Canada has three levels of government: the federal Government of Canada, that of the provinces of Canada, and the municipal governments that, constitutionally, are defined entirely by, and report entirely to, the provinces.
The structure of these governments is largely a holdover from colonial governments of 1840-1905. The most recent of them has not been modernized in more than a century, the least recent contain many colonial holdovers and biases.
In addition, there are trade bloc level agreements: NAFTA and potentially FTAA, and the global governance represented by the WTO and UN.
As of 2005, there are numerous proposals to change this structure including:
The actual governance function, which governments do not differently from other organizations, has also come under scrutiny, with recent issues including:
Financial:
Functional:
The structure of these governments is largely a holdover from colonial governments of 1840-1905. The most recent of them has not been modernized in more than a century, the least recent contain many colonial holdovers and biases.
In addition, there are trade bloc level agreements: NAFTA and potentially FTAA, and the global governance represented by the WTO and UN.
As of 2005, there are numerous proposals to change this structure including:
- Provincial Transfer Payment adjustments including Resource Royalties
- the so-called New Deal For Cities which would boost municipal autonomy and give them access to new municipal tax revenue sources
- role of Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Federal-Municipal Relations
- various democratic reform proposals, mostly related to electoral reform
- efforts to challenge or reform NAFTA or FTAA into a fair trade deal
- UN Reform
The actual governance function, which governments do not differently from other organizations, has also come under scrutiny, with recent issues including:
Financial:
- role of the Auditor General especially in enforcing ecological and social indicators such as a Genuine Progress Indicator
- Government Accountability measures including whistleblower protections
- accounting reform - see public sector accounts reform and PSAB capital asset standards
- Bank of Canada's role - see monetary reform
Functional:
- critical infrastructure - who pays for it, who manages it?
- municipal role in emergency response - how is it changing with new problems in emergency preparedness?
- e-government and e-democracy efforts to make better use of technology