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Provincial Governments

Constitutional Powers

As the history chapter explains, Canada was founded in 1867 when several British colonies agreed to join together to form a single powerful听federation. As part of the deal, all the governments of the individual colonies听鈥� which became known as听provinces 鈥� were allowed听to retain political control over certain听local matters, while the national, or听federal government was given control over听larger, more complicated national issues. This method听of sharing power between multiple levels of government is a philosophy known as federalism.

听of the Constitution of Canada spells out what powers belong exclusively to the provinces. Among other things, this听include the power to regulate:

Anything not mentioned in Sections 92-95听is under the authority of the听federal government by default, including the authority听to make laws regulating things听that didn鈥檛 exist back in 1867. There are also a few areas in which the provincial and federal governments share authority, such as business regulation, agriculture policy, and welfare. Provincial governments fund their services through provincial income taxes, and in most provinces, a provincial sales tax as well. Most provincial governments cannot raise enough revenue to fund their programs entirely on their own, however, so the federal government subsidizes various provincial government programs, especially medicare, with billions of dollars in transfer payments every year.

The main difference between the federal and provincial governments, however, is that the federal government can write听criminal law, while the provincial governments cannot.听This is discussed in more detail in the law chapter.

How Provincial Governments Work

Canada鈥檚 10 provincial governments are basically structured as mini-versions of the federal government. Each province has its own parliament (their听exact听names vary, though they鈥檙e often called things like the 鈥�provincial legislature鈥� or 鈥�provincial assembly鈥�), which follows all the same parliamentary rules as the government in Ottawa. The leader of the political party who wins the most seats in the provincial legislature becomes prime minister of the province, though Canadians usually call these people the provincial premier to distinguish them from the Prime Minister of Canada. The premier is assisted by a provincial cabinet听picked from other members of the legislature, and听they run听a large provincial bureaucracy.

The average Canadian鈥檚 interest in provincial politics is quite a bit lower than federal politics. Every province holds their provincial election at a different time, which can make it difficult to generate turnout, and provincial issues, which centre mostly around the administration and regulation of public services, are often not as interesting as national ones.听Likewise, the party system of a province does not always match up perfectly with the national party system 鈥� some provinces don’t have the same political parties that exist at the federal level, or they may have different names, or they may simply be vastly less competitive 鈥� which can sometimes make听deciding who to vote for a听bit intimidating or confusing.

Municipal Governments

Canada鈥檚 provinces are divided into municipalities, better known as听cities or towns, which听vary wildly in population and geographic size. Over five million people live in Canada鈥檚 largest city of Toronto, for instance, while there are some tiny towns听in rural parts of the country with populations of less than 100. It鈥檚 up to the provincial government to set听the borders of cities; in recent years, there has been a strong trend towards creating larger cities through the process of amalgamating, or merging, several smaller ones.

Municipal governments run these cities and enjoy only limited powers that have been specifically delegated to them by the province. Usually these include simple service duties such as maintaining the local听water, sewage, and garbage collection systems, as well as the upkeep of facilities like fire departments, parks, libraries, and听community centres. Larger cities tend to have their own听municipal police force, as well. A law passed by a city to regulate some matter under its control is known as a bylaw.

Regardless of size, most city governments are structured the same way. A mayor serves as head of the government, while a city council of about a dozen or more members act as the legislature. Both are elected directly by voters on a fixed three- or four-year cycle, and in most provinces all of the province鈥檚 municipal elections are held on the same day. Municipal politics does not receive much coverage from the Canadian media and turnout in Canadian municipal elections tends to be very听low. Partially as a result, Canadian mayors and councillors often serve long terms with very high rates of re-election.听In many provinces, voters also elect various other boards and councils to assist the municipal government in specific areas, for example, a听school board, library board, transportation board or parks board. In other places, these boards may be directly appointed by the city council itself.

Regional Governments

Between the authority of a听province and a听city听sit听what are听known as regional governments, a sort of middle layer of government that tends to be the听most obscure and unknown of the three. A region (also known as a county, division, or district, depending on the province) unifies several cities into one larger, geographic community.

The primary purpose of regional government is to coordinate the delivery of听certain听public听services offered by听the cities听under its jurisdiction, such as听garbage collection and sewer听maintenance, in a more efficient way. Regional governments address issues that need to be handled at a higher level than cities or towns, but are听still not quite important enough for the province to manage. Often听run by an appointed regional听board of individuals听chosen by the city councils of its member municipalities, regional governments are so obscure their activities听are rarely covered in much detail by the Canadian听news media, and听tend to be mainly of听interest to city employees听and municipal bureaucrats.