Regionalism and nationalism in Canada – Part One By Mark
Wegierski The ongoing mediation between the interests of the
different regions is one of the most important tasks of the
Prime Minister of Canada. The Prime Minister's mettle is often
tested in regard to how well he or she can balance the competing
interests of Quebec, Ontario, Western Canada (the provinces of
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia) and the
Maritime provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward
Island, and Newfoundland ). There is also the very sparsely
populated Far North, which remains under direct federal
jurisdiction, to consider. It consists of Yukon, the North-West
Territories, and, since 1999, the semi-sovereign Nunavut (the
Inuit homeland). It could be argued that the Progressive
Conservative Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993, Brian Mulroney,
singularly failed to strike a helpful balance between the
regions. Indeed, Mulroney seemed to show excessive partiality to
Quebec and Ontario (which are sometimes toget