The objectives of British Columbia's elites with regard to constitutional reform
Date
1984
Authors
Nelles, Robert James
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Abstract
In order to improve the scope of our understanding of British Columbia's orientation to the federal system, this study focuses on the objectives of British Columbia's political and economic elites toward revising our constitution. The study contends that because the levers of power of the national government are so critical to British Columbia's economic growth, elites in the province are increasingly dissatisfied with remaining 'province bound' in the context of constitutional change and that correspondingly they seek to plug into the central decision-making process through institutional reform in the direction of intrastate federal arrangements.
The study presents first, the basic issues of constitutional reform in light of the limited nature of change found in the Constitution Act, 1982. It continues by examining the persistent and distinctive claims of British Columbia governments on Canadian federalism particularly during the last two decades of constitutional review which culminated in the 1981 federal-provincial Accord. The study then tests the hypothesis in conjunction with the responses by a number of senior decision-makers in the province to a questionnaire on various proposals for constitutional change.
In finding significant support among these decision-makers for the project of strengthening regional input at the centre, this study concludes that elites in British Columbia favour asserting their province's constitutional interests not by an isolationist orientation as is depicted by many observers, but rather through an extraverted or integrationist approach. It then examines the efficacy, as well as the broad policy implications for our federal system, of institutional reform in the direction of intrastate federalism.