Common Ground: The Case for Interprovincial Cooperation in Western Canada
Rob Roach and Loleen Berdahl
Introduction excerpt
Cooperation among the provinces that comprise the Canadian West has been a topic of discussion for decades. The reason for this is straightforward: practical lessons from daily life teach us that cooperation is a good idea and that it often pays to work together. The four western provinces are not homogenous, but they are tied together in various ways and they all stand to benefit by increasing the degree to which they cooperate with one another.
Unlike the relatively large number of people concentrated in Ontario or Quebec, westerners are dispersed among four separate provincial units. This has advantages (e.g., the development of provincial policies that take into account unique circumstances and a greater degree of policy experimentation) and disadvantages (e.g., barriers to growth created by a splintered regional economy). One way to overcome the disadvantages and maximize the advantages of a region divided into four political jurisdictions is through public policy cooperation. Missed opportunities on this front are too costly given fiscal imperatives such as rising health care costs and a global economy marked by intense competition ready and willing to snatch opportunities away from western Canadians.
This message was independently and spontaneously repeated at a series of Canada West Foundation consultations about the future of western Canada.1 The message was clear and emphatic across the West: as a physically large but sparsely populated region divided into four provincial units, westerners must find ways to work together if they hope to compete in a global environment and ensure their prosperity over the long-term. The West cannot afford to squander the opportunities that come with cooperation in a world where other regions – the West’s domestic and foreign competitors – are vying for the same markets and the same pool of human capital.
Common Ground: The Case for Interprovincial Cooperation in the West articulates reasons why the four western provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) should move beyond provincial approaches to public policy development and delivery and adopt – at least in some areas – a pan-western approach.