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In Search of Sustainability: British Columbia
Forest Policy in the 1990s
by Benjamin Cashore, George Hoberg, Michael
Howlett, Jeremy Rayner and Jeremy Wilson. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2001.
Pp. x, 329. $85.00.
The authors are among the brightest political scientists in British Columbia. The objective of the book
is to describe and explain BC forest policy during
the 1990s. These two features add up to a challenging contribution to the public debate.
The authors address questions like: “What initiatives were undertaken by the NDP government
and what long-term changes have they brought
about?” They examine land-use policies, the Forest
Practices Code, tenure reform, Aboriginal rights and
other legal undertakings, the timber supply review,
timber pricing, and job-creation policies. They
analyze these policies from the perspective of
“policy regimes” and the “policy cycle model.” Each
topic is addressed in terms of agenda setting, policy
formulation, decision-making, implementation, and
evaluation.
I found myself occasionally bored, though this
is a subject of abiding concern to me. Somehow the
political science theory minimizes the gutsy stuff
of politics in this ever-controversial industry. On the
one hand, the political science theory is (as the authors anticipate) a welcome relief from the numerous economic analyses that display blindness about
political behaviour, and also from environmental
analyses, but it tends to be a bit dry. On the other
hand, I appreciate the historical context in which
the essays are situated. Rayner’s chapter on the tim-
153
ber supply review, for example, gives a good deal
of attention to the lengthy history of debates, investigations, and policies on timber supplies, thus locating policies of the 1990s in a firm context.
Cashore’s chapter on timber pricing, likewise, provides a useful discussion of historical context.
Wilson and Howlett both contribute thoughtful chapters, and Hoberg’s introduction and the co-written
concluding chapter are excellent; the conclusion is
a nicely balanced argument about the improbability
of achieving either environmental sustainability or
an accord in the near future.
Objection: On several points the authors fail to
recognize the linguistic and measurement pitfalls.
Data from the Council of Forest Industries and the
Ministry of Forests are unavoidable, but it would
be wise to point out when the data that are presented
are contested. Two tables on employment and labour intensity in one of Hoberg’s chapters, for example, are based on rules of inclusion that are
debatable, yet he assumes the validity of the data
and dismisses findings of others without showing
either a rationale for his choice or an explanation
for the trends he believes are true. This error is not
attributable to Statistics Canada because in their
original tables, they provide the definitions and essential measurement information.
My objections notwithstanding, I found the book
to be a useful resource, and a thoughtful contribution to debates about the decade of NDP policy in
the woods.
PATRICIA MARCHAK, Liu Centre for the Study of Global issues, University of British Columbia
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The Dynamics of Decentralization: Canadian
Federalism and British Devolution
edited by Trevor C. Salmon and Michael Keating.
Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University
Press and School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University, 2001. Pp. viii, 192. $24.95.
This volume is the fourth publication to flow from
the Canada-United Kingdom Colloquia Series. Held
in November 1999 the colloquium involved participants from industry and government, but most of
the 12 contributors have university affiliations in
Canada and the United Kingdom. The main question under examination is whether the governance
patterns within the two countries are becoming similar as a result of the significant devolution of authority to Scotland and Wales with the unitary state
of the United Kingdom. Change on some level has
been a constant feature of the Canadian federal system, but omnibus constitutional reform has been
difficult compared to the radical constitutional
changes accomplished recently with great speed in
the UK. Another theme running through the volume
is how the two countries can preserve national identities, attachments to the national government, and
social cohesion at a time when economic and social
diversities and divisions, existing on both a territorial and non-territorial basis, have increased in intensity and have acquired institutional forums for
their expression.
The 11 theme chapters cover the following topics: regional and national identities in the UK
(Kenneth Morgan), the constitutional reforms in the
UK (Michael Keating), recent trends in Canadian
federalism (Richard Simeon), relations between the
Scottish Parliament and the European Parliament
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(Trevor Salmon), welfare as a source of social cohesion (Nicola McEwen), changing definitions of
Canadian citizenship (Jane Jenson), harmonization
of Canadian social programs (Claude Forget), new
approaches to labour policy in Canada (Harvey
Lazar and Peter Stoyko), regional inequalities in the
UK (George Quigley), the more complex and kaleidoscopic meaning of citizenship (Hugh Segal), and
a closing overview on the dynamics of decentralization in the two countries (Trevor Salmon).
All of the papers provided insights, but, for this
Canadian reader, the analyses of recent developments in the UK were particularly informative. One
leaves the book convinced that traditional constitutional dichotomies like unitary versus federal systems and centralization versus decentralization, do
not come anywhere close to capturing, even in a
shorthand manner, the complicated realities of governing in the modern state. Regardless of their constitutional framework, governments find themselves
entangled in complex webs of external relationships
with other orders of government, with powerful interests within society, with other countries and international institutions. As Cabinet-parliamentary
systems, Canada and the UK are often said to feature an enormous concentration of power in the
hands of the prime minister and this is largely true.
However, this volume reminds us that increasingly
governments share the task of setting directions for
society with other powerful actors and that the patterns of interaction and the dynamics of power are
constantly changing in unpredictable ways.
PAUL G. THOMAS, Duff Roblin Professor of Government, University of Manitoba
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Reviews/Comptes rendus
Benefits for Children: A Four Country Study
edited by Ken Battle and Michael Mendelson. Ottawa: The Caledon Institute of Social Policy, 2001.
Pp. 312.
Despite all the talk of an aging population and possible pension crisis, with one in five Canadians under the age of 15, important issues remain with
regard to the human development, economic security, and social well-being of children and youth and
their parents. This book reports on the recent international trend in social policy of providing incometested cash benefits, outside traditional welfare
systems, to families with children. Australia,
Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States
are the four countries examined.
Uniformly well written, the chapters are clear,
concise, and relatively free of jargon. Each of the
country profile chapters is rich in background information and detailed analysis. An analytical undertaking like this involves a good deal of time,
financial and transaction costs, and the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation, based in the United Kingdom,
provided support through its program of research and
innovative projects, as did the departments of Finance
and Human Resources Development in Canada.
The reader is presented with useful information
about the design features and distributional impacts
of the Australian Family Tax Benefit, the Canadian
Child Tax Benefit, the United Kingdom’s Child
Benefit and planned Integrated Child Benefit, and
the United States Earned Income Tax Credit. The
book is a fine example of collaborative and comparative social policy analysis. Along with the editors, both well-known policy experts in the Canadian
arena, the other contributors are Daniel R. Meyer,
Professor of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin; Jane Millar, Professor of Social Policy at
the University of Bath; and Peter Whiteford, Principal Administrator at the OECD. Several levels of
comparison are used by the authors, including context, goals and philosophy, program design, and
155
outcomes. A common comparison of these and related income support is provided, based on purchasing power parity expressed in US dollars. Design
features examined include eligibility rules, benefit
reduction rates, benefits description, and administrative delivery features. Readers will likely learn
much, confirm some prior understandings of this
policy field, and possibly quibble with some of the
interpretations.
The authors assess the child benefits in the four
countries in terms of vertical and horizontal equity
policy objectives. The Australian benefit is found
to be generally strong on horizontal equity, yet only
partially so for two-earner families. The Canadian
child benefit is found to be less generous than the
Australian system on vertical equity, but stronger
than the British system on vertical equity for nonpoor families, while the American benefit system is
counter-redistributive. A valuable feature of the book
is that it reviews major income benefits along with
services that provide income-in-kind to families with
children. A follow-up volume could draw on the
work of the Luxembourg Income Study with its collection of household income surveys to assess in
greater empirical detail the effects of the child benefit systems in these four countries and even in
others.
Beyond this particular policy area and type of
intervention, the book offers a template on comparative analysis other social policy researchers might
use for other programs and clientele. The book also
provides information on related social policy developments, such as the production of an annual poverty audit which is now published in the United
Kingdom. Further, the book presents insights on how
these four liberal welfare state regimes have of late
been reviewing, restructuring, and even reforming
their income programs, tax benefits, and direct services for families with children.
Benefits for Children is a well-timed and significant overview of important trends in social policy.
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It will be of interest to those who work in child and
family services as well as those committed to poverty reduction. We could use more books like this
for other policy fields, issues, and countries.
MICHAEL J. PRINCE, Lansdowne Professor of Social
Policy, University of Victoria
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157
The author is a professor of law at the Faculty of
Law, University of Windsor and he writes as if he
had never been to law school, that is, with a clarity
and robustness rarely seen in this kind of writing. It
is a book about the singular importance for Canadians of living under the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms. It is a book addressed to Canadians and
engages the full scope of the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms.
frequently unfamiliar or insensitive to the latter dimension. As the author says: “Freedom of expression does not simply protect individual liberty from
state interference. Rather, it protects the individual’s freedom to communicate with others.” The theoretical heart of this book is summed up by the author
in the following words: “Freedom of expression
doctrine is built on an understanding of the individual as free and rational and on an understanding
of expression as the transparent communication of
opinion and information, which takes place either
face-to-face or in books, newspapers, and other generally accessible media.” Nothing less than the full
development of the individual and of the community is linked by this central democratic freedom.
Its defence, therefore, becomes of cardinal importance. Not only is the individual’s full development
stifled by the suppression of the right of expression,
the entire life of the community is stifled. The heart
of Moon’s position with respect to state restriction
of free expression is summed up in his statement
that “An account of the value of freedom of expression must involve more than a general claim that
the restriction of expression is disrespectful to the
individual or invades the individual’s autonomy. It
must provide some explanation of the positive value
of the activity of expression.” This is precisely what
Moon sets out to do, and he succeeds singularly well.
Richard Moon has set out to explore how critically important freedom of expression is, not only
to citizens vis-à-vis other citizens but in terms of
the social importance of freedom of expression.
Drawing on Alistair MacIntyre, John Stuart Mill,
and Ronald Dworkin, Moon challenges the leading
American authority on freedom of expression,
Alexander Miekeljohn, and demonstrates the importance of freedom of expression for the personal and
social development of the individual. In short, he
argues that there can be no fully developed human
personality without the protection of this uniquely
central right in the Canadian democratic state. For
Moon, the constitutional protection of freedom of
expression has a negative and a positive dimension.
And while we are familiar with the former we are
This book consists of eight chapters beginning with
a highly theoretical one titled, “Truth, Democracy, and
Autonomy.” In this chapter (as well as in the Introduction) Professor Moon takes issue with the traditional
arguments offered in defence of free expression. He
argues, successfully in my estimation, that the traditional case in support of free expression fails to give
adequate attention to the underlying “common recognition that human agency emerges in communicative
interaction.” In this first chapter Moon sets out the theoretical prism through which he refracts the seven subsequent chapters. In these chapters, Moon assesses the
work of the Supreme Court of Canada (and a few of
the leading provincial courts of appeal) in light of the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He brings
to bear his theoretical focus on a full range of issues
The Constitutional Protection of Freedom of
Expression
by Richard Moon. Toronto: University of Toronto
Press, 2000. Pp. 312. $24.95.
This is an outstanding work of scholarship and importance. But, as the author himself acknowledges, the
title is not quite up to the mark; it gives the impression
that it is another book exploring the difficulties democratic nations have in protecting the fundamental right
of free expression of their citizens. This book is much
more than that. Unlike any other book on the constitutional protection of fundamental rights or freedoms,
this work is anchored firmly in a sound theoretical base.
It is the work of long, hard thought and research. In
fact it is a culmination, in one sense, of several earlier
forays into the subject which the author has published
in the legal periodicals.
CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY – A NALYSE DE POLITIQUES,
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such as regulating commercial and political advertising through the more contentious topics of pornography and the regulation of racist expression to the thorny
issue of the regulation of the press. The book concludes
with a brief but provocative discussion of freedom of
expression and judicial review. His reservations about
the role of the courts in the resolution of disputes involving the distribution of communicative resources
comes at the end of a lengthy assessment of leading
Supreme Court decisions.
this book what law professors ought to be doing in
their writings: he is attempting to teach the judges
how to do their work better through a constructive
critique of their work. I have no doubt that members of the Canadian bar and bench will profit from
Professor Moon’s penetrating and thoughtful study
of this most important liberty.
But this is not another academic tome heaping
scorn on the judiciary. Professor Moon is doing in
F R E D E R I C K V AU G H A N , Department of Political
Science, University of Guelph
CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY – ANALYSE
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POLITIQUES,
Needless to say, I recommend this book highly
to every Canadian.
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