"Just Trust Us": The Erosion of Accountability in Canada

David E. Smith is a professor of political Studies at the University of
Saskatchewan. He is the author of Building a Province: A History of
Saskatchewan in Documents, The Invisible Crown, and Republican Option in
Canada, Past and Present.

The quote in the title of this book says it all. It is hard to believe
that the government here—imperial, imperious, profligate, and
privilege-ridden—is the one Canadians deserve. Jurisdictional
boundaries are ignored, parliamentary custom violated, while special
interests feed at the federal trough. An exaggerated summary, perhaps,
but “Just Trust Us” favours purple prose: “The history of our
postwar era became a saga about the four horsemen of the Canadian
apocalypse—political stalemate, endless constitutional tinkering,
financial crisis through overspending, and lack of accountability.”

The first volume (more are promised) of what is portentously labelled
an “underground royal commission” is determined to set matters right
by describing what is wrong with the status quo. The
indictment—dysfunctional government—is familiar, its attributed
central cause—corrupted federalism—less so. According to this view,
fiscal transfers and shared cost programs undermined the concept and
institutions of responsible government. Disappointingly, the structural
relationship between federalism and parliamentary government, two
foundational principles of the Canadian system, go under-explored.

“Just Trust Us” is a tract of its times. Echoing a legion of
critics, it maintains that “our democratic theory is premised on
citizens and citizens’ elected representatives playing an active and
informed role in the political system.” This is a comforting sentiment
that deserves careful study. How is this vision to be integrated into
the operation of monarchical parliamentary government? Has it ever, even
in a simpler time before welfare-state federalism made politics so
complex? Significantly for a book concerned about lack of
accountability, the index contains no entry for the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms, which was adopted specifically to protect citizens
against governmental abuse of power.