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facts of diversity in Canada as a strong federal government is to the preservation of Canadian unity.

The governments of the provinces have responsibility for education, and their own power to support technological and cultural development — so often associated with educational institutions.  These powers play an important part in the flourishing of Canada’s linguistic groups, and of the diverse traditions to be found in our country.  We acknowledge, of course, that many of the institutions involved serve the nation as well as the province but this fact should not be allowed to diminish the capacity of the provinces to perform their role.

The Government of Canada believes that the provinces must have the power to provide health and welfare services.  For instance, the provincial governments rather than the federal government should operate hospitals or public health clinics and determine the needs of persons requiring social assistance.  Provincial administration of services such as these makes possible the variation of levels of service to accord with local priorities.  The role of the federal government should be to provide for those transfers of income between people and between provinces which generally support the incomes of people and the services of governments in the different provinces.

The Government of Canada recognizes too that the provinces should continue to have the constitutional powers required to enable them to embark upon regional economic development programmes.  Provincial programmes inevitably will affect national policies for economic growth, and vice versa, and the programmes of the several provinces may well be competitive with one another.  But the aims and the expectations of people in the several provinces should find expression in provincial as well as federal economic measures.  The provinces must continue, too, to have responsibility for the many intra-provincial matters which call for local rather than national action.

The Government of Canada holds the view that in the exercise of these responsibilities — which under the present division of powers are at least as wide ranging as those of the federal government — each province should be able to develop its own unique approach.  The range of powers we would expect the provinces to have would extend, as they do now, into the areas which are vital to the preservation of Canada’s several cultural and regional identities.

We believe, finally, that the provincial governments like the federal government must have taxing powers sufficient to enable them to finance their responsibilities.  However, we suspect that in assigning to governments the power of taxation — the capacity for financing public services in Canada — the principle of access to tax powers will supersede the principle
 

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