The Impacts of the Reform Party of Canada in the Federal Canada - Essay Example

The Impacts of the Reform Party of Canada in the Federal Canada Federalism refers to a political concept that entails division of sovereignty amongst the central government as well as the other constituent political units. Such political units may include provinces, states and other important organs approved by the constitution. Such constituent political organs have great influence in the way things are done in the political setup of any federal state. It is important to highlight that federalism always thrive where democracy forms the core of the political structure and sovereignty (Bakvis and Grace, 28). The democratic rules form the core of the powers used by the national and provincial governments, thus creating a federation. This form of government has been majorly experienced in several nations worldwide. Some of the counties that have been governed through federalism include Australia, Brazil and Canada. In addition, the other countries in which federalism thrives include Colombia and India. The federalism in Canada majorly concerns the historical achievements that the federal Canada attained with regards to its system of government (Bakvis and Grace, 21). Canada is one of the federations that thrives on two systems of government. These include the national government, which is the federal government, as well as the provincial government. The provincial governments in Canada execute on matters pertaining to provincial administrations as detailed in the constitution. In Canada, there are clear-cut differences between the parliamentary federal systems and the provincial assemblies. These differences come in terms of areas of legislative authority. Those two federal systems of governments are absolutely independent of each other when it comes to execution of legislative duties. However, even though independence of the two legislative arms is evident, there are some of the sectors which are shared by these independent legal systems. Some of these sectors include agriculture and immigration sectors in Canada. However, it is quite prudent to note that majority of the sectors are encompassed within the federal jurisdiction (Bakvis and Grace, 37). For instance, the sector of foreign affairs and telecommunications are entirely within the federal jurisdiction. However, sectors like education and health care are squarely dealt with within the provincial jurisdiction in Canada. The Reform Party of Canada is one of the federal political parties that thrived in Canada for a number of years. The party was established in the year 1987 due to several protests that formed part of the political on-goings in Canada in the late nineteenth century. The Reform Party of Canada arose under the strong influence of the people who were led by the populous leader named Preston Manning. Preston Manning led the party until March 25, the year 2000 when the party dissolved (Bakvis and Grace, 47). The major political motivations that were championed by the party include the need for democratic reforms. In addition, the movement was strongly opposed to the Progressive Conservative government that was headed by Brian Mulroney. This made the movement to gain a massive political backing by the people in the western parts of Canada. This made the party to start seeking for backing even from the Eastern parts of Canada for the benefit of moving the nation forward. The party also gained political backing following the quest for equality that they championed following the discrimination of the people of Western Canada in favor of those from the eastern parts. There are several impacts that the Reform Party of Canada had on the Canadian federalism. It is of critical importance to acknowledge the role played by peace and equality amongst the citizens. It is in order to highlight that for a country to experience a balance in development, there should be a sense of equality amongst the people. As such, there should be no part of that country whose people are discriminated upon. Discrimination of individuals as well as inequality issues with regards to federal considerations, resource allocations and access to certain critical matters is always tantamount to underdevelopment in such countries. Inequality brings a sense of exclusion and may be responsible for vices like crime and violence in several parts of a nation. During the reign of Brian Mulroney, there were several incidences where people from the eastern parts of Canada were alienated and perceived with some sort of inequality compared to those from the western parts (Taucar, 52). This triggered the sense of inferiority complex that the people of eastern Canada had to battle with. The Reform Party of Canada took part in challenging the situation as was steered forth by the federal governments. The Reform Party championed the rights to equality to all the people of Canada no matter the geographical location or the language (Flanagan, 87). As such, this was effected and thus, all the people of Canada had their fair share of rights without any discrimination or inequality. This was a major stride of political influence that the Reform Party of Canada had on the Canadian federalism. This led to increased rates of development in the country. In addition, the championing of equality ensured that peace prevailed in the entire regions of Canada (Taucar, 62). Other than the issue of rights of equality, the country’s development also depends on the nature at which the resources are used within the country. This translates to the strengthening of such a nation’s economy. A strong economic growth may be determined by the nature of policies governing the trade activities within the country. In addition, the economic regeneration of the existing resources within all sectors is key to realization of a strong economic growth (Flanagan, 49). This is critical in the creation of more employment opportunities, thus providing of employment to the citizens. Before the influence of the Reform Party of Canada to Canadian federalism, the nature of trade was controlled in such a way that the economic development was hindered (Taucar, 39). However, upon realization of this issue by the Reform Party of Canada, they influenced the federalism by supporting a classical liberal economic plan. This plan championed placing more emphasis on the freedom of the citizens with regards to economic issues alongside limiting the powers of the state on the same individuals (Saywell et al, 75). This was geared towards ensuring that the citizens enjoyed the freedom of trade as well as other factors that could act to raise the economic status of the nation alongside financially benefiting the individual. Other than pushing for classical liberalism for economic plan, the Reform Party of Canada also supported the issue of free trade (Taucar, 63). This included the issue that the federal state was not supposed to have some discriminatory perspectives with regard to imports as well as exports. This led to ease in trade activities in the entire Canada, thereby contributing to a remarkable growth in economy. This was one of the major impacts that the Reform Party of Canada had with regards to federalism in Canada. Alongside other economic interventions, the Reform Party of Canada also influenced the Canadian federalism by supporting significant reductions of taxes for the citizens of Canada . In addition, the Reform Party of Canada strongly opposed the Goods and Services taxes that were meant to hinder the rates of progress of the Canadian economic status (Saywell et al, 71). The issue of national unity should always be treated with the necessity and seriousness with which it deserves. This should be considered regardless of the political systems that govern the country. Each nation should ensure that it takes into consideration all the issues that can lead to disunity amongst the citizens (Flanagan, 36). This follows that the issue of disunity is quite dangerous to the success and progress of any nation. There are several issues that can result to national disunity. These may include the sanctions imposed to certain parts of the country. In addition, strong acts of discrimination may arouse several protests leading to chaos thus negatively influencing the issue of national unity. Therefore, the best a nation should do is to strive to ensure that unity prevails. It is true to note that several federal political parties in Canada championed several political issues that could undermine the spirit of unity (Saywell et al, 63). Some of the federal parties championed the issue of favoring Quebec over other regions of Canada. Such federal political parties sought for secession of Quebec following the fact that Quebec was a Francophone province. This brought up the issue of discrimination in Canada, that could result to disunity which could have affected the country in several ways. however, the Reform Party of Canada intervened in this issue by contradicting such favoritism initiatives that were geared towards Quebec. The Reform Party of Canada did not share the view that secession of Quebec could be beneficial to economy, development as well as unity within the country (Gagnon, 33). As such, the reformers strongly opposed the move terming it as a strategy to empower Quebec at the expense of other provinces of Canada. Reform Party of Canada was quite aware that such a secession could result to incidences if disunity amongst the people of Canada, and was viewed as an element of social inequality (Flanagan, 61). Therefore, the influence of the Reform Party of Canada to the Canadian federalism ensured that Quebec remained one of the provinces in Canadian thereby contributing to continued economic progress as well as strengthening the unity within the country (Gagnon, 47). It is of critical significance to acknowledge the role of morality in any nation worldwide. Some behaviors degrade the morality of any society. The government should discourage such behavior. The government needs to come up with several policies that govern different behaviors that act to erode the social morality. Such behaviors are considered as moral wrongs within the general view of the society. However, the complexity of dealing with such issues always follow the fact that majority of them are always touching on religions. In addition, some of such behavior get immense political support, thereby continuing to erode the moral status of the society. Some of these behavior include the rights of lesbianism and gay relationships. These formed part of Canada in the early days and were supported by several federal parties in Canada. However, upon realization of the impact of such behavior to the moral stats of the country, the Reform Party of Canada started to strongly object the issue of extending right to gays as well as lesbianism (Gagnon, 57). This included the strong opposition of including gays and lesbians rights to the bills of marriage as well as other favoritism of the immoral acts. In addition, may reformers considered homosexuality as a major vice that acted to erode the morality of a nation. Many termed it as a moral wrong that was geared towards negatively affecting the wellbeing of individuals as well as the society. This impacted to the federal Canada in a number of ways. The federalism in Canada started to view the issue of homosexuality with a different perspective, coming up with stringent rules and policies governing the same. This has contributed towards ensuring that Canada enjoys a strong sense of social morality even today. It is an indisputable fact to highlight that political parties play a crucial role in liberal societies such as representing interests of citizens, organizing electoral choices for citizens, directing political participation, as well as selecting decision makers for the government. Consequently, within federal systems, parties are tasked to unify the nation. The unity in the nation is of key importance in ensuring continuous growth in the development, economy and educational sectors (Bakvis and Grace, 47). This follows that unity promotes the issues of peace. This is of crucial significance in solving issues related to violence that may erupt due to matters concerning disunity. Peace is crucial in ensuring that developmental plans are executed and are fulfilled without any hiccups. In addition, issues touching on education can also proceed only when there is peace and unity in a country. However, a country affected by increased cases of political turmoil always have low rates of education, and in some cases, the educational activities always come to a halt following extreme cases of insecurity. The same applies in Canada where there exists a brokerage of political parties which have contributed in nation building (Saywell et al, 59). Just like other political parties within Canada, the Reform Party of Canada had various impacts on Canadian Federalism. Being a regionalized party in the West, the Reform Party of Canada tried to solidify the federal state- provincial linkage between the west and the central government (Bakvis and Grace, 32). The role played by the Reform Party of Canada in influencing the federalism in concern to matters of national interest was astounding. It is of critical importance to acknowledge the fact that solidification of federal states is of crucial benefit to the economy and security of a nation. Such solidification is crucial in ensuring that such two distinct systems of governmental administration allocate the resources of the country equally to all the parts of the region. This is critical in ensuring equal rates of development in such countries. Despite lacking a national support, the Reform Party of Canada unified Canadian citizens in the west and this contributed to federalism. If the party could not have existed, the inhabitants of the West of Canada could have remained divided thus, leading to failure in federalism (Bakvis and Grace, 53). This follows that disunity amongst the people is tantamount to division and separation in opinions and interests. As such, there may be hindrances to development with regards to matters of national interest if the security status is wanting. Consequently, the presence of the Reform Party of Canada facilitated the representation of both local and regional interests of citizens in the West. Therefore, the people in the West had their voices as well as aspirations communicated through the Reform Party of Canada (Flanagan, 37). This made them feel recognized. Moreover, it ensured that their views and ideologies are heard as well as acted upon appropriately. Thus, the Reformed Party of Canada played a role in ensuring that there existed unity among people of the West thereby promoting federalism. This is crucial in the fact that such representations acted towards elimination of cases of social discrimination that were evident in some parts of Canada. For instance, there existed cases of discrimination with regards to the different languages that existed back then in Canada. However, due to the intervention of the Reform Party of Canada, such issues concerning language discrimination were completely eliminated (Flanagan, 39). This follows that such discriminations favored just one side of the regions at the expense of other side. As such, the people of the neglected side could feel some sort of alienation. This was quite unwelcoming in the face of equality of the citizens. Such a case could easily result to cases of violence and protests. However, upon realization of this, the Reform Party of Canada intervened by representing the local and regional interests of the people of Canada ( Saywell et al, 51). The impact that this intervention had on the Canadian federalism ensured that issues of language discrimination were absolutely resolved. This resulted in increased levels of national unity in Canada that facilitated the increased rates of economic growth. Consequently, the reformed Party of Canada had a positive impact on federalism as it advocated for a shift in the relations between the federal government and the aboriginal peoples. The shift included dismantlement of the Department of Indian affairs and thereafter transferring its earlier responsibilities to the aboriginal governing bodies (Flanagan, 45). Such change would lessen dependence of the aboriginal people on the federal government, thereby reducing the misery they earlier experienced. Therefore, the social policy of the Reform Party of Canada ensures unity among the diverse parts. This allows the regions inhabited by aboriginal to flourish as well as expressing their differences in tangible policy choices (Gagnon, 46). Thus, the Reform Party of Canada ensures that Federalism endorses the idea that for governance purposes, different communities might need some sense of unity without being strictly unified. With regard to policies of the Reformed Party of Canada, the party promoted federalism by rejecting the popular idea about the existence of French Canada and English Canada (Gagnon, 56). This was a form of division that could deal Canada a very great blow in several perspectives. The division threatened unity of the country and its people and thus need to condemn such notion. By calling for a new Canada, Preston Manning believed in finding a solution to the existing problem of disunity. The notion of the Reform Party of Canada therefore promotes federalism by discouraging division and advocating for a new Canada where there is no equal partnership between two founding races; the French and the English (Gagnon, 45). Further, the party had a positive impact in promoting federalism by ensuring existence of some degree of unity even though there is no strict unification among the diverse communities living in Canada. Moreover, the policy provided an approach to national unity thereby granting a special status to Canadians who feel aggrieved by the constitution or disadvantaged in any way (Gagnon, 39). This was critical in maintaining peace as well as ensuring prosperity in Canada. Consequently, it is good for any federalist country to ensure the existence of a balanced democratic federation of all provinces ( Saywell et al, 34). This ensures recognition of equality among all citizens regardless of one’s origin. The balanced democratic federation is also critical in ensuring equality in development in any region globally. This also has a compounding effect in the economy of the country. Moreover, the balanced democratic federation is critical factor in creation of employment opportunities. As such, a great number of individuals may benefit following such opportunities presented by the democratic federation of that country. The balanced democratic federation in Canada acted a lot towards championing the equality rights amongst all the people of Canada. This included even the Aboriginal people who were almost being alienated due to increased cases of discrimination ( Saywell et al, 54). However, just like in Canada, the Reform Party of Canada identified the need to recognize alienated groups such as the aboriginal who feel marginalized and unrecognized by the Canadian government. Thus, the party promotes federalism by championing for a New Canada, which has to recognize and attract New Quebec. This will promote collective unity as well as individual autonomy for the inhabitants of Quebec. Therefore, it is important to summarize that the Reform Party of Canada had several impacts on the federalism of Canada. The party contributed towards nation building in a number of ways including promotion of unity and equal representation of human rights. In addition, the Reform Party of Canada ensured the existence of a balanced democratic federation of all provinces of Canada. Moreover, the party contributed towards ensuring strong growth in Canadian economy alongside fostering issues of morality in entire Canada. Furthermore, the party contributed towards strengthening the unity of the citizens through championing for constitutional reforms that fostered elimination of discrimination in all forms including language discrimination in Canada. This was perceived beneficial for the common good of the nation. Works Cited Bakvis, Herman, and Grace Skogstad. Canadian Federalism: Performance, Effectiveness, and Legitimacy. Don Mills, Ont: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print. Flanagan, Thomas. Waiting for the Wave: The Reform Party and and the Conservative Movement. Montre?al [Que.: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009. Internet resource. Gagnon, Alain. Contemporary Canadian Federalism: Foundations, Traditions, Institutions. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Print. Saywell, John T, Penny Bryden, and Dimitry Anastakis. Framing Canadian Federalism: Historical Essays in Honour of John T. Saywell. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Print. Taucar, Christopher E. Canadian Federalism and Quebec Sovereignty. New York: Lang, 2004. Print. Read More