Canadas Institutional Landscape and The Governmen Essay Example For Students

Canadas Institutional Landscape and The Governmen Essay ts Ignorance of Farmers NeedsSaskatchewan farmers have been continually ignored in Canadasinstitutional landscape. Never has the situation been more evident as it iswith the possibility of Quebec separation. The Canadian governments ignoranceof farmers needs has caused a cynical view of the political process in the eyesof farmers. One of the major sources of the cynicism is that Canadian federalinstitutions are developed so that most political of the clout is developed fromthe east. The eastern domination of the House of Commons, and indirectly theSenate, means that Saskatchewan wheat farmers do not have a strong voice inCanadian political decisions. But what does the Saskatchewan lack ofrepresentation in Canadas political institutions in Ottawa mean? What canSaskatchewan wheat farmers do to rectify the situation? And, following a Quebecseparation what can wheat farmers do to uphold their livelihood? The intent ofthis report is to focus on the actions Saskatchewan wheat farmers can t ake toensure their success in the future. A focus on the recent political policydecisions by the federal government, the need for intrastate institutionalreform, and effects of a possible Quebec separation will all be analyzed. The current institutional landscape of Canada has not acted favorablyfor Saskatchewan wheat farmers. The development of the institutions, ie. theHouse of Commons and the Senate, and the policies that have developed from theseinstitutions have continually ignored the needs of prairie farmers, emphasizingthe cynicism Saskatchewan wheat farmers have towards the political process. Theantipathy towards the political institutions has developed because of recentcost-cutting initiatives and deregulatory procedures by the government and bymis-representation of farmers needs in government today. The failure ofSaskatchewan wheat farmers to express their needs in the Canadian politicalarena successfully, when compared to other constituencies, is based on the factthat Saskatchewans representation in Canadas political institutions is weak. The result is the development of policies contrary to what would be accepted byfarmers. Saskatchewan wheat farmers, in accordance with most constituencies inthe west, have desired a institutional change to the Upper House in Canada. In1867, when the institutions were developed, the goal was to develop twodifferent political bodies. One, the House of Commons, would represent theCanadian people by means of elected representatives in a representation bypopulation scenario. The second, the Senate, would be a source of sober secondthought. In its creation the senate was intended to protect the ideals ofindividual regions. However, to the chagrin of Saskatchewan wheat farmers, theintended regional focus of the senate never developed and, hence, the senate hasbeen an institution that has been the focus of a lot of antipathy from the West. The drive for modifications to the Senate has been pressed by Saskatchewan wheatfarmers in an attempt to uphold their livelihood in a nation in which theyreignored. The development of intrastate federalism in the senate is typically themost desired institutional change. Intrastate federalism aids in bringingregional representation to the national political arena. The desire forregional representation in the Senate is held in high demand by Saskatchewanwheat farmers. The most prominent suggestion is for a Triple E senate (equal,effective, and elected) instead of the current form of the Upper House. Supportfor a Triple E senate is virtually guaranteed by Saskatchewan wheat farmer,because their views would have better representation in a central politicalinstitution which historically has ignored their needs. The reasoning behindthe lack of regionalism in the Canadian senate is based on two important factors. First, Canadian senators were not selected by provincial legislatures orgovernments, but rather were appointed by the federal government Secondly,Canadians opted for equal representation by region rather than equalrepresentation by province. Thus, the senates actions are extremely similarto the actions of the House of Commons. To answer the question of what Saskatchewan wheat farmers need to do touphold their livelihood concentrates on the necessity for a senate reform basedon intrastate federalism. The hope is that by doing so Saskatchewan farmerswould have a strong voice in the national political arena. However, modifyingthe senate is an extremely arduous task. Senate reform would most likely haveto follow the current amending formula of the seven-fifty rule. The seven-fiftyrule declares that any amendments made to the constitution have the support oftwo-thirds of the provincial legislatures (seven, in the current Confederation)containing fifty percent of the population agreeing to the modification. Themodifications would be difficult to achieve because the politicians in the east,who currently hold a lot of the clout in the current landscape, would be opposedto any changes that would see them lose power. Upon Quebec separation senatereform would be even more difficult to achieve. Without Quebec, Ontario currently has 49.8% of the remaining population. According to Statistics Canadademographics from July 1st, 1996. So, using the current amending formulawithout Quebec in confederation , the likelihood of Saskatchewan farmers havinga voice in central political institutions becomes even less likely asmodifications to the institutions would only be possible if all the provinces,besides Ontario, were in favor of the change. Without provincial representation in a central institution the needs ofSaskatchewan wheat farmers will be continually ignored as the provinces with thelargest population continue to develop policies to achieve their own goals. Onesuggestion has been modification to the House of Commons, however, this seemseven more unlikely then reform to the Upper House. The goal of the senate inits creation, as was noted earlier, was to provide sober second thought.Regional leaders can argue that the senate does not fulfill the goals it wascreated to attain, and hopefully modify the senate to attain the regional needsthey desire. The House of Commons intent was always to be an elected body thatwas selected through representation by population and, thus, modifications tothe House of Commons are less likely then changes to the Senate because theintentions of the House of Commons have been achieved. The fact that the institutional landscape in Canada currently favors theeast can be seen in three recent policy initiatives by the federal government. The policy changes have not been beneficial to farmers in Saskatchewan, andcontinue to be focused on what will help the east develop. The policy changeshave involved 1) the elimination of the monopoly the Canadian Wheat Board had;2) deregulatory initiatives involving the creation of the North American FreeTrade Agreement (NAFTA); and, 3) a cost-cutting policy initiative that saw theelimination of the Crows Nest Pass Agreement. Each policy change has causeddeep cuts at the roots of Saskatchewan wheat farmers. A focus on the policychanges shows that the policies have gained some support in other provinces,namely Alberta, but the policies have considerably hurt Saskatchewan farmers. Motorcycle EssaySurvival for the common farmer in Saskatchewan has become increasingly moredifficult as the federal government continues on its policy changes based on theidea that bigger is better, to the demise of the common farmer. One of the alleviating factors during the abolition of the crow was thepossibility of Saskatchewan wheat farmers to use the St. Lawrence Seaway as ameans of finding lower costs to farmers. However, with the possible separationof Quebec, the use of the St. Lawrence Seaway is unknown. Depending on theagreements made by the Quebec and Canadian governments following separation theprice of transportation may go up even further as Saskatchewan wheat farmerswould lose a possible location to ship their grain. This would assuredly causean influx of prices in transportation costs to farmers as the Canadian PacificRailways would undoubtedly continue its trend of charging high prices to prairiefarmers transporting their goods to the west, to combat the expenses of gettingthrough the treacherous Rocky Mountains. Exports are a concern to Saskatchewan farmers on a whole, but more so tothose involved in the egg, poultry, and dairy aspects of agriculture. Egg,poultry, and dairy are produced under a Supply/Management organization. Inother words, there is a strict management of goods to ensure that farmersproduce only what will satisfy domestic needs. When the system worksefficiently no surpluses or shortages of egg, poultry, and dairy are created inCanada. If Quebec were to separate, especially with Quebec being a primarydairy producer in Canada, a number of initiatives would need to be developed toensure that there is neither a shortage or surplus of goods. The repercussionsof this would involve the need for farmers in Saskatchewan to focus more ondairy production, so that the needs of the nation are matched. Also, egg andpoultry producers in Saskatchewan may be down-scaled or forced to close as thegoods they produce would no longer be needed by the rest of the country. Toprevent any developing problems it is imperative that the Saskatchewan farmershave some voice in the political discussion following a Quebec separation. Theoretically, we could simply import from Quebec after separation is made toensure that the demand of Canadians are met by Quebec supply. However, thesolution is not an easy one because the cost of dealing with Quebec would likelybe a high one due to an increase in transaction costs. Transaction costs are,the costs arising from finding a trading partner, negotiating an agreementabout the price and other aspects of the exchange, and of ensuring that theterms of the agreement are fulfilled. Simply put there would be an influx inthe transaction costs between Quebec and Canada as the trading agreement ismodified. Again Saskatchewan farmers, upon Quebec separation, are faced withyet another hurdle to clear in their attempts to uphold their lifestyle. In sum, the political policy development that has been developed in theEast has seriously effected Saskatchewan wheat farmers. They have lost a meansfor protection from a fluctuating market because of modifications to the price-support structure of the CWB, which could be extremely detrimental with thedevelopment of a new country and unstable economy. The internationalcompetition, witnessed through the eastern politicians focus for free trade, hascaused the price of grain to drop considerably because of the elasticity ofwheat caused by an increase in competition and substitutes. Finally, the risingtransportation costs, due to the elimination of the Crows Nest Pass Agreement,has meant that Saskatchewan wheat farmers spend more money to get their productto a market which has gotten progressively worse. Saskatchewan farmers areforced to spend more money to get their product to a weak market, which couldget weaker in a new developing country due to an unstable economy and theincrease in transaction costs. The importance of the institutions ability to steer Canadas policyneeds to be analyzed here to ensure its power and importance is understood. Institutions are like channels or grooves along which economic, ideological,cultural and political forces flow. Simply, the power of politicalinstitutions is not an abstract quality . With the branches of government builtunder the principle of representation by population the political clout is goingto be held where the largest population is held, the east. The result is thatof small constituencies are weakly represented in national governments whichfail to realize the practical implications their policy developments have toconstituencies not prominent in the east, such as Saskatchewan wheat farmers. The policies the national government have developed in recent events havespoiled the agricultural community in Saskatchewan. However, a change to thepolitical institutions would cause a change in the policies that the governmentscreated simply because the grooves would cause policies to follow a differentpolitical, cultural, and economic flow. Canadian political institutions have a serious effect on policydevelopment in the nation. With the power being held almost solely in the eastsmall constituencies, such as Saskatchewan wheat farmers are forced toconcentrate on methods to modify the institutions so that they serve their needs. Recent policy developments have had a detrimental effect on Saskatchewan wheatfarmers growth and the only means for farmers to prevent this in the future isto modify the institutions. However, Quebec separation poses a difficultproblem for Saskatchewan wheat farmers. Not only does separation mean that theeconomy farmers rely heavily on will drop but it separation also means thatinstitutional reform is even less likely. The situation is not futile, andalthough the road is a difficult one Saskatchewan wheat farmers have facedadversity before. It appears that their unity and strength will be called uponagain as they attempt to gain representation in Canadas national institutionsbefore their lifestyle becomes a concept of the past. BibliographyKeith Archer et al., Paramters of Power: Canadas Political Institutions. Scarborough:Nelson Canada (1995), pg. 180. Canadian Dimensions- Population and average growth rates, Canada, the provinces,and territories. Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, July 1st, 1996. Website: http://WWW.StatCan.CA/Documents/English/Pgdb/People/Population/demo02a.htmDavid Roberts, Farmers worry report wont bring change, The Globe and Mail(July 11, 1996), A9. Terry Johnson, After the Crow, new hope in the country, Alberta Report (August21st, 1995), 15. Richard Gwyn, End of an Era, Calgary Herald (August 1st, 1995), A5. Terry Johnson, After the Crow, new hope in the country, Alberta Report (August21st, 1995), 15. Robin Bade et al., Economics: Canada in the Global Enviroment. Toronto: AddisonWesley Publishers Ltd. (1991), pg. G-13. Keith Archer et al., Paramters of Power: Canadas Political Institutions. Scarborough: Nelson Canada (1995), pg. 3. Category: History