FÉDÉRALISME D'OUVERTURE ET POUVOIR DE DÉPENSER AU CANADA

In power since January 2006, the leader of the Canadian Conservative party,Stephen Harper, promised to break with the previous governments’ “domineering”style of governance and to put into practice a new type of “openfederalism.” Specifically, this approach involved correcting the fiscal imbalancebetween Ottawa and the provinces, taking measures to recognize Quebec’sspecificity, and limiting the federal government’s recourse to an alleged spendingpower. This article briefly surveys the foundations of Canadian politics andthe years when the Liberal party was in power, between 1993 and 2006, toassess the measures adopted by the Harper government, particularly with respectto the spending power. This power is not attributed in the constitutionnor is it founded on clear jurisprudence, but Ottawa still claims and invokesit. Despite ther promises, the Conservatives have failed to offer a satisfactoryformula for limiting its usage. So, Canada remains driven by the centralisingprocess that has prevailed since the start of the 1980’s

Democratic Deliberation in a Multinational Federation

Democratic deliberation is an aspiration that, in the most favorable conditions, remains difficult to achieve. In divided or multinational societies, the requirements of democratic theory appear particularly daunting. This essay surveys the Canadian debate about democratization and constitutional politics to better understand the significance of democratic deliberation in a concrete case, when principles are evoked in a context where institutions, interests, identities and power also matter. The article proposes to think of deliberation and power politics as closely intertwined and, in fact impossible to separate. Even in the best conditions, multinational deliberations always remain imperfect exercises in practical reason

L'après-guerre au Canada: politiques keynésiennes ou nouvelles formes de régulation?

La pagination de cette version (p.105-123) est différente de celle du document original (p.91-107)

Une loi contre la pauvreté : La nouvelle approche québécoise de lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale

Le 12 juin 2002, le gouvernement du Québec rendait public un projet de loi visant à lutter contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale. Le projet de loi 112 fait de la lutte contre la pauvreté une priorité gouvernementale et il engage le gouvernement à mettre en place des plans d’action spécifiques et des structures institutionnelles pour assurer le suivi de ces plans. La loi s’accompagne également d’une stratégie gouvernementale relativement ambitieuse de lutte contre la pauvreté. L’article présente le projet de loi et la stratégie, en insistant sur les origines citoyennes du projet et sur ses implications pour la démocratisation du social. Le projet a le mérite de mettre la lutte contre la pauvreté à l’avant-plan et d’être conçu dans une perspective longitudinale, intégrée et participative. Mais il demeure pour l’instant relativement abstrait. Seul le temps nous dira si cette ouverture significative donnera des résultats importants.In June 2002 the government of Quebec unveiled a draft bill targeting poverty and social exclusion. Bill 112 would make anti-poverty actions a governmental priority and commits the government to developing concrete action plans and institutional structures for implementation. The draft bill is accompanied by the government’s anti-poverty strategy. This article describes the roots of the law and strategy in a citizen and popular initiative and considers its implications for democracy. While the project is relatively general, it does have the advantage that it puts anti-poverty in the spotlight as well as understanding the problem from a longitudinal, integrated and participatory perspective. Only time will tell whether there will be more specific results