How Canadians Govern Themselves - Parlement du Canada

How Canadians Govern ThemselvesLiving GovernmentWe are apt to think of government assomething static; as a machine that wasbuilt and finished long ago. Actually,since our democratic government isreally only the sum of ourselves, itgrows and changes as we do.Canada today is not the Canada of1867, and neither is the Act that madeit. It has been changed by manyamendments, all originated by us, thepeople of Canada. How we governourselves has also been changed byjudicial interpretation of the writtenconstitution, by custom and usage, andby arrangements between the nationaland provincial legislatures andgovernments as to how they would usetheir respective powers. These otherways in which our system has changed,and is changing, give it great flexibility,and make possible a multitude of specialarrangements for particular provincesor regions within the existing writtenconstitution, without the danger of“freezing” some special arrangementthat might not have worked out wellin practice.There may still be many changes. Someare already in process, some have beenslowly evolving since 1867, and someare only glimmerings along the horizon.They will come, as they always do inthe parliamentary process, at the handsof many governments, with the clash ofloud debate, and with the ultimateagreement of the majority who casttheir votes.We are concerned with the relationsbetween French-speaking and EnglishspeakingCanadians, and with thedivision of powers between the federaland provincial governments. We alwayshave been. But the search for areas ofagreement and the making of newadjustments has been a continualprocess from the beginning. Therecognition of the French fact, which waslimited in 1867, now embraces, in greateror lesser degree, the whole of Canada.All federal services must be availablewhere required in either language.Federal, Quebec and Manitoba courtshave always had to be bilingual. NewBrunswick is now constitutionallybilingual. Criminal justice must now bebilingual wherever the facilities exist orcan be made available.The country’s resources grow; theprovinces’ and territories’ needschange. Some are rich, others less welloff. Federalism makes possible a poolingof financial resources and reductionof such disparities. Yet there are alwaysareas of dispute, new adjustmentsrequired, and special problems to bemet. Federal-provincial conferences,bringing together all the heads ofgovernment, are fairly new in ourhistory. But they are now very frequent,and a major force in evolving newsolutions. Indeed, the Constitution Act,1982, required that the Prime Ministerconvene such a conference within15 years to review the procedure forconstitutional amendment.Living Government49