(Sub)national Economic Union: Institutions, Ideas, and Internal Trade Policy in Canada

Abstract

Canadian internal trade policy illustrates the challenges that federalism can pose to economic union goals. Although the federal government played a critical role in bringing internal trade to the policy agenda, provincial and territorial governments have driven policy reform over the past decade. Drawing on both historical institutional and ideational approaches, this article argues that the political development of internal trade policy reflects the interplay between institutional realities and politically influential ideational elements. The decentralized nature of Canadian federalism led subnational governments both to establish policy that limited the role of the federal government and then, in the face of dominant beliefs about economic liberalization, to use the newly formed Council of the Federation to take a more active role on internal trade policy.