Queen's Conference on Federalism Spurs Lively Debate

Photo By Randy deKleine-Stimpson

Dean Bill Flanagan introduces keynote speaker Professor Emeritus John Whyte at the symposium "Open Federalism and the Spending Power" at the University Club on January 25, 2008.

On January 25, 2008, academics, policy-makers, legal practitioners and students met at Queen's to discuss issues related to Canadian federalism. Entitled "Open Federalism and the Spending Power: A Symposium on Constitutional and Political Federalism," the conference brought a number of different perspectives to an important constitutional problem.

The Symposium, co-hosted by Queen's Law and the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, provided delegates with a unique blend of law and policy. Leading Canadian academics in constitutional law, public policy and political science debated with government officials and senior policy analysts on a diverse range of issues.

"We wanted to have a conversation between all these different audiences," said Hoi Kong, a professor of constitutional law at Queen's and one of the conference's co-organizers, who gave a speech entitled, "The Spending Power and Constitutional
Decision Rules."

"The discussion reflected pretty much what [we] all thought would happen," he said.

More than 100 delegates attended the conference, which attracted students from cities in Canada and around the world, including Ottawa, Toronto, Liege and even Tokyo.

The keynote speaker was Professor Emeritus John Whyte, Law '68, a former dean of Queen's Law, who is regarded as one of Canada's foremost experts on constitutional law. His speech set the tone for a lively debate, providing both the background information about the federal government's spending power, and also setting out his position on the issue. In Whyte's view, the search for pure federalism misunderstands the true nature of constitutionalism, which is to provide principled bases for mediating the inevitable and useful conflicts between the orders and branches of government in a modern complex state.

"[Whyte] told a very evocative story about federalism, from the origins of Canadian federalism, right up until today," said Kong. "It was literary, poetic, and at the same time really grounded in the law."

"The highlight of the Symposium for me was John Whyte's presentation," said Jessica Burnstein, Law '08, who attended the conference as a representative of the Queen's Law Journal, which will be publishing some of the papers presented at the conference in a special edition. "It was exciting to [hear] such an experienced and distinguished professor speak in that kind of an intimate setting, and on a topic about which he is so passionate," she said.

In addition to Whyte, Kong and other academics, experts representative of nearly every Canadian province spoke at the Symposium. Their speeches touched on a wide range of perspectives related to the constitutionality of the federal government's spending power, and provoked some serious and spirited question-and-answer sessions.

"There were several very impressive presenters at the Symposium," said Jessica. "And I learned a lot about the federal spending power."

For more pictures and the working paper series on the spending power, see http://law.queensu.ca/events/recentConferences.html