Regional Economic Disparities: The Challenge to Federalism and Public Policy

Abstract

This short paper has emerged from a panel discussion entitled 'Regional Economic Disparities' organized by this journal. In both the panel discussion and in this paper I have attempted to suggest some questions and lines of enquiry that might be productive in shedding analytical light upon the apparent problems of regional economic disparities. My principal contention is that Canadian policy-makers, variously encouraged and criticized by academics, are far readier with notions of how regional disparities might or might not be corrected than with clear statements of what it is that needs correction and why. I must enter my own firm disclaimer here, lest anyone anticipate that what follows will be conclusive. This paper is not the product of empirical research; nor is it a prescription for policy change. It constitutes essentially a plea for clear and logical thinking, manifested above all in the insistence that public policies proposed or developed to counter regional disparities should be shown to address real problems of real people. There can be little doubt that it is generally believed to be the case that Canada and Canadians suffer from a problem of regional economic disparities. For example, one of the early and effective proponents of this view, the Economic Council of Canada, concluded in its Second Annual Review that,