Quote:
Originally Posted by bullseyebarb
Don't mess with Texas! By the way, national defense is one of the few things the federal government is authorized to undertake under our constitution......not social engineering. The states are free to experiment at will. At least they used to be.
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I understand the division of powers. The British North America Act of 1867 gives the Canadian Federal govt. control of Canadian Foreign policy and national defense. In this we are alike, but Members of Parliament in Canada also represent the Provinces from which they are elected. This is why the majority of MPs from La Belle Province belong to the Bloc Quebecois, which is dedicated to the interests of Quebec as well as to the general interest of all Canadians. Weird, but it works. Members from Western Canada promote the interests of agriculture and Provincial control of the vast natural resources of the area. However, when matters of national security and overseas deployment of Canadian troops are concerned, the whole country has a voice. For example, the combat troops forming the bulk of the Canadian battle group in Afghanistan ... and these troops are serving in the hottest part of the country in Kandahar province ... are French Canadians of the Royal 22nd regiment, the Van Doos (elementary French will explain the nickname). Quebec Francophones are almost unanimous in their opposition to Canadian military involvement, and with its large population this has a major effect on Federal govt policy. Our Provinces, which seem to have more power to act than do American States, do have control over Social programs, but the Feds can and do also act in this area, thro' national policies on Health Canre, day care, etc. Large amounts of Federal tax revenues are returned to the Provinces thro' transfer payments. The poorer Provinces get more than the rich ones. These are called equalization payments. In other words, and this ramble will soon come to an end (it's fianlly raining, and I'm stuck inside today) it seems fine to say that States have the right to "experiment" with "social engineering." But do they have the resources? Can they question the spending, particularly the military spending, of the Feds? Do things like medicare come under the jurisdiction of the states, or of the Federal Govt.? Are things such as same sex marriages Federal or State questions? In Canada, the Provinces exert a hell of a lot on influnece on the Federal govt. Is the same true of American states? And I am interested more in the practice than the theory.