Regionalism in canada Assignment PDF

Running head: REGIONALISM IN CANADA
REGIONALISM IN CANADA
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REGIONALISM IN CANADA1
The aim of this essay is to discuss the Canadian regionalism, regional disparities
and regional policy from the historical aspects so that different policies of the provincial as well
as federal government can be easily understood. Through the perfect analysis of the regional
policies and their connection with the political ideologies can serve the policy making process,
the equalization policy can be analyzed. The idea of regionalism and regional disparities is quite
clear in the history of Canada’s politics. In this paper, the factors of regionalism will be
discussed in detail so that the regional disparities which is quite a prominent factor in the
Canadian politics can be understood. This is important as these factors have affected the electoral
system, the senate of Canada and the legislative institution of the country greatly. Finally, the
discussion on knowledge-based economy will be discussed. this essay will also discuss the
efficiency of policy of the nations that effectively depend on demographics, political
representation and regional development.
According to Joseph Nye1 regionalism is "the formation of interstate associations or
groupings on the basis of regions". This helps the government of a large country to operate in the
economic, political and social development of more than one region successfully in one hand and
strengthen the consciousness and loyalty of the distinguished regions or the other subnational
entities to the federal government on the other. The idea of regionalism mainly depends on three
separate elements which include firstly the movements demanding the territorial autonomy
within the unitary states, secondly organization of central state on the regional basis for perfect
delivery of all the policies that include development policies of the regions, and finally the
regional autonomy and political decentralization.
1 Nye, J. (1990). Soft Power. Foreign Policy, (80), 153. doi: 10.2307/1148580

REGIONALISM IN CANADA2
Canada is divided into six regions British Columbia, Western Canada, Territorial North,
Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. According to the economic data of these Canadian
provinces it has been pointed out that there are major economic differences among the four main
geographic regions of Canada which include the West, Ontario, Québec and Atlantic Canada to
be the richest provinces. The main reasons of this regional disparity in Canadian provinces from
the colonist era include the benefits of access to the waterways, farmland, natural resources, wild
game, proximity to the markets and the availability of technology. Therefore, some of the
regions got the opportunities to exploit advantages and overcome challenges but others could
not.
Regionalism as connected with the concern for development of the area rather than
developing the complete country, has been one of the constant features of the Canadian History
before confederation. The economic aspects of Canada has usually been realized in the terms of
its geography that supports the understanding of regionalism. Starting from the advents of the
first colonists, the expansion and growth have been profoundly influenced by the physical
attributes of each of the regions2. According to Johnson the regional economies from that
historical era have been competing directly with one another which has caused people as well as
industries to develop economic policies of the provincial governments beneficial for them3.
Each one of the provinces are affected by their own histories of industrial location,
economic development, urbanization, migration and land use. This has paved the path for
regional disparity among the provinces of Canada. Each of the province has its own distribution
of natural resources, manufacturing base and human resources that have all the impact on the
2 Statcan.gc.ca. (2018). Census Program. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-
eng.cfm3 Johnson, D. (1957). Thinking government: Thinking Government: Public administration and politics in Canada
(4th ed.). University of Toronto Press.

REGIONALISM IN CANADA3
economy of that particular region. These natural and human resources are all controlled by the
province possessed them. This leads to the desire to develop themselves for their own benefits
rather than contribute them for the betterment of the whole country. Thus, the issues of
regionalism increased gradually that led to the regional disparity.
According to Statcan.gc.ca4 provinces of Canada has different population growth which
give them empowerment to use their human resources in different manner. As the recent census
data of Canada reveals, Ontario is the heist populated state with 13,448,494 population and is
followed by Quebec 8,164,361, British Columbia 4,648,055 and Alberta 4,067,175. This
correctly relates to the growth of productivity in the regions5. These provinces have adopted
operational practices and technological innovation for approaching any problems to overcome
the barriers of growth. These population has been used properly by these provinces so that these
are beneficial for the economic growth. Higher population also increased the purchasing power
which is enhancing the market attractions for the business owners. With increased population,
the demands of food, education linked expense, clothing and sports-based goods are increasing
beyond expectation. In addition to this, the need for building for accustoming this higher
population is increasing which has made these provinces attractive to the constrictive business
around the world. Thus, the population is used in a positive manner rather than creating room for
any argument. These provinces are not sharing these human resources with the rest of the
country therefore, the perfect distribution of growth is not possible in this country.
Another important variable is the income per capital. In utilizing the population of the
region, taking care of the per capita income is essential. In this regard, the higher population
4 Statcan.gc.ca. (2018). Census Program. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-
eng.cfm5 Statcan.gc.ca. (2018). Census Program. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-
eng.cfm