On flexible federalism

Jack Layton's promise to allow provinces and municipalities to ban handguns is certainly noteworthy from the standpoint of dealing with gun violence. But perhaps more interesting is the direction it may signal when it comes to future issues of federalism.

While the Cons have tried to minimize most functions of the federal government, the one area where they've shown no interest in acknowledging the different interests in different parts of the country is crime - even though it should be obvious that the criminal law priorities may differ radically from place to place. And all indications are that their plan for the next session of Parliament is to impose their agenda with even less allowance for such trifles as public opinion or the relative effectiveness of different policies than they've been willing to put up with so far.

Which makes it noteworthy that the New Democrats' first policy plan related to crime is based on permitting provinces and municipalities to take action if they see handguns as an important issue, rather than imposing anything from a national perspective. And the approach would seem to be one which can work on other criminal justice and related issues as well. (For an obvious example, consider how much less vitriol there would be over programs such as Insite if municipalities were granted the ability to allow or prohibit them locally, rather than having to rely on federal dispensations.)

Of course, a contrast would still exist between the parties' relative treatment of criminal law and other related issues, and that of social programs such as child care and health care where the NDP tends to favour establishing some national standards while the Cons simply hand over money with no questions asked. But that too could make for a valuable debate: where do Canadians (and their provincial and municipal representatives) most value more room for provincial and local decision-making, and where are they more concerned with seeing the same principles applied from coast to coast to coast?

Now, my guess is that the NDP's policies are closer to the right side of public opinion on those questions. But whatever the end result, it's still worth noting that any attempt by the Cons to claim to offer greater flexibility to lower levels of government now faces at least one glaring counterexample - and the more the New Democrats can unveil through the campaign, the more likely they'll be to set themselves apart as the preferred partner for their provincial and municipal counterparts.

Update: Cameron has more.