Since the rise of the Canadian welfare state in the aftermath of the Second World War, the politics of social policy and fiscal federalism have been at the centre of federal-provincial relations. Recent events have given impetus for scholars to re-examine these issues. In 2002, the Quebec Commission on Fiscal Imbalance released its report, which introduced the term 'vertical fiscal imbalance' into the vocabulary of Canadian politics. Essentially, the commission determined that a disjunction between revenue-raising capacity and expenditures involving different orders of government...

Since the rise of the Canadian welfare state in the aftermath of the Second World War, the politics of social policy and fiscal federalism have been at the centre of federal-provincial relations. Recent events have given impetus for scholars to re-examine these issues. In 2002, the Quebec Commission on Fiscal Imbalance released its report, which introduced the term 'vertical fiscal imbalance' into the vocabulary of Canadian politics. Essentially, the commission determined that a disjunction between revenue-raising capacity and expenditures involving different orders of government...