Policy Options

POLICY OPTIONS: Well, Mr. Premier, as I still call you, thank you for doing this. PETER LOUGHEED: Delighted and honoured. PO: As you now know, you are the winner...

Welcome to our special issue marking the 40th anniversary of the IRPP, with our selection by a jury of 30 prominent Canadians of the Best Premier of the Last...

Pierre Berton wrote about Canada’s “Last Good Year” being 1967, marked by our centennial, a world Expo, a booming economy and growing international confidence. But in 1967, Alberta was...

Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the Institute for Research on Public Policy was coendowed by Ottawa and the provinces. In recognition of the vital role of the provinces...

The returns are in from the Policy Options panel of 30 jurors – eminent historians, political scientists, economists, journalists and policy advisers from across Canada — on the best...

Federalism’s strength is its diversity. Like elections attracting, repelling and charging each other, Canada’s premiers are the source of much of our political energy. While our premiers occasionally united...

The Dirty 30s were not kind to Alberta. The Great Depression had ravaged farms, families and fortunes. In Calgary, as his grandson watched with foreboding, the estate of Senator Sir...

There was and is a particular sensibility to the Brampton and Peel County roots that spawned the political persona of William Grenville Davis. It was a DNA that mixed modesty...

I first met Allan Blakeney, one of Canada’s greatest premiers, during a high-risk aeronautics experiment. Specifically, in the 1990s the Government of Saskatchewan wanted to see what would happen when...

«Bonjour, ici Frank McKenna, premier ministre du Nouveau-Brunswick. Comment puis-je vous aider à investir dans ma province? » Voilà en substance le message du gouvernement libéral de Frank McKenna...

Since 1960, Canada has been governed by prime ministers coming from Quebec for 37 years (Trudeau, Mulroney, Chrétien, Martin) and for 15 years from the rest of Canada (Diefenbaker,...

The questionnaire for this special issue of Policy Options, on the Best Premier of the Last 40 Years, was developed for a select jury of 30 prominent Canadians. But...

It is painfully clichéd to bemoan the missing giants on today’s political stage. Nostalgia and weak memory erase many sins. Pundits unanimously rue the political pygmies who have replaced...

Canadian federalism has always been a work in progress. The reason is that as federal states go, Canada is a relatively complex one. The British North America Act created a...

The incoming chair of the Council of the Federation, Premier Darrell Dexter of Nova Scotia, says that it’s a fascinating time to take over as chair of the council....

The language of Canadian regionalism has become tired and increasingly less useful. We are accustomed to thinking in terms like eastern, western, and central Canada in general, and then...

It might sound like a trick question for Trivial Pursuit, and it is this: How many premiers in Canada have become prime minister? The short answer may seem surprising:...

Energy both unites and divides us as a country. We are blessed with significant energy riches: conventional fossil fuels, hydro, uranium, wind, tidal energy, and coal, for example. An...

Quand j’ai appris que les membres du jury d’Options politiques, qui devaient se prononcer sur les meilleurs premiers ministres provinciaux des 40 dernières années, avaient désigné Robert Bourassa meilleur...

It only took a few minutes. I stepped out of the makeshift war room in our election-night operations at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Toronto to make a few...

Dans son dernier budget, le ministre des Finances Jim Flaherty annonçait les nouveaux paramètres du Transfert canadien en matière de santé pour les années futures. Il a confirmé que...

Peter Aucoin, Mark D. Jarvis and Lori Turnbull. Democratizing the Constitution: Reforming Responsible Government. Toronto: Emond Montgomery Publications, 2011. The authors of this book were not alone in expecting...