The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism investigates the groundbreaking inquiry launched to reconstruct Canada’s federal system. In 1937, the Canadian confederation was broken. As the Depression ground on, provinces faced increasing obligations but limited funds, while the dominion had fewer responsibilities but lucrative revenue sources. The commission’s report proposed a bold new form of federalism based on the national collection and unconditional transfers of major tax revenues to the provinces. While the proposal was not immediately adopted, this incisive study demonstrates that the commission’s innovative findings went on to shape policy and thinking about federalism for decades.

Robert Wardhaugh is an associate professor in the Department of History at University of Western Ontario and is the author of Mackenzie King and the Prairie West.

Robert Wardhaugh's profile page

Barry Ferguson is a Professor of History and currently Duff Roblin Professor of Manitoba Government at the University of Manitoba. His work is in political ideas in Canada, particularly liberalism and federalism, as well as provincial politics and government.

Barry Ferguson's profile page

The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism reveals a great deal about the state of the federation (not so good) during the 1930s and helps us make ­better sense of a sometimes unfathomable nation today. It reminds us that the very real problems of governing this land are not new and that the struggle between the federal government and the provinces is and always has been at the heart of the body politic and our constitution.

Literary Review of Canada

...this book on the Rowell -Sirois Commission (1938-40) and fiscal federalism in Canada achieves the nearly impossible: it is an interesting account of the personalities, politics, economics, and constitutional issues affecting Depression-era Canada and its federal order.

CHOICE Connect

For quite a long time, I might have said that a Venn diagram would show no overlap whatsoever between "Christopher Moore's Historical Interests" and "the Royell-Sirois Royal Commission on Dominion Provincial Relations"....Now my Venn boundaries are shifting...I'm finding Wardlaugh and Ferguson's The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism pretty interesting.

Christopher Moore's History News Blog

...in this superb analysis, historians Robert Wardhaugh and Barry Ferguson argue persuasively that the [Rowell Sirois Commission] was immensely significant.

The Canadian Historical Review