Federalism and Youth Employment Policy in Canada

Abstract

In the arenas of federal-provincial relations, labour market policy has long been a contested issue. Labour market policy encompassed a vastarray of changes in its objectives, structure, implementation and administration since the 1960’s. The two primary factors in initiatingchange were an ideological shift to a neo-liberal paradigm from the Keynesian policies of the welfare state, and intergovernmental pressures.Neo-liberal ideologies introduce the notion that supply-side factors together with the dominant demand factors of Keynesian policies can affect the rate of employment. As suggested by Stephen McBride and Peter Stoyko, “the revolution in economic and policy thinking, from Keynesianism to neoliberalism, has been accompanied by policies designed to shrink and/or redefine the role of the state, to liberate market forces from political interference, and to free people from dependency on state-provided social policies.” The consequence of this change for labour market policy has been the promotion of a different type of ‘active labour market policy,’ whereby individuals are more dependent on the market than on the state. The meaning of the term ‘active labour market policy’ in the current marketoriented paradigm is summarized as “the integration of social policy with labour market policy, including various training and workfare and work experience programs.” Neo-liberal ideologies also prompted governments at both levels to create and integrate labour market initiatives with other policy areas, such as education and social welfare policies. This integrated approach creates policy, which transcends departmental boundaries, creating a situation in which the jurisdictional authority of labour market policy is disputed.[...]