The Devolution of Health Care in the Canadian North

Date
2011-04-01
Authors
Sebastian, Ciara
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Regina Graduate Students' Association
Abstract

The Constitution of Canada sets out the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments. Unlike provinces, territories are created by federal statute and not by the Constitution. They therefore have no inherent power, only that which is transferred to them by the federal government. While jurisdiction over matters relating to health rests with provincial governments, the federal government has jurisdiction over "Indians and lands reserved for Indians." These two sections create complications around who has jurisdiction, and therefore responsibility, over health services with respect to "Indians". The issue of jurisdiction with respect to health is made all the more complicated in the context of the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, where jurisdiction is not guaranteed in the Constitution. In 1954, the federal government assumed responsibility for the delivery of health services to all citizens of the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The federal and territorial governments agreed that this would be preferable over a system where the responsibility for health services would be shared between two levels of government, with the federal government being responsible for "Indians" living in the territories and the territorial governments responsible for everyone else. However in the 1980's, health care began to be gradually transferred back to the territorial governments thus bringing the territories more in line with provinces in terms of the responsibility for health services. This paper will compare and contrast the processes through which responsibility for health care services has been devolved from the federal government to the three territorial governments.

Description
Keywords
Devolution, Health care, Division of powers, Federal government, Territorial government
Citation