An Analysis of Canadian Regionalism, Disparities and Related Policies

This essay delves into the multifaceted issue of Canadian regionalism, exploring its historical roots, economic disparities, and the impact on the country's political landscape. It examines the factors contributing to regional differences, including access to resources, population distribution, and income per capita. The essay analyzes the influence of regionalism on the electoral system, the Senate, and legislative institutions. It also discusses the role of the knowledge-based economy and the efficiency of policies related to demographics and political representation. Furthermore, the paper explores the varying ideologies of political parties, such as the Conservatives, Social Democrats, and Liberals, and their approaches to private capital and regional development. The analysis highlights the tensions between provincial and federal governments and the impact of national policies at the regional level, providing a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of Canadian regionalism.

Running head: REGIONALISM IN CANADA
REGIONALISM IN CANADA
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1REGIONALISM IN CANADA
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

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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.cfm
3 Johnson, D. (1957). Thinking government: Thinking Government: Public administration and politics in Canada
(4th ed.). University of Toronto Press.

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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.cfm
5 Statcan.gc.ca. (2018). Census Program. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-
eng.cfm

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leads to lower the GDP of the place playing a contradictory role. Generally, the countries with
higher population can hardly tackle the income of the families. However, in the richest country
of the world, that is Canada itself, some of the provinces which have high population have
successfully the human resources in one hand and growing the GDP of their own region. The
provinces of Alberta which is marked one of the most populated states, has the highest GDP in
the whole country. It had approximated 98.19 billion-dollar GDP only in the city of Edmonton in
2013. Similarly, this region has the city like Calgary which also tops the list of the cities with
high GDP growth and per capita income. In addition to this, the cities of Toronto, Guelph,
Greater Sudbury and Ottawa–Gatineau and Saskatoon and Regina of Saskatchewan are some of
the cities having higher GDP per capita6. The other places or provinces cannot show such per
capita income thus increase the regional disparity more clearly.
The third variable is the participation of the population in the business and other services
that contribute in the economy of the region. In the richest provinces of Canada, the
participation of the human resources is higher than the other places of the country. These people
have enhanced the involvement and participation for the growth of their business organizations.
Despite the fact that the socialists think that such approaches of the regional or provincial
governments will be developing issues to increase opportunities for the population to get involve
in the economic growth of their own regions only7. However, these regional governments have
developed scope for the people’s participation to get a greater satisfaction in their workplaces
which has proved to enhance the profitability and faster growth of the business in these regions.
The strategies of the federal governments to recognize and encourage the population especially
6 Statcan.gc.ca. (2018). Census Program. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-
eng.cfm
7 Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. (2018). Regionalism | The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/regionalism

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the capable human resources of the region to be effective and achieve the goals in the economic
policies of their regions. The regions with lesser resources and capabilities are not being able to
utilize their human resources by encouraging participation of the people in the economic growth
for the regions or for that matter for the entire country.
The forth variable in understanding the employability of the capable human resources.
Differences in the per capita income among the regions can exist due to variety in the
employment, wages and investment income and most importantly the income from the
government transfer programs. The regional disparities have affected the economic growth as
these have recorded a decision impact on the human resources in the region. The employability
of the population in different region has different issues. The factor of migration has showed a
decisive impact on a decisive impact on the quality of the human resources in the region. The
low-income regions in Canada seem to be locked in the cycle of degradation as the most
dynamic as well as educated people employed in the business organization of this country are
emigrates. The high wages method of British Columbia and Alberta though have shown high
employability approach than the other regions in the country8. However, it is also true that these
regions also create scopes for the trainings of the human resources so that that the companies
both national as well as international get the opportunities to employ them in their companies.
The local market condition therefore, can be stated faces the full pressure of the regional
disparities as some of the regions create a successful and effective workforce despite of having
higher pressure of population growth.
The regional economies compete directly with each other causing people, industries and
provincial government to develop economic policies beneficial to them. The importance of
8 Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. (2018). Regionalism | The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/regionalism

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knowledge-based economy for providing the sound public policy leadership is essential. The
knowledge incentive activities are important in this type of economy. This create a great reliance
on the intellectual capital rather than the physical inputs. In this type of economy is associated
with high tech manufacturing like aerospace, electronics and computer. In addition, ton this, it
works in the service sector industries like education, software design and healthcare9. The
business services like information, insurance and communication also flourish in this type of
economy.
In order to maintain economic growth, the individuals need both explicit and tacit
knowledge. Explicit knowledge includes facts, data and tacit knowledge include experience
intuition, judgment, experience and the method of managing people. The growth of knowledge is
the key driver of productivity. Knowledge is non-finite resource and though people use capital, it
does not match with knowledge. As knowledge is not limited hence can be shared without any
threat to lose it, the government encourage the human resource to share knowledge so that
sharing can help boost overall knowledge and its economy.
In identifying and applying policies perfectly, the support of political parties is needed.
Perfect efficiency of policy effectively depends on demographics, political representation and
regional development. Since confederation, Canadian economic policies face different issues.
Among all the policies strategized by the federal government, the issues if In Canada the
fundamental conservative aim is to ensure that the public sector plays only a minor role in the
economy. This policy directs the government to respect the interest of private capital which has
created issues among the political parties as they have different opinions and ideologies. National
9 Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. (2018). Regionalism | The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/regionalism

7REGIONALISM IN CANADA
policies have important repercussions at the regional level, intentional and unintentional, often
creating tensions between the provinces and the federal government and among the provinces10.
Social democratic ideas for private capital details that capital is inherently incompatible
in the country as they hold capital to be democratic values for liberty, equality as well as
solidarity. To this social democratic, these ideals may lead to the overall growth of the country.
This is completely against the ideology of the private capitalism which the regional governments
think to be their most important success factors. As the social democratic ideology does not
support the factors of possessing capital for their own growth, they speak for replacing private
ownerships with the social ownership for the means of production. The New Democratic Party of
Canada advocated for increasing corporate tax rate from 15% to 17% and lower the small
business tax rate from 11% to 9%, expand public health care system and reinstating the federal
minimum wage to give workers in federally regulated industries11. This will limit the scope of
private capitalism in one hand and regional disparity on the other.
Liberal ideology for private capital is completely different from that the conservative and
socio democratic ideology12. The liberal ideology, outlined major ideas that takes initiative for
the protecting as well as enhancing freedom of individuals. This particular ideology aims to
eliminate the central problem of politics that is individual freedom. This supports the idea of
mixed economy that includes both public and private property in the capital goods. Therefore,
this ideology supports the economic policies of the federal government that believe in protecting
the individuals and their capital from being harmed by others. However, the liberals feel that the
10 Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. (2018). Regionalism | The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/regionalism
11 Statcan.gc.ca. (2018). Census Program. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-
eng.cfm
12 Weiler, P. (2016). The New Liberalism: Liberal Social Theory in Great Britain, 1889-1914. Routledge.

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governments themselves can pose threat for the liberty of the individual. The Liberal Party of
Canada, being the longest political party in the country and having most of the seats in the
country, fully support the private capitalism idea as the demand for the region.
The conservative ideology for private capital is completely differed from the other two
ideologies. This political philosophy supports the tradition in the face of external forces for
change, and is critical of proposals for radical social change. Some of the Conservatives seek to
preserve the status quo that support the reform society slowly, while the others want to return to
the values of the earlier time. Conservatism in the Canadian context generally refers to the right-
winged politics that advocates the preservation of personal wealth and private ownership or
Capitalism. This particular ideology emphasizes in the self-reliance as well as individualism.
Canadian conservatives in general are more punitive toward criminals, tend to hold more
orthodox religious views, and are often ethnocentric and hostile toward homosexuals and other
minority groups.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the human element of Canada has played an important
part in the regional development. Despite the fact that the effect of regionalism and regional
disparity in the country is high, the economy shows the best result in the world. The regional
governments of this particular 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. This leads to the regional disparity among the government on the basis
of natural and human made resources. 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. However, the

9REGIONALISM IN CANADA
three ideologues such as conservatives, liberals, and social democratic possess different views in
the policies regarding private capitalism and its effect om the economy of the regions.

10REGIONALISM IN CANADA
References:
Johnson, D. (1957). Thinking government: Thinking Government: Public administration and
politics in Canada (4th ed.). University of Toronto Press.
Nye, J. (1990). Soft Power. Foreign Policy, (80), 153. doi: 10.2307/1148580
Statcan.gc.ca. (2018). Census Program. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-
recensement/index-eng.cfm
Statcan.gc.ca. (2018). Census Program. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-
recensement/index-eng.cfm
Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. (2018). Regionalism | The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/regionalism
Weiler, P. (2016). The New Liberalism: Liberal Social Theory in Great Britain, 1889-1914.
Routledge.