The Canadian cabinet as an intrastate federal institution: The role of the Cabinet Committee on Canadian Unity in the 1990-1992 constitutional roun

The role of the federal cabinet in constitution-making generally receives little or no attention. In the case of the 1990-92 constitutional process ("the Canada round"), however, the striking of the Cabinet Committee on Canadian Unity (CCCU) in April of 1991 provided the cabinet with a unique opportunity to demonstrate its capacity as an intrastate institution. This thesis examines the role of the CCCU in the Canada round process and specifically its role in the development of the federal proposal, Shaping Canada's Future Together, made public in September of 1991. The goal is to assess the effectiveness of the CCCU as an intrastate body, that is as a central government body in which regional interests are directly represented. Four models are used to interpret the constitutional process and the activities of the CCCU: (1) intrastate federalism; (2) elite accommodation; (3) interest group politics; and (4) bureaucratic politics. While the process was seen as more open than what one might normally expect of a cabinet committee, the CCCU managed to avoid direct lobbying by interest groups. In contrast, bureaucratic interests played an important role in the shaping of the federal package. To the extent that regional and provincial interests were represented, ministers from western Canada and Quebec were most active. While in the end the CCCU did not act as a full-scale intrastate body it was effective in that it was able to produce a package and thus, restart the constitutional process.