Subhead:Giving Ottawa more control over provincial decisions would be a catastrophe, given the federal government can’t even manage its own payroll system. It certainly wouldn’t do the tourism industry in B.C. or the potash industry in Saskatchewan any favours if it took control of them.#
Giles Gherson, president and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, has written a piece decrying the decentralized nature of Canada’s federation, calling it a “tyranny of small provincial differences.” The article comes as Canadian premiers meet in Charlottetown for their annual meeting.
He is correct in noting that differences in provincial regulations hinder labour mobility and some trade between provinces. The premiers could potentially agree to drop some of the interprovincial barriers to economic activity at the gathering. Gherson doesn’t just want to encourage premiers to cut trade deals, though. He hints at having Ottawa centralize more authority within the federation.
Canada was founded as a federation. Not a unitary state. One of the prime drivers of the growing independence movements from Alberta to Quebec has been federal overreach into provincial jurisdiction. If Ottawa were to begin eroding provincial economic authority further, it would inflame unity issues.
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