The redundant provinces

The Canadian Council of Chief Executives, an exclusive club made up of 150 CEOs of major corporations, is suggesting a shift of tax power from the federal government to the provinces. No doubt the Council is sincerely attempting to improve Canada's productivity; however, a cynic cannot help but wonder if they are equally interested in transferring power from one relatively strong government to a scatter of weaker ones. Divide and conquer, so to speak.

In any case, transferring power to the provinces is a bad idea. If there is a redundant level of government, it's the provincial one. Chopping the country up into provinces may have made sense 140 years ago, when transportation and communication were slow, and most people lived on farms and in villages, but today, with transportation rapid and communication instantaneous, and most people living in towns and cities, it no longer does. As a nation among nations, we still need a national government, and we need local government to address local issues, but it is increasingly difficult to see the need for anything in-between.

Eliminating provinces would require a major constitutional change, something difficult to achieve, perhaps impossible given the way provincial chieftains jealously guard their turf. Still, giving them more power just entrenches the status quo, better to bleed power off to the point where the redundancy becomes apparent even to premiers.

If we are to devolve powers, let's devolve them to the cities, the new economic and social engines of the country. With all due respect to the Council, let's not distract ourselves from the real challenge.