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‘First Among Equals:’ The Development Of Preponderant Federalisms In Upper Canada And Ontario To 1896, Daniel H. Heidt

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation explores how the Upper Canadian and Ontarian belief that their province could preponderate within Confederation impacted the dominion of Canada’s political development. It reveals that federalism in Upper Canada remained weak until Reformers recognized that their province could exercise preponderant influence in a federation where representation in the national legislature was based upon population. After this realization, Reformers increasingly believed that they could best serve their province and country by using their potential parliamentary preponderance to quash policy demands from the rest of Canada that did not align with their national vision. This was not, however, the only …

The Applicability Of Co-Operative Federalism: Lessons Learned From The Assisted Human Reproduction Act, David A.M. Seccareccia

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHRA) is a piece of federal legislation that was passed in 2004. The province of Quebec issued a reference question regarding the constitutionality of the federal legislation and in 2010 the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its opinion. The result was a success for the provinces because the Supreme Court’s verdict severely limited the scope of the federal legislation. In addition to clarifying the limits of the federal government’s criminal law power, the saga of the AHRA also helps illustrate the integral role the concept of co-operative federalism plays in modern Canadian inter-governmental …

An Institutional Explanation Of The Formation Of Intergovernmental Agreements In Federal Systems, Jeffrey T. Parker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intergovernmental agreements are a common and useful instrument in federal systems, serving a variety of purposes from establishing new social programs, regulating agricultural practices, and even changing a country's constitution. Despite their importance, there have only been limited attempts to understand agreements in a comparative context or to provide a theoretical framework for their study. This dissertation addresses both of these deficiencies by comparing the use of agreements in seven federations and considering why certain federations form more agreements than others.

In order to understand these differences in intergovernmental agreement formation, this thesis proposes an institutionalist approach with two components. …