Amending the division of powers to indicate that core areas of provincial jurisdiction, including over natural resources and health, are immune from federal legislation, and to also ensure that in shared areas of jurisdiction, such as agriculture and immigration, provincial laws prevail over federal ones.
Imposing constitutional limits on the federal spending power in areas of provincial jurisdiction, including a provincial right to opt out of federal spending measures with proper compensation should they so choose.
Adhering strictly to representation by population in the House of Commons. Right now those living in smaller provinces are greatly over-represented when compared to those living in larger ones.
Either abolishing the Senate entirely, or having it actually represent provincial interests as originally intended, by mandating an elected Senate with the same number of Senators representing each province.
Allowing provinces to appoint their own King’s Bench and Court of Appeal justices – rather than having those appointments made by the federal government.
Expanding the Supreme Court to allow for more justices from Western Canada and making prior service on a province’s court of appeal a mandatory requirement of becoming a Supreme Court Justice.
Eliminating the Ottawa residency requirement for judges on federal courts to ensure more Western Canadian representation; and
Mandating provincial approval of the appointment of a Lieutenant Governor to a province by the federal government.
Amending the division of powers to indicate that core areas of provincial jurisdiction, including over natural resources and health, are immune from federal legislation, and to also ensure that in shared areas of jurisdiction, such as agriculture and immigration, provincial laws prevail over federal ones.
While the Courts have recently ruled in favour of the provinces on a number of challenges, clearly the system is not working because Ottawa continues to overstep its jurisdiction. Some of the problem comes from the power of the larger federal purse, which we discuss elsewhere.
There are more issues, however, created by Ottawa regulating in areas it should not, particularly regarding energy and other industries. Also, with shared areas of jurisdiction like immigration, agriculture, and environment, Ottawa rarely acts in partnership with provinces.
Imposing constitutional limits on the federal spending power in areas of provincial jurisdiction, including a provincial right to opt out of federal spending measures with proper compensation should they so choose.
As long as Ottawa has most of your tax dollars, they will use the power of the purse to direct how provinces deliver services and build infrastructure. The only way to ensure Ottawa finds consensus or adds no strings is to enshrine the right of provinces to opt out of federal programs and get equivalent funds to operate services themselves.
Ottawa should also have no say in infrastructure investments that are not interprovincial of federal.
Adhering strictly to representation by population in the House of Commons. Right now those living in smaller provinces are greatly over-represented when compared to those living in larger ones.
Alberta, BC, and Ontario are systematically underrepresented due to various special rules that benefit the other provinces.
Having just passed 5 million people, Alberta has almost exactly twice the population of Atlantic Canada. But we have 37 MPs compared to their 32.
In 1867, it was established that provinces must have at least as many MPs as Senators. Because the Atlantic provinces are so overrepresented in the Senate they have more MPs as well.
A later law declared no province can have less MPs than they had in 1985. This has had the effect of adding seats for Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In 2011 a law was passed that no overrepresented province can become underrepresented. This ensures Quebec is always overrepresented. In 2022, redistribution meant Quebec should lose just one of its three extra seats, but the federal government intervened so it did not.
All these rules mean Alberta will never get as many seats as it should have given that MPs are supposed to be allotted according to population.
Either abolishing the Senate entirely, or having it actually represent provincial interests as originally intended, by mandating an elected Senate with the same amount of Senators representing each province.
Giving all provinces 10 seats would only boost Alberta’s representation from 6-10 Senators, leaving us still underrepresented. That said, the four western provinces jumping from 24-40 Senators, with a mandate to stand up for their province’s interests, would be a meaningful change.
It would still constitute a minority, though, and in theory the Atlantic provinces would have the same 40 Senators despite having half as many people as Alberta alone. Ontario and Quebec would also be reluctant to give up their combined majority.
Depending on length of terms and other factors, some think it best to just abolish the Senate to prevent an unrepresentative body from obstructing an elected government in the House. Another idea is to follow the UK example so the Senate could only delay legislation for a year.
Mandating provincial approval of the appointment of a Lieutenant Governor to a province by the federal government.
Currently the Prime Minister by convention does consult, but effectively has sole discretion over who is appointed as Lieutenant Governor in each province. The role is provincial, so the provinces should have a constitutionally entrenched role in the process, either by selecting directly, making a short list, or at least a need for the province to approve of a choice.
Expanding the Supreme Court to allow for more justices from Western Canada and making prior service on a province’s court of appeal a mandatory requirement of becoming a Supreme Court Justice.
Western Canada is already roughly 1/3 of Canada’s population and rising, but by convention gets only two of the nine seats. Quebec – which now has less people than BC and Alberta combined, is guaranteed three judges. Expanding the Court would enable the west to get fairer representation without taking a seat away from Quebec.
The 2016 change mandating that Judges be bilingual is discriminatory to the west and to Indigenous communities (who have opposed it). It should also be scrapped.
Allowing provinces to appoint their own King’s Bench and Court of Appeal justices – rather than having those appointments made by the federal government.
Eliminating the Ottawa residency requirement for judges on federal courts to ensure more Western Canadian representation
Only the first of these requires a constitutional change, but these are additional ways to ensure that judges represent Canada’s diverse regions, and that Ottawa does not have undue influence over the courts.
Other ideas to balance the power of the courts is to enhance property rights protections or the notwithstanding clause.
