Canada: the State of the Federation 1998/99

The last twenty or so years have seen a different kind of state emerge in Canada and elsewhere. The questioning of Keynesian macroeconomic policy in light of crises in Western economies coupled with the rise of neo-conservative and neo-liberal politics (and the attendant rethinking of the modern state's regulatory and redistributive roles) has resulted in significant restructuring and retrenchment of the state in Canada, both federal and provincial. Similarly, Canadians' sense of citizenship has undergone significant changes that need to be explored. Canada: The State of the Federation 1998 is a timely exploration of the current state of the ties that bind the federation together. Are they strong enough to survive in the context of a smaller (or at least different) state? Is Canadians' sense of citizenship sufficiently vibrant to maintain itself in an increasingly globalized world? How have Canada's civic and political institutions responded to these challenges? Is "Canadian culture," however defined, still a viable concept in the midst of the kinds of communications advances we have seen of late? How are global economic forces changing the east-west economic linkages that have been fostered since Confederation and how will Canada fit into a globalized political economy? These are but a few of the questions that the volume explores. Contributors include Reg Whitaker (York), Avigail Eisenberg (UBC), Ted Magder (NYU), Florian Sauvageau (Laval), Pierre Juneau (former chair of the CRTC), John Helliwell (UBC), François Vaillancourt and Marc Vachon (Montréal), Claire Turenne-Sjolander (Ottawa), Tom McIntosh (Queen's), Matthew James (UBC), Kathleen Day and Quentin Grafton (Ottawa), Brian Tanguay (Wilfred Laurier), Howard Leeson (Regina), Frank Graves (EKOS Research), and Melissa Kruger (Queen's).

Harvey Lazar is fellow, Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Queen's University, and senior research associate, Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria.