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Publius: The Journal of Federalism 1984 14(1):109-120;
© 1984 by CSF Associates Inc.
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The Fusion of Powers and the Crisis of Canadian Federalism

Jonathan Lemco and Peter Regenstreif
McGill University
University of Rochester

The crisis in Canadian federalism has not emerged suddenly, but has been building for many years. It is our contention that Canada's political and constitutional problems can only be alleviated by reform of the parliamentary system. The fusion of executive and legislative powers inherent in the parliamentary system requires strict party discipline to sustain a government, a requirement intensifying the difficulties posed by Canada's particular combination of enormous geographic size and ethnic and regional differentiation. The fusion of powers is not only a major obstacle to the formation of a national consensus and conciliatory parties. It contributes also to the absence of trust and the lack of a common national desire to form adequate bargaining mechanisms to resolve differences. The particular Canadian intergovernmental relationships and several of the conditions responsible for them are shown to be idiosyncratic, only partly related to the federal structure, and of great importance to an understanding of the country's current situation.


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