The Baldwin Act

9 Pages 2290 Words

After tracing the evolution of the provincial-local financial relationship in Canada it has become apparent that the trend, throughout history, has been towards greater Provincial control and in turn less fiscal autonomy for the municipality. There has been an increase (due to demand as well as downloading from the provinces) in the functions and responsibilities of the municipality, as well as the cost of these functions, and a decrease in fiscal resources and revenue sources.
Yet, It has only been in very recent years that we have seen a trend moving in the direction of Municipal fiscal autonomy. The trend towards Municipal fiscal autonomy is possibly more prevalent today then it has ever been. The proposal of such things as Glen Murray’s New Deal for Winnipeg, and Paul Martin’s proposed change in federal-provincial-municipal relations (of the same name), provides optimism for local fiscal autonomy in the future.

The Baldwin Act was the beginning of Provincial Regulation over the Municipality. It was based on several principles including the decree that “Municipal Councils were the creatures of the provincial legislature and were subject to its sovereign authority.” The second principle of the Baldwin Act stated that a municipality’s power should vary with its size and character (i.e. whether it was rural or urban), and the third principle stated that members of council should be elected from only those people who held stakes in local property. “The powers of the municipal councils were strictly defined by the provincial legislature and strictly interpreted by the courts.” The Baldwin Act was only the beginning of what would be decades of development that would hinder the autonomy and independence of local government. The Baldwin Act began the landslide of provincial downloading, conditional grants and a provincial-local relationship that seems more like a parent child relationship then a relationship ...