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- Title
The intergovernmental affairs function in Saskatchewan, 1960-1983.
- Authors
Leeson, Howard
- Abstract
The Canadian federal system has recently emerged from a period of intense stress and change. Some of these changes have been structural and formal, such as the patriation of the constitution in April of 1982. Others have occurred as the result of persistent demands of active daily political interchange. Prominent among the new structures are intergovernmental affairs agencies, dedicated in the main to managing contacts between the various orders of government. The provincial government in Saskatchewan became involved in this process, creating several agencies designed to manage intergovernmental contact during the 1970s and 1980s. This article traces the development of these intergovernmental agencies, providing detail about staffing, goals, and issues. In particular it tests the generally accepted hypothesis that such agencies result mainly from the need to manage increasingly numerous and complex intergovernmental contacts. It finds this explanation to be inappropriate in Saskatchewan. Instead, it would appear that a conjunction of circumstances important to the political economy of the province prompted the development of an increasingly sophisticated intergovernmental, affairs capacity dedicated to defending the province's entrepreneurial interests. As well, the study challenges the premise that guarding jurisdiction is a primary goal of governments, concluding that these actions seem to be linked to other more important goals. Finally, the study reasserts the importance of ideology, demonstrating that in the case of Saskatchewan, the NDP government's emphasis on public ownership heavily influenced the type of intergovernmental agency, as well as the timing of its development.
- Subjects
SASKATCHEWAN; INTERGOVERNMENTAL cooperation; PUBLIC administration; PROVINCIAL governments; GOVERNMENT agencies; PUBLIC officers; ENTREPRENEURSHIP; IDEOLOGY; GOVERNMENT ownership
- Publication
Canadian Public Administration, 1987, Vol 30, Issue 3, p399
- ISSN
0008-4840
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1754-7121.1987.tb00091.x