One of the enduring ironies of Canadian political life is that John A. Macdonald and the other Fathers of Confederation believed the provinces would wither away, becoming little more than municipal governments providing a few insignificant services to the individuals and communities within their boundaries. However, given their constitutional jurisdiction over ever more significant policy fields, Canada's provinces and territories have become ever more powerful "states" in their own right. This book attempts an up-to-date overview of recent Canadian provincial and territorial politics by surveying the evolution and development of the political economy of each jurisdiction. Consideration is given to the distinct institutional features of each province and territory but the emphasis throughout is on the broader canvas of internal, regional, inter-regional, and region-to-centre debates and preoccupations of provincial political life.
The essays devote much attention to the various strategies undertaken by the provinces and territories to deal with contemporary challenges such as those posed by internationalization of trade, industrial restructuring, program spending cuts, privatization, and deregulation.