Donald J. Savoie – Democracy in Canada: The Disintegration of Our Institutions

In Donald J. Savoie’s new book, Democracy in Canada: The Disintegration of Our Institutions, he investigates the forces shaping the workings of Canadian federalism and the country’s national political and bureaucratic institutions.

As a lead up to the book’s publication in September 2019 and the upcoming Canadian federal election, we have selected three op-ed’s from Savoie in the past year. These pieces explore the functioning (or breakdown) of Canadian political institutions, presenting critical questions as Canadians prepare to elect the country’s 43rd federal government.

Donald J. Savoie is the Canada Research Chair in public administration and governance at the Université de Moncton and the author of numerous books including What Is Government Good At? A Canadian Answer and Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher? How Government Decides and Why.

Eastern and Western Canadians are angry – and Ottawa needs to wake up (The Globe and Mail, 28 December 2018)

Threats to Canada’s federation are as old as Canada itself. But these threats are taking new forms. It is now less about Quebec’s place in the federation and more about growing regional frustrations in Western and Atlantic Canada over the workings of national political institutions. And, left unattended, these cracks could well threaten Canada’s unity. Continue reading >

The time is ripe to grapple with Canada’s big institutional questions (The Hill Times, 13 March 2019)

If the SNC-Lavalin political crisis is able to inform Canadians that our national institutions are ill-prepared to deal with Canada’s growing regional alienation, then it will have served an important purpose. Continue reading >

In trying to adapt, the Public Service has blurred some lines (Ottawa Citizen, 21 March 2019)

Bureaucracy-bashing, which began in earnest in Anglo-American democracies in the 1980s, has had a negative and lasting impact on the public service. Senior public servants today stand accused of many, often contradictory, things. Continue reading >

More on Democracy in Canada: The Disintegration of Our Institutions >