Autonomy
When a province is seen to have no interference from the federal government it is deemed to be autonomous. Stephen Harper’s vision of Canada is rather decentralized so for Harper to say he wants an autonomous Quebec since if you ever did any background research of the guy, this position should surprise nobody.
I believe it is time for a real debate in this country about federalism and about the type of federalism we want.
We either want a Canada where levels of government co-operate or levels of government where everybody minds their own business and sticks to their areas of jurisdiction.
I hope in this debate we can state two options. Both sides have considerable expertise and explicitly entrenched positions. The traditional Liberal position is one of more co-operation between Ottawa and the provinces. Despite Stephane Dion’s record as a decentralist during his time as minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Harper position is far more decentralized.
I hope in this debate we can avoid fear-mongering. In neither position do we break up the country. Canada remains united with both these options, albeit in very different ways.
The best part of this debate is it further alienates the Bloc Quebecois. If we can craft a debate around a choice of federalism, we give Quebecers two positive options to debate. At the end of the day, the Bloc will continue to accomplish nothing for Quebecers. It is now flirting with historical lows in the polls hovering in the low 30s. (although I guess “no federalism” can be considered to be an option.)
This is certainly an exciting for people who like this kind of stuff. As long as both sides remain mature about all this, (highly unlikely but worth mentioning nonetheless) a very significant debate can take place and Canada can chart its place forward.
I believe it is time for a real debate in this country about federalism and about the type of federalism we want.
We either want a Canada where levels of government co-operate or levels of government where everybody minds their own business and sticks to their areas of jurisdiction.
I hope in this debate we can state two options. Both sides have considerable expertise and explicitly entrenched positions. The traditional Liberal position is one of more co-operation between Ottawa and the provinces. Despite Stephane Dion’s record as a decentralist during his time as minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Harper position is far more decentralized.
I hope in this debate we can avoid fear-mongering. In neither position do we break up the country. Canada remains united with both these options, albeit in very different ways.
The best part of this debate is it further alienates the Bloc Quebecois. If we can craft a debate around a choice of federalism, we give Quebecers two positive options to debate. At the end of the day, the Bloc will continue to accomplish nothing for Quebecers. It is now flirting with historical lows in the polls hovering in the low 30s. (although I guess “no federalism” can be considered to be an option.)
This is certainly an exciting for people who like this kind of stuff. As long as both sides remain mature about all this, (highly unlikely but worth mentioning nonetheless) a very significant debate can take place and Canada can chart its place forward.
Labels: making people irrelevant is the only way to truly defeat them...
par / by Anthony à / at 5:00 p.m.
3 Commentaires:
Autonomy suggests a degree of sovereignty as far as I know. By your logic, though, all provinces are autonomous and this is a meaningless statement.
Why get into a silly argument about a word if we can all agree on the concept without it?
but provinces do have sovereignty in their areas of jurisdiction.
thats what the UNESCO flap was all about
"making people irrelevant is the only way to truly defeat them..."
You dont exactly defeat someone by becoming them.
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