FEDERALISM, NATIONALISM AND REGIONALISM IN CANADA

Abstract

This article analyses the capacity of Canadian federalism to articulate andaccommodate the dual and regionalist character defining Canada througha range of arguments and opinions both for and against that have been generatedboth within the Canadian Federation and abroad. From the standpointof the Quebec sovereignists, federalism is highly restrictive of the Quebecnation’s freedom to express itself, by itself, within the Canadian contextas well as within international ambits; for Quebec nationalists, the termQuebec “nation” implies—indeed, requires—a “Quebec state”. But, fromthe standpoint of the Quebec federalists (a good number of whom understandQuebec as a sociological and political nation), the future of Quebeclies with its membership of the Canadian Federation, however much this hasto recognise Quebec as a “differential society” within Canada, and howevermuch it has to ensure that Quebec will develop and promote its interests asa nation. For yet others, the decentralist character of Canadian federalism,and the extensive provisions for asymmetry built into the system, mean that Quebec is already perhaps the most powerful sub-national government inthe world, such that it already has the powers necessary to fulfil its nationaldestiny, within the federation. Opinion outside Quebec ranges from thosewho accept this view, and embrace asymmetry, to those who argue that Quebecis simply one of ten existing provinces, each of which is distinct, andwhich should all be treated as equals in accordance with the constitutionaland political framework.

Keywords

• federalism
• tongue
• made differential
• intergovernmental relations
• compared law
• nationalism
• regionalism