Partisanship, Globalization, and Canadian Labour Market Policy: Four Provinces in Comparative Perspective

Globalization is widely believed to have restricted the freedom of policy makers – many fear that the forces of a global economy prevent different political parties from making substantially distinctive policy choices. In Partisanship, Globalization, and Canadian Labour Market Policy, Rodney Haddow and Thomas Klassen explore this contentious issue by comparing labour market policy in Canada’s most populous provinces, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta, between 1990 and 2003.

Using the most up-to-date theoretical approaches available, Haddow and Klassen examine industrial relations, workers’ compensation, occupational health, employment standards, training, and social assistance, measuring the impact of partisanship and globalization on policy-making in these areas. They situate Canada in relation to recent international scholarship on the comparative political economy of developed democracies, and explore the role that institutions play in conditioning labour market policy.

Partisanship, Globalization, and Canadian Labour Market Policy will not only be of interest to experts working in the field of labour market policy, but also to students and teachers of comparative political economy, partisanship, and governance in Canada.