Abstract

The essay considers Canada to be a federal system which is "poised" given its asymmetrical nature and the variety of tensions in the country. It analyses the mechanisms with which social rights are protected, taking account of the financial relations among the various levels of government (fiscal federalism), the economic differences between the richest Provinces and the poorer Western ones, the different orientations of the provincial governments towards welfare, and the strongly identitarian attitude of Quebec, which has frequently prompted it to self-exclude itself from inter-provincial agreements on social programmes.