Chapter 5 Review Questions

Madison’s view that a larger territory encompassing a greater diversity of regional interests was more likely to provide protection for personal freedoms, group rights, and sectional interests than would a smaller, more homogeneous country, is similar to Pierre Trudeau’s view of “One Canada.”

Three factors explain the persistence of regionalism, according to Brooks. First, traditional thinking has underestimated the degree to which regional states and elites may invest in regionalism, and nationalism, for their own interests or for what they perceive to be the interests of the region. Secondly, the failure of national political, cultural, and economic institutions to produce levels of national integration and identity that would overcome regional ways of thinking encouraged regionalism. Thirdly, while differences among regions decline, they do persist to some degree. The most notable examples have to do with the presence of the francophone majority in Quebec and the Inuit majority in Nunavut. The demographic differences between these regions and the other parts of Canada are dramatic, argues Brooks.

Brooks provides three examples of egregious discrimination against the regions of Canada, particularly the west. One is tariff policy, where manufactured imports had a high tariff placed on them. Unfortunately, the costs of the high tariffs were distributed unevenly across the country, with the West and Atlantic Canada bearing a disproportionate share of the costs. A second example was the terms of entry into Confederation, where some provinces, namely Alberta and Saskatchewan, did not receive the same law-making powers received by the other provinces. Specifically, they did not immediately receive control over natural resources. Thirdly, the 1980 National Energy Program is said to have been another example of egregious discrimination. Albertans believed that it would result in a huge transfer of wealth to central Canada.

Albertans have viewed the federal government’s involvement in the oil industry as essentially attempts to transfer wealth from Alberta to the rest of Canada, chiefly to the consumers and industries of Canada’s industrial heartland, perpetrated by a Liberal government that they saw as being hostile to western, and especially Alberta’s, interests.

Quebecers tend to value equality more than personal liberty. According to Brooks, Quebecers show support for “underdogs” and the vulnerable. This inclination, says Brooks, may reasonably be interpreted as consistent with the characterization of Quebec as a more collectivist society. Further, a large national survey by Ornstein and Stevenson on Canadians’ support for social programs, redistribution policies, foreign investment, labour unions, and large corporations revealed that Quebec was clearly to the left of the others.

There are four cross-border regions: the West, the Prairie–Great Plains, the Great Lakes–Heartland, and the East.

Gibbins and Arrison argue that it is reasonable to speak of “national visions” in the West that, in their words, “address not simply the place of the West within the Canadian federal state, but also the nature of Canada as a political community.” These visions are not merely reactions to citizens’ sense of being unfairly treated and marginalized within Canadian politics—the resentment captured in the Reform Party’s founding slogan, “The West wants in.” Rather, these western visions of Canada are deeply rooted in regional histories and memories that are not the same as those of central and eastern Canada.

Morton suggests this perspective “fails to take account of regional experience and history and makes coherent Canadian history seem an ‘imperialist creed’ an imposition on Maritime, French-Canadian, Western, and British Columbian history of an interpretation which distorted local history and confirmed the feeling that union with Canada had been carried out against local sentiment and local interest.”

One reason is that the populist values that are linked to western alienation have been weak in the Maritimes. Among other things, the traditional parties have deep roots in the Maritimes, which were among the original members of the confederation agreement. A second reason is that economically and demographically the Maritimes have been in decline since the late-nineteenth century. Political protest is linked to some degree to confidence in the economic future of the region.

The Maritimes has been in decline demographically and economically since the late-nineteenth century as the region’s population as a share of the national population has plummeted since Confederation and the economies of the eastern provinces are among the weakest in Canada.

The term ‘region’ refers to a territory, but it can be ambiguous to define because it can denote economic, cultural, environmental, geopolitical, strategic, or other regions. Also, regions can overlap with one another, creating even further ambiguity.

Atlantic Canada’s main industry is fisheries, while Ontario and Quebec are predominantly manufacturing of various goods, while the West’s main industry is grain. These industries can be broken down even further (ie. Ontario and automotive manufacturing), as Brooks outlines in the textbook.

The National Energy Program was a 1980 program instituted under Prime Minister Brian Mulroney; it limited the price that could be charged for Canadian gas and oil in Canada, a price that fell significantly below the world price. This program was criticized heavily by Albertans, as it was seen as transferring their wealth from the oil and gas industry to the rest of Canada.

Héroux-Legault’s three models look at 1) socio-demographic factors as the independent variable, 2) province as the independent variable, and 3) both socio-demographic factors and province as the independent variables. She finds that socio-demographic factors are far more explanatory of attitudes relating to pluralism, immigration, traditionalism, etc. than province is.

Protest parties are political parties that have emerged out of dissatisfaction with existing mainstream parties. It has been difficult, although not impossible, for these parties to achieve success because of the dominant two-party system in Canada. Examples include the Reform Party, Social Credit, and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, which later achieved much success as the NDP Party.

You can compare Canada and the US, with respect to the existence of national minorities (or internal nations), as well as measures of political attachment. Do Americans and Canadians differ on which jurisdiction they identify with mostly, the province/state or nation? You can also look at the regional disparities in each country, the extent to which political parties draw support from all regions, and the constitutional/jurisdictional power of states and provinces.

A good mix of newspapers would include, at least, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, National Post, La Presse, The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, The Vancouver Sun, Edmonton Journal, The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, and Winnipeg Free Press. Check the editorial page, the news section (the first section), and others that seem appropriate. Check the coverage of Canadian politics, events in provincial politics, and the coverage of current issues. Are the same stories covered? Is the emphasis different from province to province? Are the differences significant? 

To answer this question, you can review survey data on the values and opinions that Canadians in all of the regions hold, particularly those with respect to politics and government (e.g., the role of the state in society and the economy). Then, make some assessment of the extent to which the differences are really “manufactured differences.”

CBR stands for cross-border region, a region of nearby states and provinces with economic, cultural, and institutional linkages. Some examples include the Prairie-Great Plains region, which consists of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, and Minnesota, and the Great Lakes Heartland, located on either side of the Great Lakes and connected mainly by economic linkages. Pros and cons of CBRs will vary based on the point of view you assume. Pros include economic connectivity and prosperity, while some difficulties with CBRs include split legal authority, agriculture, power, water, and waste, among others. 

Answers will vary by examples selected over time; in crafting your answer, you may choose to examine the government in power at a particular time, their policies, and views on environmental issues vis-à-vis energy, as well as pipelines, such as the Northern Gateway or Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline. Ensure that you support your responses with examples and evidence from the textbook and/or your own prior knowledge.