Les relations intergouvernementales et la coordination des politiques publiques au Canada : entre relations formelles et informelles

Policy interdependencies create an important challenge for federal states in that the latter must coordinate policies while mitigating possible conflicts. In many countries, this is done through intergovernmental institutions, such as councils, forums or agencies. These venues provide a means for constituent units to negotiate common priorities and harmonize policies. However, Canadian intergovernmental mechanisms are often seen as weakly institutionalized, meaning governments need to rely on informal networks of actors to achieve compromises. This dissertation examines the role of the interaction between formal institutions and informal relations between bureaucratic agents in shaping policy coordination in Canada. Through three studies that examine the effect of different political and institutional variables on coordination, it is argued that public servants exercise important discretion when implementing intergovernmental policy, thus minimizing the effect of politicization in Canadian intergovernmental relations.   The first study focuses on partisanship as a relevant factor in explaining intergovernmental activity in Canada. It explores the case of Quebec, which has been governed by alternating nationalist and federalist parties. The role of partisanship in relation to the province’s intergovernmental activity from 1970 to 2015 is assessed through mixed methods: a content analysis of joint press releases, a Poisson time-series regression analysis and qualitative interviews with intergovernmental officials. The findings show that the party in power has little to no effect on the province’s participation in IGR. Instead, public servants, whose relations are not politicized, are the primary actors partaking in intergovernmental activity. As a result, Quebec systematically participates in IGR discussions and signs a larger amount of agreements than commonly thought.   The second study examines whether the institutionalization of intergovernmental arrangements influences policy coordination. Through a study of 39 Canadian sectoral forums and the use of a multi-level regression analysis, it finds no empirical evidence to support this claim. Instead, it argues that informal networks of officials are where most intergovernmental activity occurs, thereby limiting the effect of formal institutions. This finding is reinforced by the fact that technical sectors typically produce more coordination than sectors that are prone to politicization.   The last study investigates the responsiveness of federal and provincial governments to intergovernmental meetings when defining their policy priorities. The analysis is based on a longitudinal comparison of ministerial meetings with issue priorities mentioned in federal and provincial Speeches from the Throne over the period of 1969 to 2009. The results show that the more often ministers in a given policy domain meet, the more attention a government gives to that sector, thus confirming the importance of intergovernmental relations in Canada. These results hold even when controlling for the effect of public opinion, a known driver of policy attention to issues.

Keyphrases: Canada, Intergovernmental relations, Public policy, Federalism, Policy coordination