Historiographies et Fédéralisme au Canada

This article studies the historical representation of the two main national communities in Canada; that is, the English-Canadian and the French-Canadian. Throughout the history of the English Canadian community, one can see an ambitious national project. The national construction of Canada suggests the existence of a neutral model of government but, when looking at this carefully, it is possible to see something quite different. English-speaking historians from Canada have normally introduced the concept of a unitary federalism as the most perfect form of the Canadian integration project. This integrating federalism, that does not lead to emancipation, stems from the centralist views of John Macdonald, one of the fathers of Canadian federalism. This approach has been kept for over 140 years of common history and, to this date, continues to be one of the main obstacles for minority nations within Canada. To strengthen their thesis, the authors base their work on an extensive analysis exploring the three big strategies used by the central government to assert its authority on the member States of the Canadian Federation in the long term: using the judicial power, centralizing powers and globalization. The strategies used have varied depending on the economic scenario, political leaders and the political power relations regarding the links between the Federation and the provinces.