces, but only transfer some of it back to provinces that comply. In short, Alberta and Saskatchewan taxpayers would pay into the program, but receive nothing back; not unlike Equalization..The result would be to accentuate the already acute fiscal gap between what Ottawa collects in taxes from Alberta and Saskatchewan, and what it sends back..But this doesn’t mean that provinces should surrender their exclusive constitutional jurisdiction to avoid being further shortchanged. On the contrary, the provinces should refuse to even discuss areas under their jurisdiction with Ottawa. Ottawa has no more right to impose its labour policies on Alberta, than Alberta has the right to dictate naval defence policy to Ottawa..If Ottawa opts to use the fiscal carrot and stick approach, its a good bet that poorer, “have-not” provinces will quickly fall in line. Quebec and the Maritimes are simply too reliant on federal largess to say “No” when push comes to shove. But provinces that pay the bill – BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and sometimes Ontario – must draw a line in the sand..While BC Premier John Horgan will feel a partisan and ideological obligation to follow Singh’s lead, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe have more freedom of action. They have an easy opportunity to give an unshakable “No” to any additional federal intrusion..This will further the gap between what Albertans and Saskatchewanians send to Ottawa and what they get back, but the blame will rest with Trudeau, not Kenney and Moe..The federal NDP’s sick leave-for-Parliament trade won’t be the last of its kind. So long as this minority government lasts, the NDP will be in a position to trade its support for trinkets, most of which involve provincial jurisdiction..If the Buffalo provinces are at all serious about getting a “fair deal”, they will not give an inch..Derek Fildebrandt is Publisher of the Western Standard and President of Wildrose Media Corp. dfildebrandt@westernstandardonline.com
