ADMN 822: Selected Topics in Public Policy
PSCI 833: Advanced Seminar in National and Regional Issues
HIST 890: Directed Reading and Research
Saskatchewan and Canadian Federalism: Selected Topics in Public Policy
Roy J. Romanow and Gregory P. Marchildon
Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar
University of Regina, Fall Semester, 2003
Overview
This course examines the Canadian federalism from the perspective of Saskatchewan’s
postwar role in shaping national policy. The province’s impact on the federation is
analyzed through a series of topics in which one of the instructors has been an active
participant through most of his political life. Where appropriate, other members of the
University of Regina community and beyond will be brought into individual seminars as
guest participants to enrich the discussion. The course will be limited to 20 graduate
students drawn from across the university.
Readings
Required readings have been kept to a minimum but all should be completed in advance
as you will be expected to participate actively in the seminar discussions. All required
readings (other than those available electronically through WebCT) have been brought
together for you in a single CanCopy textbook available for purchase from the University
of Regina bookstore.
Evaluation
Your evaluation will be based upon: (1) the preparation and presentation of a “policy
brief” based upon an analysis of one of the areas of discussion [25%]; (2) the quality of
your participation in the seminar discussions [15%]: and the preparation of a major
Cabinet Decision Item (CDI) on a selected topic [60%]. Details on the organization and
preparation of a CDI will be provided in advance. History students are encouraged to
substitute a major research paper for the CDI project.
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Seminar 1: Modernizing the State: The Influence of the Saskatchewan
Administrative and Policy Tradition
Robert I. McLaren, The Saskatchewan Practice of Public Administration in Historical
Perspective (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 1998), chapter 5.
Allan Blakeney and Sandford Borins, Political Management in Canada, 2nd ed. (Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1998), chapters 1,8 and 9.
Supplementary Reading:
A.W. Johnson, Biography of a Government (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, in
press).
Seminar 2: Nation-Building through Shared-Cost Financing, Equalization and
Social Policy, 1945-1977
Roy J. Romanow, “Fiscal Arrangements: A Western Perspective”, in Roy J. Romanow,
Claude Ryan and Robert L. Stanfield, eds., Ottawa and the Provinces: Regional
Perspectives (Toronto: Ontario Research Council, 1984): 1-17.
Gregory P. Marchildon, “Constructive Entanglement: Intergovernmental Collaboration in
Canadian Social Policy.” In Susan Delacourt and Don Lenihan, eds., Collaborating
Government: Is there a Canadian Way? Vol. 6 of IPAC New Directions (Toronto: IPAC,
1999): 72-80.
Robin W. Boadway and Paul Hobson, Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Canada
(Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation, 1993): 35-46.
Seminar 3: Conflict over Resource Policy in the 1970s: Province-building versus
Nation-building?
John Richards and Larry Pratt, Prairie Capitalism: Power and Influence in the New West
(Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979): 250-78.
John S. Burton, “Resource Rent and Taxation: Application of New Principles and
Approaches in Saskatchewan.” In Eleanor D. Glor, Policy Innovation in the
Saskatchewan Public Sector, 1971-82 (Toronto: Captus Press, 1997): 59-77.
Roy J. Romanow, Peter J. Meekison and William D. Moull, Origins and Meanings of
Section 92A: The 1982 Constitutional Amendment on Resources (Montreal: Institute for
Research on Public Policy, 1985): 3-32.
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David E. Smith, ed., Building a Province: A History of Saskatchewan in Documents
(Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1992), documents 132-33: 436-41.
Supplementary Readings:
Roy J. Romanow, “Provincial Crown Resource Corporations: Some Constitutional
Issues.” In Nigel Bankes and J. Owen Saunders, eds., Public Disposition of Natural
Resources (Calgary: The Institute on Natural Resources Law, 1983): 307-37.
John D. Whyte, “A Constitutional Perspective on Federal-Provincial Sharing of Revenues
from Natural Resources.” In Charles E. McClure and Peter Miezkowski, eds., Fiscal
Federal and the Taxation of Natural Resources (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books,
1983): 205-43.
Seminar 4: Negotiating the Constitution, 1978-1982
Roy J. Romanow, “’Reworking the Miracle’: The Constitutional Accord 1981”, Queen’s
Law Journal, Vol. 8 (1982/83): 74-98.
Roy J. Romanow, John Whyte and Howard Leeson, Canada Notwithstanding: The
Making of the Constitution, 1976-1982 (Toronto: Methuen, 1984): 188-215, and 263-79.
Supplementary Readings:
Pierre Trudeau, “Convocation Speech at the Opening of the Bora Laskin Law Library”,
University of Toronto Law Journal, Vol. 43 (1991).
Re Resolution to Amend the Constitution, [1981] 1 S.C.R. 753.
Seminar 5: The Charter of Rights and the Rise of Judicial Power within a
Parliamentary Democracy
Roy J. Romanow, “Courts and Legislatures in the Age of the Charter”, Canadian
Parliamentary Review, Vol. 9 (Spring 1986): 2-3.
John T. Saywell, The Lawmakers: Judicial Power and the Shaping of Canadian
Federalism (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002), chapter 11 (consolidation and
innovation, 1980-2000): 274-307.
Kent Roach, The Supreme Court on Trial: Judicial Activism or Democratic Dialogue
(Toronto: Irwin Law, 2001): 175-204
Supplementary Readings:
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Howard Leeson, “Section 33, the Notwithstanding Clause: A Paper Tiger?”, IRPP
Choices, Vol. 6, no. 4 (2000): 1-22.
Romanow, Whyte and Leeson, Canada Notwithstanding: 216-62.
James B. Kelly, “Reconciling Rights and Federalism during Review of the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms: The Supreme Court and the Centralization Thesis, 1982-1999”,
Canadian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 34, no. 2 (June 2001): 321-55.
Seminar 6: Meech Lake, Charlottetown and the Legacy of Mega-Constitutional
Politics
Lowell Murray, Gil Rémillard and Pierre Trudeau, proponents and opponents of the
Meech Lake Accord, present their views: in Michael D. Behiels, ed., The Meech Lake
Primer: Conflicting Views on the 1987 Constitutional Accord (Ottawa: University of
Ottawa Press, 1989), 13-42 and 60-99.
Peter H. Russell, Constitutional Odyssey: Can Canadians Be a Sovereign People 2nd. ed.
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993): 190-235.
Supplementary Readings:
Special segment on the Meech Lake Accord (Peter Leslie and John D. Whyte), Queen’s
Quarterly, Vol. 94, no. 4 (Winter 1987): 771-806.
L. Ian MacDonald, From Bourassa to Bourassa: Wilderness to Restoration, 2nd ed.
(Montreal and Kingston, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002): 245-281.
Seminar 7: The Challenge of Quebec Sovereignty and Language Rights: The
Saskatchewan Position
Gregory P. Marchildon, “An Attempt to Reconcile the Irreconcilable”, Inroads, Vol. 5
(1996): 98-103.
John D. Whyte, Oral argument on behalf of the Attorney General of Saskatchewan to the
Supreme Court of Canada in the Quebec Secession Reference, February 17, 1998, 7 pp.
Factum of the Attorney General for Saskatchewan, Intervener, Quebec Secession
Reference, April 10, 1997, 37 pp.
Samuel V. LaSelva, “Federalism, Pluralism, and Constitutional Faith: Canada in
Question”, Review of Constitutional Studies, Vol. 6, no. 1-2 (2002): 204-19.
Supplementary Readings:
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John Richards, Language Matters: Ensuring that the Sugar not Dissolve in the Coffee
(Toronto: CD Howe Institute Commentary No. 84, 1996), 43 pp.
Robert Bothwell, Canada and Quebec: One Country, Two Histories (Vancouver:
University of British Columbia Press, 1995): chapters 8-10.
Claude Ryan, Consequences of the Quebec Secession Reference: The Clarity Bill and
Beyond (Toronto: CD Howe Institute Commentary No. 139, 2000), 32 pp.
Reference re Secession of Quebec, [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217.
Clarity Act (2000, c. 26), Parliament of Canada.
John D. Whyte, “The Secession Reference and Constitutional Paradox.” In D.
Schneiderman, ed., The Quebec Decision: Perspectives on the Supreme Court Ruling on
Secession (Toronto: Lorimer, 1999): 130-36.
Seminar 8: Aboriginal Economic Development and Self-Government
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, Saskatchewan and Aboriginal Peoples in the
21st Century (Regina: PrintWest Publishing/FSIN, 1997): chapter 2 by David E. Smith: 425.
Allan Cairns and Tom Flanagan, “An Exchange”, Inroads, Vol. 10 (2001): 101-22.
John Borrows, Recovering Canada: The Resurgence of Indigenous Law (Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2002): 138-58.
Supplementary Readings:
James Pitsula, “First Nations and Saskatchewan Politics.” In Howard Leeson, ed.,
Saskatchewan Politics: Into the Twenty-First Century (Regina: CPRC, 2001): 349-66.
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, People to People, Nation to Nation:
Highlights from the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Ottawa:
Supply and Services Canada, 1996).
Stephen Cornell and Joseph Kalt, Sovereignty and Nation-Building: The Development
Challenges in Indian Country Today (Harvard Project on American Indian Economic
Development, 2002): 1-35.
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Seminar 9: Debating the Debt Crisis of the 1990s
Janice MacKinnon, Minding the Public Purse: The Fiscal Crisis, Political Trade-offs,
and Canada’s Future (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003):
97-129
Michael Rushton, “Public Finance in Saskatchewan: 1980-2000.” In Leeson, ed.,
Saskatchewan Politics: 253-266.
Paul Boothe, “Slaying the Deficit Dragon: Anti-Deficit Policies in the West” in Paul
Boothe and Bradford Reid, eds., Deficit Reduction in the Far West: The Great
Experiment (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2001): 135-64.
Supplementary Reading:
John Richards, Now that the Coat fits the Cloth: Spending Wisely in a Trimmed-Down
Age (Toronto: CD Howe Institute Commentary No. 143, 2000), 50 pp.
Lorne Brown, Joseph Roberts and John Warnock, Saskatchewan Politics: From Left to
Right ’44-’99 (Regina: Hinterland Publications, 1999).
Cristine de Clercy, “Policy Innovation and Deficit Reduction: Saskatchewan, Alberta and
British Columbia”, in Boothe and Reid, eds., Deficit Reduction in the Far West, 203-27.
Seminar 10: The Social Union: Moving the Federation Forward
Roy J. Romanow, “Reinforcing ‘The Ties that Bind’”, Policy Options, Vol. 9 (Nov.
1998): 9-11.
Claude Ryan, “The Agreement on the Canadian Social Union as Seen by the Quebec
Federalist” and “SUFA Agreement”, Inroads, Vol. 8 (1999): 25-49.
Gregory P. Marchildon “A Step in the Right Direction [A Response to Claude Ryan]”,
Inroads, Vol. 9 (2000): 124-33.
Gregory P. Marchildon and Brent Cotter, “Saskatchewan and the Social Union.” In
Leeson, ed., Saskatchewan Politics: 367-80.
Supplementary Reading:
Steven A. Kennett, Securing the Social Union: A Commentary on the Decentralized
Approach (Kingston: Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, 1998).
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Seminar 11: Provincial Health Care Reform in the 1990s
Duane Adams, “The White and the Black Horse Race: Saskatchewan Health Reform in
the 1990s.” In Leeson, ed., Saskatchewan Politics: 267-94.
Ken Rasmussen, “Regionalization and Collaborative Government: A New Direction for
Health System Governance”, in Duane Adams, ed., Federalism, Democracy and Health
Policy in Canada (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2001): 23970.
Supplementary Reading:
Amanda M. James, “Closing Rural Hospitals in Saskatchewan: On the Road to
Wellness?”, Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 49 (1999): 1021-1034.
Richard H.M. Plain, “Health Reform, Health Care Spending and Health Status.” In
Boothe and Reid, eds., Deficit Reduction in the Far West: 165-202.
Seminar 12: Securing the National Dimensions of Health Care In Canada, 19992003
Roy J. Romanow, Commissioner, Building on Values: The Future of Health Care in
Canada (Saskatoon: Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, 2002), preface
(A Message to Canadians) and chapters 1-2.
Gregory P. Marchildon, Royal Commissions and the Policy Cycle in Canada: The Case
of Health Care, published public lecture, Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, Fall
2001, 1-20.
Duane Adams, “Canadian Federalism and the Development of National Health Goals and
Objectives.” In Duane Adams, ed., Federalism, Democracy and Health Policy in
Canada (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2001): 61-105.
Supplementary Reading:
Keith Banting and Stan Corbett, “Health Policy and Federalism: An Introduction”, in
Health Policy and Federalism: A Comparative Perspective on Multi-Level Governance
(Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002): 1-38.
Seminar 13: Saskatchewan’s Effectiveness in the Federal-Provincial Arena?
David E. Smith, ed., Building a Province: A History of Saskatchewan in Documents
(Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1992), document 125: 415-24.
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Howard Leeson, “The Intergovernmental Affairs Function in Saskatchewan, 1960-1983”,
Canadian Public Administration, Vol. 30, no. 3 (Fall 1987): 399-420.
Allan Blakeney and Sandford Borins, Political Management in Canada (Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1998): 159-68.
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