Institute for Research on Public Policy

Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.). Institute of Intergovernmental Relations

Current tensions in intergovernmental fiscal arrangements are thus important impediment to improving the health care system. At the same time, the failure of provinces to correct health care problems acts a serious irritant in intergovernmental relations, creating a vicious cycle where deficiencies in intergovernmental fiscal relations make health care reform difficult while failures to effect health care reform increase conflict between the provinces and the federal government. This collection of essays analyses key issues in federal-provincial health care relations, particularly the fiscal component. The authors look at why there is a role for the federal government in health care and consider the critical issues in recent intergovernmental political battles over this role. The issues of whether the vertical federal-provincial fiscal imbalance is myth or reality, how much the federal government does and should contribute financially to provincial health care programs, and methods for settling disputes, such as those over user fees, are discussed. The authors also provide concrete proposals for reconstructing the federal-provincial partnership. Contributors include Keith Banting (Queen's University), Robin Boadway (Queen's University), David Cameron (University of Toronto), Harvey Lazar, Jennifer McCrea-Logie, France St-Hilaire, and Jean-François Tremblay.

Reconstructing the Federal-provincial Partnership

Money, Politics and Health Care

Alan H. Puttee

The 1999 signing of the Social Union Framework Agreement, the elimination of government deficits, and an apparent trend to decentralisation have increased the focus on Canada's social policy and the manner of its formulation. While disability policy, a key element of social policy that is seldom high on the country's policy agenda, is sharing in the renewed interest, no significant disability policy changes have yet emerged.The Social Union and Disability Policy examines the development of Canadian disability policy and the current political landscape that will influence new policy. It offers an agenda for reform of the disability insurance system and for the provision of supports and services for people with disabilities. The focus is on the impact of governance structures, those now in place and those that might be expected to yield improved policy outcomes while promoting the principles of federalism and democratic oversight.Contributors to the volume are academics Michael Prince (University of Victoria), Roy Hanes (Carleton University) and Allan Moscovitch (Carleton University), NGO representative Michael Bach (Roeher Institute) and social policy analysts Marcia Rioux (York University) and Alan Puttee.

Federalism, Democracy and Disability Policy in Canada

Do federal institutions shape policy outcomes? In return, do public policy objectives influence federal arrangements? In Federalism and Labour Market Policy the authors examine these questions through systematic analyses of labour market policies in five federations: Belgium, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States.

Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.). Institute of Intergovernmental Relations

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