A Study On Canadian Municipal Reform From 1960 To 2006

In the last twenty years of the twentieth Century,there was a tremendous wave of municipal reform around the whole world which attracts scholars' interests,and Canada was one of them.As the province with the largest number of local governments in Canada,Quebec also has its own ethnic characteristics of the French which has precisely attracted many Canadians and other countries' academic discussions and attentions.However,it is still quite weak in China.The objective of this thesis is to discuss the reform of municipal government in the period of Quiet Revolution in 1960s to 2006.Based on this,this paper tries to sort out its process of it by using the methods of politics,sociology and statistics,and to explore the reasons and characteristics.This article is formed by four parts.The first part mainly discusses the history of local governments in Quebec Province.As the earliest Province with municipal system in Canada,Quebec has a huge influence on the development of the whole Canadian local government.We can understand its formation,classification and features in Quebec by exploring its history,as well as the background.The second part focuses on the three steps of Quebec's municipal reorganization from 1960 to 2006.During the beginning of the Quiet Revolution to the late 1960s,the Quebec government encouraged the municipalities to regroup according to their own wills to reduce the huge number of its municipalities.From the end of 1960s to the late of 1980s,provincial government adopted another approach to create the regional county municipalities to solve the fragmentation of local government.Regional county municipalities replaced the old county system and was empowered a greater strength to control the local municipalities.During the last period,Quebec government was committed to reducing the number of local governments.They believed it was the best way to improve the efficiency of municipal government.Based on this,the government concentrated on reorganizing of municipalities with less populations in the province,especially in the metropolitan areas.It indeed made a successful transformation—the number was cut down one third compared than before.However,in 2005,some municipalities chose to demerger to reconstitute.The third part mainly discusses the adjustment of municipal service functions as well as financial capacity,which is accompanied by restructuring of the municipal government.In terms of function reform,the provincial government has transferred some functions to the municipal government,such as police,social housing,etc.,in addition,both the regional government and municipal government undertook more responsibilities.It was urgent to take tax reform.In response to this,the provincial government allows local governments to increase the tax rate of property tax by eliminating the school's tax rate on local property tax which left the space for municipal government.It has strengthened the financial autonomy of local governments and improved the municipal's capacity to provide services.The fourth part analyzes the nature and features of this reform.First,it focuses on the reorganization of municipal governments;Second,it highlights the strong duality during the whole reform—rural and urban,modern and traditional,poverty and richness,British and French,and so on;third,it not only presents the provincial government's strong intervention but also takes fairness and citizen participation into consideration.