Untangling the Gordian Knot: Regulating Federal Transfers in Canada
Abstract
Conditional transfers comprise the majority of transfers received by the provinces from the federal government in Canada. The conditions attached to such transfers can afford the federal government a role in provincial matters, but there are no clear guidelines on when conditional transfers are ultra vires the federal government. This article explores the constitutionality of conditional transfers, beginning with an exploration of their past and present role in Canadian intergovernmental relations. It discusses the potential for conditional transfers to enhance federalism, and assesses the shortcomings of the current Canadian approach in facilitating intergovernmental collaboration. Finally, this article explores how courts can increase the compatibility of conditional transfers with federalism by ensuring the transfers are voluntary, consensual, unambiguous, binding, and reasonable.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
For Editions following and including Volume 61 No. 1, the following applies.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
For Editions prior to Volume 61 No. 1, the following applies.
Author(s) retain original copyright in the substantive content of the titled work, subject to the following rights that are granted indefinitely:
- Author(s) grant the Alberta Law Review permission to produce, publish, disseminate, and distribute the titled work in electronic format to online database services, including, but not limited to: LexisNexis, QuickLaw, HeinOnline, and EBSCO;
- Author(s) grant the Alberta Law Review permission to post the titled work on the Alberta Law Review website and/or related websites.
- Author(s) agree that the titled work may be used for educational or instructional purposes and/or in educational or instructional materials. The author(s) acknowledge that the titled work is subject to other such "fair dealing" provisions and applicable legislation.
- Author(s) grant a limited license to those accessing the titled work from an electronic database or an Alberta Law Review website to download the titled work onto their computer and to print a copy for their own personal, non-commercial use, subject to proper attribution.
To use the journal's content elsewhere, permission must be obtained from the author(s) and the Alberta Law Review.
