Parallel Provinces: Saskatchewan and Alberta

Abstract

The thesis that Canada’s original major political parties were also the principal entities that bound the federation together is a well-explored subject. Over the last four decades, the disappearance of any political party in Canada that can convincingly claim to perform that function arguably throws into doubt the utility of the thesis. In the present article, and focussing once again on the political evolution of Saskatchewan and Alberta, the author re-examines the case he earlier advanced for the pre-eminence of political parties as fundamental institutions for the maintenance of Canada’s unity. He argues that this analysis gave inadequate attention to the structures and practices of federalism, an oversight that has grown more evident in light of the strains that have accompanied recent developments in federal-provincial relations, in particular between the centre and the “twin” provinces created by Parliament in 1905.