Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism

Robert Wardhaugh is a professor in the History Department at Western University. He is the author of Mackenzie King and the Prairie West and Behind the Scenes: The Life and Work of William Clifford Clark. With Barry Ferguson, he is also a co-editor of Manitoba's Premiers of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Barry Ferguson has just retired as professor in the History Department and the Duff Roblin Chair in the Political Studies Department at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of Remaking Liberalism: The Intellectual Legacy of Adam Shortt, O.D. Skelton, W.C. Clark, and W.A. Mackintosh, 1890–1925.

• Foreword / Robert Bothwell and John EnglishIntroduction 1 A Federation Turned Upside Down 2 Towards a Royal Commission3 Organizing a Commission: Summer 1937 4 Setbacks and Recovery: Autumn 1937 5 Winter of Discontent: January–March 1938 6 Stormy Spring: April–June 1938 7 Hard Seasons: Summer and Fall 1938 8 Toil and Trouble: 1939 and 1940 9 Reinterpreting Canadian Federalism: May 1940 10 Dark Days: 1940–4111 The Aftermath: 1941–46ConclusionNotes; Index

...this book on the Rowell -Sirois Commission (1938-40) and fiscal federalism in Canada achieves the nearly impossible: it is an interesting account of the personalities, politics, economics, and constitutional issues affecting Depression-era Canada and its federal order. - T.M. Bateman, St. Thomas University (CHOICE Connect) For quite a long time, I might have said that a Venn diagram would show no overlap whatsoever between "Christopher Moore's Historical Interests" and "the Royell-Sirois Royal Commission on Dominion Provincial Relations"....Now my Venn boundaries are shifting...I'm finding Wardlaugh and Ferguson's The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism pretty interesting.- Christopher Moore, renowned Canadian historian (Christopher Moore's History News Blog) ...in this superb analysis, historians Robert Wardhaugh and Barry Ferguson argue persuasively that the [Rowell Sirois Commission] was immensely significant.- Mary Janigan (The Canadian Historical Review) The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism reveals a great deal about the state of the federation (not so good) during the 1930s and helps us make ­better sense of a sometimes unfathomable nation today. It reminds us that the very real problems of governing this land are not new and that the struggle between the federal government and the provinces is and always has been at the heart of the body politic and our constitution.- J.D.M. Stewart (Literary Review of Canada)