John Allan

Whether considered from the perspective of constitutional law or that of political science, few, if any, areas of Canadian politics are more contested than the use of federal spending power. Initially presented at a conference sponsored by the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations and the Faculty of Law at Queen's University in January 2008, the papers in this book consider the topic of federal spending power from a variety of perspectives - legal scholars, political scientists, economists, past and present senior public servants, federal and provincial viewpoints, and critics and supporters are all represented in this comprehensive and accessible collection. Whether one believes that the federal spending power is a necessary safeguard for the protection and advancement of national interests in a decentralised federation or a threat to provincial autonomy from a powerful federal government, one will find reasoned support and criticism in these papers from a distinguished array of contributors. Contributors include Marc-Antoine Adam (Quebec Bar, Government of Quebec), Marc Chevrier (Université du Québec à Montréal), Thomas J. Courchene (Queen's University), Tom Kent (Queen's University), Hoi Kong (Queen's University), Andrée Lajoie (Université de Montréal), Harvey Lazar (Queen's University), Roderick A. Macdonald (McGill University and University of Toronto), Alain Noël (Université de Montréal), Andrew Petter (University of Victoria), and John Whyte (University of Saskatchewan).

The first section, Celebrating Ron Watts, assesses Ronald Watts' academic contributions to the study of federalism (including comparative federalism) as well as his important role as an advisor to federations across the globe. The second section, The Federal Idea: Concepts, explores different perspectives on federalism, both constitutional and citizen-related, and assesses the successes and failures of the federal idea. The final section, The Federal Idea: Practice, addresses a range of policies and practices in individual federations. In addition to case studies, the contributors deal with such issues as fiscal federalism, intergovernmental relations, federalism in the European Union, Scottish devolution, and the differing approaches to upper chambers.

The first section, Celebrating Ron Watts, assesses Ronald Watts' academic contributions to the study of federalism (including comparative federalism) as well as his important role as an advisor to federations across the globe. The second section, The Federal Idea: Concepts, explores different perspectives on federalism, both constitutional and citizen-related, and assesses the successes and failures of the federal idea. The final section, The Federal Idea: Practice, addresses a range of policies and practices in individual federations. In addition to case studies, the contributors deal with such issues as fiscal federalism, intergovernmental relations, federalism in the European Union, Scottish devolution, and the differing approaches to upper chambers.