CP: Alberta, Quebec join forces to push for provincial say in international talks

Let's just pack it in altogether, shall we? If the federal government cannot even represent the country abroad -- as it cannot enforce the common market at home -- then what the hell point is there in having a country? If we're not willing to give the federal government any meaningful responsibilities, if it's just an emanation of the provinces, with no powers but what they allow it, then we don't need to be a federation at all. The whole point of federating was to create a stronger internal market, and a unified voice in international matters. And not only are the provinces steadily stripping the feds of powers, but they are infiltrating the federal government at the same time. Infiltrating? They're being invited in. Provinces would have a hand in naming senators and Supreme Court justices, under various plans floating around Ottawa. Even the Bank of Canada board would be drawn from provincial lists. Not that the provinces want the federal government to disappear completely. It's too useful as a piggy bank, allowing them to spend billions of dollars without having to raise it from their own taxpayers. There are essentially no strings attached to this money, but that's not good enough: with the "opting-out" provisions the provinces demand, the last remaining conditions on federal transfers would be removed. But even that's not quite enough. Apparently, Ottawa, with a half-trillion dollar debt to service -- much of it incurred to feed the provinces' insatiable demands -- is not keeping the money flowing at a pace the provinces think appropriate. There's something called a "fiscal imbalance," you see. What's the imbalance? Between their demand for funds and Ottawa's supply. There is nothing more to it than that. But rest assured the provinces will get their way in the end. There are 10 of them to the feds' one, and any hint of reluctance on Ottawa's part can be portrayed as a failure to "cooperate," indeed as a threat to "national unity" itself. What national unity?