Federalism and compliance with international agreements: Belgium and Canada Compared

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy

Volumn 5, Issue 1-2, 2010, Pages 173-197

  Paquin, Stéphane ^a  

^a UNIVERSITÉ DE SHERBROOKE   (Canada)

Author keywords

Belgium; Canada; Federalism; International agreements; Paradiplomacy; Treaty making

Indexed keywords

EID: 85047682053     PISSN: 18711901     EISSN: 1871191X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/1871191x-05010108     Document Type: Article

References (100)

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29. Intergovernmental relations in federal states refer to the relations within a country among central and/or between non-central government executives. In Canada, for example, intergovernmental relations can involve federal and provincial representatives: or provincial representatives alone (prime ministers, sectoral ministers, and senior officials or civil servants). Intergovernmental relations provide forums for the exchange of information, for bargaining, for negotiation and consensus building.
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33. In Canada, this question was also a very important issue in the 1960s after the formulation of the Gérin-Lajoie Doctrine by the government of Quebec, followed by the reply of Canada's Secretary of State, Paul Martin Senior, in 1968 outlining the central government's position; see Government of Canada, Federalism and International Relations (Ottawa ON: Queen's Printer, 1968).
34. Bill 52, An Act to amend the Act respecting the Ministère des Relations Internationales and other Legislative Provisions, 2nd Session, 36th Legislature, Quebec, 2002 (entered into force on 8 June 2002).
35. É. Desrosier, 'Les temps changent', Le Devoir, 5 June 2004, p. C3.
36. 'Why Canada Speaks for Quebec Abroad', Editorial, The Globe and Mail, 5 October 2005, p. A22.
37. 'Why Canada Speaks for Quebec Abroad'.
38. 'One Country, One Voice', Editorial, The Ottawa Citizen, 5 October 2005.
39. 'Let Canada Speak with One Voice', Editorial, The National Post, 2 September 2005.
40. A. Pratte, 'La place du Québec', La Presse, 17 November 2004 (this author's translation).
41. For an excellent review of the arguments on both sides, see Hugo Cyr, Canadian Federalism and Treaty Powers: Organic Constitutionalism at Work (Brussels: PIE-Peter Lang, 2009).
42. A. Patry, Le Québec dans le monde (Montreal: Leméac, 1980), p. 155.
43. 'Some Proposals Concerning Canada and the International Labour Organization', a memorandum of the Permanent Delegate of Canada to the League of Nations, 30 November 1938, cited by R. Dehousse, Fédéralisme et relations internationales (Brussels: Bruylant, 1991), p. 191.
44. J. Eayrs, 'Canadian Federalism and the United Nations', Canadian Journal of Political Science, vol.16, 1950, p. 175.
45. Dehousse, Fédéralisme et relations internationales, p. 181.
46. Dehousse, Fédéralisme et relations internationales.
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48. S. Paquin (ed.), Les relations internationales du Québec depuis la doctrine Gérin-Lajoie (1965-2005) (Ste-Foy: Laval University Press, 2006).
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52. See the Heritage Canada site online at www.pch.gc.ca/progs/pdp-hrp/docs/ core-e.cfm.
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55. H.S. Fairley, 'Jurisdictional Limits on National Purpose: Ottawa, the Provinces and Free Trade with the United States', in M. Gold and D. Leyton-Brown (eds), Trade-Offs on Free Trade: The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (Toronto ON: Carswell, 1988).
56. S. de Boer, 'Canadian Provinces, US States and North American Integration: Bench Warmers or Key Players?', Choices, vol.8, no.4, (Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy, 2002), p. 4.
57. É. Philippart, 'Gouvernance à niveau multiple et relations extérieures: le développement de la 'paradiplomatie' au sein de l'Union européenne et la nouvelle donne belge', Etudes internationales, vol.XXIX, no.3, 1998, p. 632.
58. See Art. 127 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Belgium, cited in A. Alen and R. Ergec, La Belgique fédérale après la quatrième réforme de l'État de 1993 (Brussels: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, 2nd edition, 1998), p. 57.
59. Alen and Ergec, La Belgique fédérale après la quatrième réforme de l'État de 1993.
60. These representations abroad can take different forms. They can be political, economic (foreign trade and investment), cultural, or focus on tourism, education or immigration. See David Criekemans, 'Are the Boundaries between Paradiplomacy and Diplomacy Watering Down? Preliminary Findings and Hypotheses from a Comparative Study of Some Regions with Legislative Power and Small States', paper presented at the World International Studies Committee (WISC), July 2008, p. 33.
61. Interview with a civil servant of the Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs, May 2009, Brussels.
62. Alen and Ergec, La Belgique fédérale après la quatrième réforme de l'État de 1993, p. 57.
63. The statement is based on an interview with a Flemish civil servant during summer 2006.
64. The statement is based on an interview with a Flemish civil servant during summer 2009.
65. C.-E. Lagasse, 'Le système des relations internationales dans la Belgique fédérale', Courrier Hebdomadaire 1549-1550, 1997, p. 10.
66. B. Kerremans, 'Determining a European Policy in a Multi-Level Setting: The Case of Specialized Coordination in Belgium', Regional and Federal Studies, vol.10, no.1, 2001, pp. 42-44.
67. B. Kerremans, 'Determining a European Policy in a Multi-Level Setting', p. 44.
68. This information was confirmed by a Flemish civil servant during summer 2006.
69. F. Massart-Piérard, 'Politique des relations extérieures et identité politique: la stratégie des entités fédérées de Belgique', Études internationales, vol.XXX, no.4,1999, p. 714.
70. F. Massart-Piérard, 'Les entités fédé rées de Belgique: Acteurs décisionnels au sein de l'Union européenne', Politique et Sociétés, vol.18, no.1, 1999, p. 25.
71. É. Philippart, 'Gouvernance à niveau multiple et relations extérieures: le développement de la «para-diplomatie» au sein de l'Union européenne et la nouvelle donne belge', Etudes internationales, vol.XXIX, no.3, 1999, p. 639.
72. The statement is based on an interview with a Flemish civil servant during summer 2009.
73. The statements of civil servants in Belgium are based on interviews conducted during 2006 and summer 2009.
74. Interview with a Wallon civil servant during summer 2009.
75. Interview with a Wallon civil servant during summer 2009.
76. Massart-Piérard, 'Politique des relations extérieures et identité politique', p. 710.
77. Based on an interview with a Wallon civil servant during summer 2009.
78. The statement is based on an interview with a Flemish civil servant during summer 2009.
79. Interview with a Flemish civil servant during summer 2009.
80. Interview with a Flemish civil servant during summer 2009.
81. The statement is based on an interview with a Flemish civil servant during summer 2009.
82. The statement is based on an interview with a Walloon civil servant during summer 2009.
83. Massart-Piérard, 'Politique des relations extérieures et identité politique', p. 640.
84. UN Universal Periodic Review Working Group, Rapport du Canada, December 2008.
85. The statements are based on a series of interviews with civil servants from the central government during summer 2008.
86. The statements of consultants and civil servants in Canada and Quebec are based on interviews conducted during summer 2008 and 2009.
87. See online at http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords- commerciaux/agr-acc/costarica/ index.aspx?lang=en
88. and Daniel Turp, 'Approbation des engagements internationaux : Assemblée nationale du Québec [unpublished document], 12 September 2007, 13 pages.
89. See online at http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords- commerciaux/agr-acc/chile-chili/ index.aspx; and Turp, 'Approbation des engagements internationaux'.
90. See online at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/adoption/hague.asp
91. and Turp, 'Approbation des engagements internationaux'.
92. See online at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/activit/strateg/int-tobac- tabac-fctc-cclat-eng.php
93. and Turp, 'Approbation des engagements internationaux'.
94. De Boer, 'Canadian Provinces, US States and North American Integration', p. 7. At the time this text was drafted, de Boer was Senior Policy Adviser and Team Leader, Trade and International Policy Branch, at the Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation, Government of Ontario. Today he is a federal civil servant.
95. Interviews with civil servants from Ontario and British Columbia.
96. Interview with a civil servant from Prince Edward Island in June 2006.
97. The statement is based on an interview with a Quebec civil servant during summer 2008.
98. This affirmation by a civil servant in 2008 from Quebec is confirmed by Heman Bakvis, Gerald Baier and Douglas Brown, Contested Federalism: Certainty and Ambiguity in the Canadian Federation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 214.
99. The statement is based on an interview with a Quebec civil servant during summer 2009.
100. A. de Mestral and C. Verdon, 'La conclusion et la mise en œuvre des traités dans les États unitaires et fédéré s', Contemporary Law/Droit contemporain (Cowansville QC: Editions Yvon Blais, 1992), pp. 442-463.