Poli Sci

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1). Canadian Local government
Canadian federalism recognizes three tiers of government: federal, provincial and local municipalities. Local governments and municipal authorities are more relevant than ever, because of increase in population and urbanization. In essence, urbanization puts a strain on resources and the infrastructure in various municipalities as they try to provide services in these communities. Local governments provide services to the public and as such there is a need for efficiency through proper governance. Local governments mostly the municipal authorities are below provinces in the administrative structure of Canada. Municipal authorities are similar in there structures and functions across various provinces in Canada (Bish &Clemens, 2008).
Provincial authorities may delegate responsibilities to municipal governments, whereby municipal authorities are those that have municipal responsibilities including local administration; they may differ according to the province or whether they are urban. Many municipal governments share less public expenditure because provinces are in charge of most public service resources. Moreover, the administrative structure allows provinces to shoulder more responsibility for education and social matters. However, they do not offer education and health programs.
Municipal authorities can be divided on the basis of territorial boundaries and responsibilities. Most municipal authorities are lower, single tier municipalities and are mandated with the provision of service delivery in specific territories. The second category is the upper tier which cover wide areas composed of numerous lower tier municipalities including, counties, regional municipalities or big urban centers as metropolitan municipalities (Bish &Clemens, 2008).
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Lower tier municipalities provide services depending on local traditions and needs. Consequently, there public expenditures go into waste and water supply management, urban land management, transportation management, road maintenance, protection of people, property and creation of recreational facilities. Besides the provision of services, municipalities also deal with economic development, holding consultative meetings with the people and facilitating local elections.
Upper tier municipalities have jurisdictions across various local authorities and could be set up either for various purposes, an individual purpose or in the management of a region. Municipalities serving various purposes are tasked with decision making especially with choosing administrators and various professionals and can also endorse budgets. Special purpose authorities are mainly mandated in environmental protection and are headed by a Board of Directors. Metropolitan councils craft strategies on how to deal with issues affecting big metropolitan cities.
The metro GVRD/ Greater Vancouver Regional District in British Columbia is a metropolitan council set up with the mandate of managing service delivery in the metropolitan area around Vancouver. After the establishment of the GVRD in 1967, the authority has been successful over time in land usage management. Through planning the authority has utilized the land to meet the needs of the community in terms of agricultural system, housing needs, food and ecological health. In addition, the metro seeks to adequately cater for infrastructure, transportation and community needs through efficient utilization of the land (Bish &Clemens, 2008)
The population of Grater Vancouver has increased from a population of around 1 million in 1967 to more than 2 million. This has led to high density areas in areas with shrinking farmlands and air space (Greater Vancouver Regional District, 1999). The GVRD has been able to come up with Livable Region Strategic Plan which meant to solve transportation problems and environmental protection. This plan was preceded by others including the Official Regional Plan in 1966, The Livable Region in 1976/1986, Plan for the Lower Mainland of British Columbia 1980 and Creating Our Future in 1990/93/96 and Transport2021 Medium and Long Range Transportation Plans in 1993. These programs have mainly formulated with the objective of enhancing sustainable land use and transportation system in view of the community’s needs.
The regional government in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon in USA is unique as it has an elected administration. Similar, to the metro area in Vancouver the system mainly deals with regional planning, transportation and infrastructural improvements. With a main focus on urban planning and governance, the system is relevant to address the challenges of urbanization.
The administrative structure of metro Vancouver also in the Pacific North West consists of an indirectly elected Board of Directors but also has an appointed Chief Administrative Officer, as opposed to Portland, Oregon. Both Metros have been successful in dealing with problems of urbanization and economic development when compared with other systems that merely rely on appointed officials or a re overseen by single local authorities. The governance structures are also more accountable to the people as they allow public participation.
In a nutshell, governance ought to be resource efficient and also allow the input of the public for there to be effective administration. Renewed interest on regional governments emanates from the challenges posed by rapid urbanization and population increase in metropolitan areas of the cities. Thus, regional governments allow various local governments to utilize resources without duplication while also crafting similar policies in metropolitan areas. Sustainability of cities requires the collaboration of various authorities in urban planning, transportation and land use management.
2). Canadian Judiciary
The introduction of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 was a watershed moment in the Canadian Judicial system; this is because the nation departed from relying heavily on the British constitutional law (White, 2008). Initially, it was not possible to amend the constitution of Canada without the approval by the British government. The constitution amendment proposed new a bill of rights intent on the protection of political and civil rights in Canada. Consequently the Canadian judicial system and legal codification has undergone various changes since 1982. A look into the differences brought about by the constitution change, the judicial review and features of the Canadian judiciary will be the core of this paper.
Since the adoption of the Charter there have been noticeanle changes towards the Quest to achieve a more just society including the state detention of individuals. The Charter guarantees more right s from people under detention as well as the creation of a fairer criminal justice system. Adoption of the Charter enhances accountability in the provision of medical services and security to citizens.
The Canadian judicial system gained more power with judicial reviews and other discretionary powers as a result of the Enactment of the Charter, in Morgentalex, Smoling and Scott case (1988), the judicial court system struck down the some provisions of the Criminal Code relating to therapeutic abortion on then basis that there were contrary to the provisions of the Charter (Simon, 2001). Furthermore, the Supreme Court made the ruling that parliament had jurisdiction in criminalizing private use and possession of marijuana as held in Malmo Levine vs. The Queen;Caine vs. The Queen (2003).
Issue: whether the prohibition of possession of marijuana for personal use fa...