Suchergebnisse

At the outset I will freely confess that the preparation of this paper has caused me some misgivings. For one thing, the times beg to Heaven for a masterfully brilliant statement on the subject of federal-provincial financial relations, and few occasions could be more propitious for such a performance than the present. For another I was disturbed to find that my efforts this morning are itemized in the programme under the heading "Economics," which suggests that I am an economist and that my subject falls primarily into that field of study.As to making a brilliant analysis, the challenge that others might have felt was barely aroused in me and succumbed very quickly. I am beginning to feel that I now hold a record for having sustained complete sterility of new thought on federal-provincial relations over a longer period of active writing and study than any other person in Canada. Recently my score in this respect has been perfect, and the thought of abandoning this unique position was more than I could contemplate. I had somewhat more of a problem in making peace with the programme, however. I hesitate to classify the subject as part of "Economics," but at least I am impelled to agree that it should fall within one of the social sciences. My own difficulty in deciding which one is that years of close contact with negotiations between the federal and provincial governments have shown me that in practice this subject is a compound of a great deal of simple arithmetic, a considerable element of practical politics, and a modicum of pretentious nonsense. Whether these are the earmarks of "Political Science," "Political Economy," or simply "Economics" I will leave it to the adherents of these disciplines to decide for themselves. For my part I am content to leave the subject unclassified, allowing it to follow its own bent and speak its own language. I have tried, however, to extract it from the heat of political skirmishing so that we can look at it in some detachment, and as well for the most part the all-important question of federal arithmetic has been left in abeyance.

The question underlying the tax agreements is whether the advantages of uniformity in the three chief progressive taxes outweigh the disadvantages involved in restricting provincial autonomy. The federal government can use the taxes in question not only to control the economy but also to avoid the injustice of double taxation and the waste of unequal taxation. In 1867 customs duties and excise taxes were handed over to the federal government for much the same reasons. They could be used to control the economy and it was desirable that interprovincial trade should be free. In both cases the problem had to be faced of ensuring to the provinces revenues adequate for their needs.Although the tax agreements have increased the de facto autonomy of some provinces by enabling them to find money for social services which have come to be considered essential in Canada, they have involved some restriction of provincial autonomy in two important respects. By depriving the provinces of the taxes which can most easily be made progressive they prevent them from placing the burden of new social services on the shoulders best able to bear it; for example, the cost of hospitalization in British Columbia is defrayed by a sales tax. In the second place the federal government has made some of its payments to the provinces conditional and has thus encouraged and, indeed, almost compelled them to accept the priorities in expenditure chosen by the federal government. This process is sometimes called buying control. Conditional subsidies do not have this effect when the federal government and the provincial governments are substantially partners in a matter of common interest. However, a subsidy given in aid of any service which is distinctively provincial, for example, education, might easily carry conditions giving effect to federal policy. It is in these two ways that the tax agreements are a threat to provincial autonomy and a serious modification of the Canadian federal system.

"A re-issue of The question of autonomy for the United States air arm, 1907-1945." ; Bibliography: p. 172-188. ; Mode of access: Internet.

The first requisite for a clear grasp of the tragic situation in India today is the need of distinguishing between two trends, the political one of conflict between autocracy and democracy, and the nationalistic one of conflict between White and Brown. Failure to distinguish can lead to such astonishing ideas as that Gandhi fights for Democracy or that "British" is synonymous with "imperialist."