The State of Canada's Cities and Communities 2012 - FCM

Chapter 3
Page 1
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 3:
State of the Federal-Municipal
Partnership: Towards a Seat at
the Table
SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD ONCE SAID, “CANADA IS A HARD COUNTRY TO GOVERN.”
IF SO, THEN SOME OF THE DIFFICULTY MAY BE FOUND IN THE ROLE ASSIGNED TO
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS BY THE CONSTITUTION: THERE ISN’T ONE.
Canada’s Constitution, which began life as the
1867 British North America Act (BNA), made
municipalities the constitutional responsibility of
the provinces. All their functions, finances and
governing structure depend on their provincial
government.
As for a municipal relationship with the federal
government—again, there isn’t one, at least
officially. On Canada’s constitutional map, the
lines of power connect Ottawa with provincial
and territorial capitals, and those capitals with
individual local governments. There is no direct
constitutional link between municipalities and
the federal government.
As is often the case with maps, the reality
on the ground differs considerably from the
official version, as it has since at least 1901.
That’s when 68 municipal delegates repre senting
52 municipalities met in Toronto to form the
Union of Canadian Municipalities (UCM), a precursor
to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities
(FCM).
What brought them together was a problem
not anticipated by the Fathers of Confederation
in 1867: telegraph and telephone lines, and
control over where they could be installed. The
UCM won its battle with the utility companies
by influencing the federal government, although
the issue still simmers. This success proved the
value of a municipal association that could deal
directly with the federal government on issues
where their jurisdictions intersected.
The struggle that produced the UCM illustrates
a basic fault line within Canada’s constitutional
division of powers: the disconnect between
municipal and federal governments. In true
Canadian fashion, this fault line has generated
successive political accommodations: a process
characterized by evolution, rather than revolution.
However, with the growing importance of cities
and communities to Canada, and the world in
general, the fault line created in 1867 has become
increasingly problematic. Today, with some
cities surpassing some provinces in population
and GDP, the consequences are more severe,
and the need for new mechanisms to resolve
problems is more pressing.