WHO DOES WHAT IN ONTARIO - THE PROCESS OF PROVINCIAL-MUNICIPAL DISENTANGLEMENT

Since the election of the Mike Harris Conservative government in 1995, Ontario has been the site of some of the most turbulent provincial-lo cal relations ever experienced in a Canadian province. The province's agenda has included restructuring and realigning the responsibilities and resources of municipal governments and asserting control over the financing and governance of Ontario's education system. The sheer size of this agenda and the interconnections between its two main elements have made the quest to simplify or disentangle provincial-local relat ions impossible to achieve. This article documents events as the Conse rvatives moved from their ''Common Sense Revolution'' election manifes to to develop and implement a plan for disentanglement of provincial a nd local government services. It also identifies themes and potential lessons that emerge for government agenda setting and intergovernmenta l relations.