CANADA'S MINISTRIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21161, 19 April 1932, Page 9

CANADA'S MINISTRIES.

QUESTION OF REDUCTION. "ONE GOVERNMENT" ARGUMENT MORE MUNICIPAL CONTROL. [FROM OCR OWN' CORRESPONDENT.] VANCOUVER, March CO. Nearly 70 years ago, before the advent of Confederation, Sir John A. Mac Donald, who later became first Prime Minister of Canada, said, at the close of the pre-Con-federation convention: —"I have always contended that, if we could agree to have one Government and one Parliament legislating for the whole of these peoples it would be the best, the cheapest, the must vigorous and the strongest system of Government we could get."

A number of the delegates balked at the sacrifice of local identities. Out of this sentimental regard for history and tradition was born that expensive appendage to the original union idea—the presentsystem of provincial Governments. Government is now Canada's greatest rational industry. There is one Federal Government, with, a Parliament of 245 members of the lower chamber, and 96 senators. There are nine Provincial Governments, with 550 legislators. There is an uncounted number of municipal governments. All are money-spending and tax-raising organisations —the municipalities vastly more so than elsewhere in the British Empire. Eacli has its entourage of salaried officials. Position of Provinces. Primarily to reduce the enormous burden the Premiers of the three Prairie provinces are agreed that one Government would suit the Canadian Prairie. The same movement is on foot in the three maritime provinces. With regard to the remaining three, Quebec might hesitate to agree to merge with Ontario, mainly on language and religious grounds; British Columbia, in much the same position as Western Australia, has her futuro on the

There has grown enormous duplication of services. Each province has its departments of mines, Jaw, agriculture and fisheries. So has the Federal Government. It would be tedious to enumerate the political and legal battles between province and province or between provinco and Dominion. Many of these disputes find their way to the Privy Council.

One Parliament in Canada, with modernised procedure, could, it is urged, do the whole job in far less time than it now takes. The individual Canadian is not greatly concerned as to which is his province, excepting, possibly Quebec. lie .suffers intense annoyance from the multiplicity of taxing authorities, each, in turn, threatening him. If one central Government attended to all his affairs he would experience rapturous relief, which would moro than compensate him for tho sacrifice of sentimental associations. High Cost of Government. Canadians are. asking themselves, " Is tho provincial system essential ?" They look at Australia, with seven Parliaments and seven Governments for less than seven million people —about one Government per million, as they have here. They find tlio per capita cost of Government enormously high there, as here. Hardly a State with a balanced Budget. Wero it not for tho huge profits made by the Canadian provinces on the sale of liquor none would balance its Budget. In South Africa the provincial councils, with far less functions than in Canada, are to bo abolished, because they cannot balance their Budgets. A legislative union in Canada, its supporters submit, would not reduce local self-government. Tho individual would have just as large a measure of control as he has now. A great many functions, ■now handled federally or provincially, would revert to the municipal authorities. While economic pressure is heavy, as it •is now, .the provinces are all being assisted financiallv bv the Federal Government.