What do provincial governments do

Any federal Cabinet that thought of using disallowance today would face significant political hurdles. She or he does so by deferring assent to the governor general.

Rservations are also a relic of an earlier age. It is typically exercised only on instructions from the governor general. The last reservation in Canada — in Saskatchewan in — defied this convention; although the bill in question was subsequently approved.

There have been six constitutional amendments directly affecting the powers of the provinces. The amendments of , and transferred powers to Parliament with the consent of the provinces; those of , and expanded provincial powers. The amendment of section 91 subsection 2A gave the federal government jurisdiction over employment insurance.

The numerous efforts at constitutional reform since the s resulted in only one direct change in provincial jurisdiction: the section 92A natural resource taxation addition.

See also Constitutional History. Levels of government spending only partly reflect the range of provincial government activity; but they do underscore the role the provinces play in providing public goods and services, and in transferring payments to individuals. Total expenditures for all governments rose from 16 per cent of gross domestic product GDP in to 50 per cent in They then began falling, reaching 35 per cent in Almost none of the recent decline has occurred in the provinces; government spending there excluding intergovernmental transfer payments rose from three per cent in to 19 per cent in Government spending is of special significance to the economies of less prosperous provinces.

Most provincial spending goes to hospital and medical care; education; income maintenance; and other social services. All provincial governments take part in federal-provincial, shared-cost arrangements for hospital insurance and medicare. This helps to ensure nationwide standards of service. See Health Policy It occurs despite differences between the provinces in their financing and program coverage. In contrast, the high degree of provincial autonomy in elementary and secondary education , and the accommodation of religious and linguistic minorities, has led to a variety of school systems across the country.

Personal income taxes, general sales taxes and natural-resource revenues are the largest sources of provincial government revenue.

The relative importance of each source varies by province. Alberta continues to be the only province not to levy a provincial retail sales tax. Since , the levying of income tax by both the federal and provincial governments has been governed by a series of five-year fiscal and tax-collection arrangements. The federal government collects personal income taxes for nine provinces excluding Quebec ; it collects corporation income taxes for eight provinces all but Alberta and Quebec.

But the federal government has also encouraged provincial growth. Federal shared-cost programs in areas of provincial jurisdiction contributed to the expansion and maintenance of provincial public services. Unconditional grants in the form of equalization payments have also played an important role.

Since , however, the terms of federal financing arrangements have led to greater degrees of provincial autonomy. Federal budgetary restraints also imposed ever increasing limits on federal support for social assistance, hospitals, medicare and post-secondary education. The s and s were an expansionist, province-building era.

In contrast, recent decades have seen major restructurings in the delivery of provincial education, health, and other social programs. This was driven in part by the three post economic downturns. Neo-conservative and smaller government approaches to public management were also a factor. The policy goals of budgets — balancing sustainability, economic development and trade promotion — have come to dominate all provincial government policy agendas.

Various provincial government agencies and Crown Corporations conduct regulatory activity and programs for economic development. These initiatives play an important role in provincial life. Things that are regulated by provincial agencies include Workers' compensation ; labour relations; agricultural marketing ; liquor sales; energy ; and public utilities. Publicly owned development corporations and other provincial agencies provide assistance, loans and other incentives.

This helps to expand and diversify provincial economies. These agencies often compete with one another, with varying degrees of success. Other provincial crown corporations are also important in provincial economies.

This is especially true in the generation of electrical power. Policy related to the provinces and municipalities is devolved to government at these levels, closer to the people and on the principle of promoting public participation in democracy. The Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment is responsible for developing policy in the national context and the provinces are responsible for translating these guidelines into the regional context.

The municipalities have the power and financial means to develop and implement local policy on spatial planning and the environment. Close cooperation between all levels of government inherent in the Dutch system ensures the necessary checks and balances.

While national policy on environment is the responsibility of the Ministry, provincial government is responsible for translating these guidelines into the regional context. The 12 provincial governments develop regional policy and draw up regional plans setting out the zoning guidelines for the location and expansion of residential, industrial and commercial areas within cities, towns and villages.

The Business of Parliament. Your Capital. Parliament in Motion. Teacher's Guide. Municipal land use and transportation policies directly affect the form of land use development, mixed land use, performance of the transportation system, and both how, where and when individuals travel.

Among these various policies and strategies are a number of well-known characteristics that influence urban structure and the resulting travel demands and behaviour. For example, automobile-oriented residential development and relatively modest transit services contribute to automobile dependency and lower use of transit.

In addition, federal tax regulations, which influence automobile ownership and use and motor vehicle standards including exemptions for vans and sports utility vehicles from voluntary industry standards for fuel consumption , influence vehicular emissions and therefore air pollution.