Week 4 - POLS

1- Inside Regionalism in Canada

•Regionalism means different things to Canadians across the country.
•Regionalism is not necessarily a divisive force.
•Regionalism is far from a natural part of the Canadian political order.

2 - Regionalism and National Identity in Canada

•Overview:
oDefining Regionalism and Canada’s Regions
oApproaches to the Study of Regionalism
oRegional Political Cultures

3 - Defining Regionalism and Canada’s Regions

•Regionalism
-An allegiance or psychological connection to a territory with its own unique
political characteristics.

•Regions may comprise multiple provinces, individual provinces or territories, or areas

within a province.

4 - Approaches to the Study of Regionalism

•Garth Stevenson’s definition of a region:

-Primarily defined by territory

-Innate, meaning not artificially constructed by politicians or map-makers

•Regions are grounded in a combination of geography and socioeconomic political

community.

5 - Regional Political Cultures

•Regional divisions are amongst the deepest political cleavages in Canada.

•Political culture
-A society’s innate political characteristics, embodied in the structure of its
institutions and beliefs of its members.

6 - Regional Political Cultures, cont’d

•According Ailsa Henderson, Canadians line in nine distinct communities:

-Cosmopolitan Quebec
-Suburban Toronto and Vancouver
-Urban Canada
9 - Sectionalism, Nationalism, and Secessionism

10 - Sectionalism, Nationalism, and Secessionism, cont’d

•Sectionalism
-An emotional connection with one’s regional homeland, rather than with
one’s country.

-Perhaps strongest in the West.

-Recently, Ontario has developed it’s own form of sectionalism

-Ontario has it’s own identity

11- Sectionalism, Nationalism, and Secessionism, cont’d

•Nationalism

-A unifying ideology among people who share a common homeland, ancestry,

and language or culture.

-Tends to involve invented traditions, exaggerated grievances, and an

ignorance of self-culpabilities.

-Cause of nationalism often championed by charismatic leaders.

 -Meech Lake Accord
-A failed constitutional accord in the late 1980s that would have
recognized Quebec as a distinct society

-Charlottetown Accord
A failed accord in the 1990s, proposed to renew the constitution, defeated
by national referendum

16 - Regionalism in Quebec, cont’d

•After the Referendums: Quebec Nationalism since 1995

-Chretien Liberals pursued two-pronged, non-constitutional response to 1995
referendum results.
-Plan A” and “Plan B” to appease Quebecers and address frustrations of
federalists throughout the Country

-Clarity Act
-Federal legislation in 2000 that sets out the terms for federal government
to deal with a province proposing to secede
-(Not just for Quebec, any province)

17 - Regionalism in Quebec, cont’d

•After the Referendums: Quebec Nationalism since 1995

-Quebec nation motion
-A non-binding federal motion passed in 2006 that recognized the unique
character of the Quebecois

-Sponsorship scandal
-An affair in which Liberal advertising agencies received public funds for
work that was never performed – lowered support for Quebec sovereignty
-Lowest amount of seats for liberals in a long time (2011)

-Parti Quebecois ousted by liberals in 2014

-In Canada, where as nationalists my seek a unique status for their province or
region within Canada, sectionalists may rally against such treatment, evoking
principles of provincial equality
1. Wanted to be on the 1st page of the constitution
2. Quebec wanted to be seen as a
3. Limitations on the federal spending power
4. No legal requirement to this and probably never will
5. Complete control over immigration into Quebec

18 - The Evolution of Regionalism in Canada

-Overview:
-Origins of Regionalism
-Persistence of Regionalism
-Regionalism and National Unity
•Socialization
-Regionalism passed down from generation to generation.

•Laurentian myth
-A theory that historic perceptions of central Canadian dominance have
spawned regionalist resentment in peripheral parts of the country.

21 - Persistence of Regionalism, cont’d

•Institutionalization

-Federal economic development programs, organizations, structures, laws, and

other systems develop in ways that further entrench geographic differences in
Canada.

-Major provincial and territorial meetings take place.

22 - Persistence of Regionalism, cont’d

•Politicization

-Regional consciousness is first interpreted, articulated, and mobilized by political

elites.

-Successful politicians take advantage of code politics.

-Heightened by tones of political discourse and political communication.

-Canada’s political system encourages politicians to engage in this brand of

regionalized politics.