DECENTRALIZATION, SUBSIDIARITY AND NEOLIBERALISM IN CANADA - WHEN THETREE HIDES THE FOREST

As the century draws to a close, a growing number of economic and poli tical analysts promote decentralization as a solution to the problems faced by Canadian federalism. This paper shows that the leading argume nts on ''decentralization'' are problematic in two regards. First, man y of those promoting this idea base their analysis on inadequate defin itions of decentralization and subsidiarity. Second, the discourse on decentralization hides an argument based on the declining role of the State. We believe that the use of these concepts veil another approach that seeks less to reform intergovernmental relations than to instill in the institutional framework a desire to see the State (provincial and federal) disengage from economic and social regulatory mechanisms. We analyse federal budgets from 1995 to 1997 to demonstrate our point .