Talk:First Ministers' conference

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This article needs to be updated to reflect the fact that a First Ministers' Meeting was held in 2006 and another one is scheduled for January 11, 2008. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.103.111.110 (talk) 20:29, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Issues

Here are some items which I think should be added to the article:

• most federations have one part of the legislature that promotes the interests of the regions (e.g. the US Senate). In Canada, the provincial governments negotiate directly with the federal government to promote their interests.
• as with other federations the debate between local and national interests is the very centre of Canadian politics.
• under normal circumstances (which doesn't include the present), each first minister commands a majority in their legislature and the highly disciplined nature of Canadian political parties means that the first ministers can guarantee whatever commitments they make at an FMC. (A meeting of US state governors couldn't guarantee anything.)
• Canada is one of the most decentralized nations on the planet and the extensive powers of the provinces means that no major domestic policy can be implemented by their co-operation. So initiatives like patriating the constitution or creating a national health care system have to come out of an FMC.
• the FMC is the de facto highest political forum in the land even though it is not even mentioned in the constitution.

What say you? GreatWhiteNortherner 03:26, 9 August 2007 (UTC)