POL 221 Lecture 4: pol221 ferdralism
10 Jan 2018
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Document Summary
Canadian governmental authority divided by the constitution between two levels of government: the federal government and the ten provinces. Other types of government exist but are created by ordinary legislation and not the constitution: the territories. Nunavut (came into being april 1, 1999) municipalities aboriginal governments (possible quasi-constitutional status for governments established by treaty) The constitution act, 1867 provides a fundamental division of all legislative jurisdiction between the federal and provincial governments. The original division of powers intended for most of the important areas of public policy to be assigned to the federal government, and mostly local and private matters assigned to the provinces. Canada originally had very centralized system of federalism, which has changed other the years into a much more decentralized system. Change occurred because of: judicial decisions, changes in constitutional conventions, political practice (including federal spending power), and political culture (growing belief in the importance of provincial governments).
