Political Science History & Theory
The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism
- Publisher
- UBC Press
- Initial publish date
- Jul 2021
- Category
- History & Theory, Canadian, General, Post-Confederation (1867-)
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9780774865043
- Publish Date
- Jul 2021
- List Price
- $44.99
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9780774865012
- Publish Date
- Jul 2021
- List Price
- $45.00
Add it to your shelf
Where to buy it
Description
The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism investigates the groundbreaking inquiry launched to reconstruct Canada’s federal system. In 1937, the Canadian confederation was broken. As the Depression ground on, provinces faced increasing obligations but limited funds, while the dominion had fewer responsibilities but lucrative revenue sources. The commission’s report proposed a bold new form of federalism based on the national collection and unconditional transfers of major tax revenues to the provinces. While the proposal was not immediately adopted, this incisive study demonstrates that the commission’s innovative findings went on to shape policy and thinking about federalism for decades.
About the authors
Robert Wardhaugh is an associate professor in the Department of History at University of Western Ontario and is the author of Mackenzie King and the Prairie West.
Robert Wardhaugh's profile page
Barry Ferguson is a Professor of History and currently Duff Roblin Professor of Manitoba Government at the University of Manitoba. His work is in political ideas in Canada, particularly liberalism and federalism, as well as provincial politics and government.
Editorial Reviews
The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism reveals a great deal about the state of the federation (not so good) during the 1930s and helps us make better sense of a sometimes unfathomable nation today. It reminds us that the very real problems of governing this land are not new and that the struggle between the federal government and the provinces is and always has been at the heart of the body politic and our constitution.
Literary Review of Canada
...this book on the Rowell -Sirois Commission (1938-40) and fiscal federalism in Canada achieves the nearly impossible: it is an interesting account of the personalities, politics, economics, and constitutional issues affecting Depression-era Canada and its federal order.
CHOICE Connect
For quite a long time, I might have said that a Venn diagram would show no overlap whatsoever between "Christopher Moore's Historical Interests" and "the Royell-Sirois Royal Commission on Dominion Provincial Relations"....Now my Venn boundaries are shifting...I'm finding Wardlaugh and Ferguson's The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism pretty interesting.
Christopher Moore's History News Blog
...in this superb analysis, historians Robert Wardhaugh and Barry Ferguson argue persuasively that the [Rowell Sirois Commission] was immensely significant.
The Canadian Historical Review
Other titles by
Reconsidering Confederation
Canada’s Founding Debates, 1864-1999
Man Proposes, God Disposes
Recollections of a French Pioneer
Manitoba Premiers of the 19th and 20th Centuries
History, Literature and the Writing of the Canadian Prairies
Toward Defining the Prairies
Region, Culture, and History
Mackenzie King and the Prairie West
Other titles by
Understanding the Manitoba Election 2019
Campaigns, Participation, and Issues
Reconsidering Confederation
Canada’s Founding Debates, 1864-1999
Understanding the Manitoba Election 2016
Campaigns, Participation, Issues, Place
Multicultural Variations
Social Incorporation in Europe and North America
Manitoba Premiers of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Recent Social Trends in Canada, 1960-2000
Remaking Liberalism
The Intellectual Legacy of Adam Shortt, O.D. Skelton, W.C. Clark, and W.A. Mackintosh, 1890-1925