Julie Simmons

Canadian multilateral intergovernmental institutions and the limits of institutional innovation

ABSTRACT In 2003, the premiers of Canada’s ten provinces and three territories established the Council of the Federation (CoF) to strengthen interprovincial cooperation and exercise leadership on national issues. However, the purpose of COF in practice has not been the subject of systematic study. Against the backdrop of its predecessor, the Annual Premiers’ Conference, and the broader institutional and economic forces that contribute more generally to weak institutionalization of Canada’s multilateral intergovernmental forums, this paper considers the functioning of CoF in practice by analysing the nature of the joint positions of premiers expressed in communiqués it has issued to the end of Conservative government rule, 2015. This analysis reveals the spectrum of ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ measures that CoF has undertaken, and the nature of integration of CoF with other multilateral intergovernmental forums. It concludes that CoF is not immune to the underlying forces contributing more generally to the weak institutionalization of multilateral intergovernmental councils.

Overpromising and Underperforming?: Understanding and Evaluating New Intergovernmental Accountability Regimes

Acknowledgements Contributors Glossary of Acronyms List of Tables PART 1 Establishing Benchmarks Chapter 1: Introduction: Accountability and Governance Peter Graefe (McMaster University), Julie M. Simmons (University of Guelph), Linda A. White (University of Toronto) PART II Emerging Accountability Structures: Canadian Case Studies Chapter 2: Intergovernmental Accountability and Health Care: Reflections on the Recent Canadian Experience Patrick Fafard (University of Ottawa) Chapter 3: The National Child Benefit: Collective Accountability through Public Reporting Julie M. Simmons Chapter 4: Democratizing Intergovernmental Accountability Regimes: Community Engagement and Public Reporting In Early Learning and Child Care in Canada Tammy Findlay (Mount Saint Vincent University) Chapter 5: Evolving Federal-Provincial Accountability Regimes in Active Labour Market Policy Thomas Klassen (York University) and Donna Wood (University of Victoria) Chapter 6: Accountability in Labour Market Policies for Persons with Disabilities Peter Graefe and Mario Levesque (Memorial University) Chapter 7: Multi-Level Governance, Infrastructure, and the Transformation of Accountability Regimes in Canada Luc Turgeon (University of Ottawa) and Josh Hjartarson (University of Toronto) PART III Alternative Accountabilities: Comparative and Normative Examples Chapter 8: Convergence Through Benchmarking and Policy Learning: The Impact of the Open Method of Coordination on Social Policy within the European Union Daniel V. Preece (Carleton University) Chapter 9: Global Governance and Canadian Federalism: Reconciling External Accountability Obligations through Internal Accountability Practices Grace Skogstad (University of Toronto) Chapter 10: The No Child Left Behind Act and Educational Accountability in the United States Paul Manna (College of William and Mary) Chapter 11: Internal Answerability and Intergovernmental Policy Learning: Accountability in Canadian Mandatory Education Jennifer Wallner (University of Ottawa) Chapter 12: Accountability Regimes for Federal Social Transfers: An Exercise in Deconstruction and Reconstruction Barbara Cameron (York University) Chapter 13: Panacea or Peril? Intergovernmental Accountability and the Auditor General Amy Nugent and Julie M. Simmons PART IV Conclusion Chapter 14: Conclusion: Whither Accountability? Peter Graefe, Julie M. Simmons and Linda A. White