It is only natural that Canada should most frequently be compared with the United States, and that models, metaphors, and theories of the political system that are applicable to the one should be assumed to be applicable to the other. That there are certain close similarities is obvious: both are federations, both span the North American continent, both are affluent Western democracies, and both exist within the common economic framework of modern capitalism. These and other similarities, however, too often obscure the significance of those differences which do exist, or cause similarities which exist with other countries to be neglected. This is particularly true of European countries, even though it would appear to be the case that Canadians, with their strong linguistic and cultural differences, have a good deal in common with at least some Europeans. This is not to say that Canada is more European than American. It is merely to suggest that there may be some advantages to be gained from occasionally viewing Canadian politics from a European perspective.

Pendant «les événements » que nous vivons au Canada depuis une douzaine de jours, c'est d'une involontaire ironie de la conjoncture que nous soyons réinis pour discuter de l'« intégration » avec application au cas canadien – même sous Tangle tháorique…

Regionalism and Political Consciousness of Local Leaders: The Quebec Urban Community

This study focuses on the experimentation of regional government in the province of Quebec. The creation of the Québec Urban Community (QUC) in December 1969 serves as a starting point to analyse the effects of regionalism on the interest and the will to participate of the local political and socio-economic leaders.

Two attitudinal dimensions are studied because of their impact on the possibility of action and participation on the part of the municipalities to the decision-making process of the QUC: first the relative weight allocated to each municipality within the council, and secondly the changes to the municipal boundary lines which are considered necessary by the leaders. Significant correlations appear with the locality of residence of the leaders, their preferences as to the modes of urban development, their general attitude towards the QUC, and finally their subjective evaluation of the homogeneity of the local populations.

When a panel is composed of residents from three or four of the conventionally defined Canadian regions, the issue of whether or not regionalism still persists in Canada is already to a large extent prejudged. For this reason, and also because I am doubtful of my credentials as either an interpreter or bearer of any particular set of regional values, I propose to address myself to the problem of how one can measure regional effects.

The fate of the minority in a bi-communal state cannot easily be studied using contemporary theories of integration. This article employs a certain number of variables, regrouped under the concepts of institutional constraints and cultural constraints, which allow for measurement of the strength of the minority. Four countries are studied, all in process of development: Cameroon and Mauritius in Africa, and Cyprus and Lebanon in the Middle East. From the point of view of institutional constraints, the following variables are considered relevant: the statutory “ethnic” composition of the legislative assembly, the type of executive (presidential or responsible cabinet), and the type of protective veto power which rests with the minority. Finally, the state of inter-community relations prior to independence, the presence or absence of a major Power protecting the minority community, and the philosophy of the régime as understood by the country's leaders serve as indicators of cultural constraint.

I would like to begin my remarks by taking issue with the approach to regional phenomena in Canada implied in Professor Irvine's paper, “Assessing Regional Effects in Data Analysis.” Irvine deals with the problems of locating and quantifying statistically significant (and meaningful) relationships among behavioural data categorized by geographical regions. The implicit assumption in this approach is that the existence of regions is not in question, only the extent of their relevance to the interpretation of political data.