Established by the Government of Canada in 1999, the Forum of Federations is the world’s leading organization dedicated to strengthening federal and decentralized governance. Renewed discussions surrounding Quebec’s constitutional future, the prospect of a referendum on Alberta independence, and increasing political polarization have underscored the importance of constructive dialogue on the institutions and principles that bind Canadians together. The Forum of Federations and Policy magazine have partnered to bring together leading voices from across Canada to examine the opportunities and challenges facing the federation at this moment. This series aims to foster informed dialogue among policymakers, business leaders, academics, and engaged citizens, for a constructive conversation about Canada’s shared future.

We open with Forum president and Policy Contributing Writer Rupak Chattopadhyay, on a concept that has informed independence debates in Canada for the past half-century, including in Quebec ahead of a scheduled October election and in Alberta ahead of an October referendum. “As it happens, sovereignty is one of the most frequently invoked — and least examined — concepts in global politics,” writes Chattopadhyay. “It surfaces in constitutional disputes, trade negotiations, separatist movements, and geopolitical crises, often as though its meaning were self-evident. In reality, sovereignty has never been a fixed principle.” Here’s Rupak Chattopadhyay with the essential What Is Sovereignty? Canada and the Politics of Shared Authority. 

As Quebecers face a provincial election campaign in which the Parti Québecois is the party to beat and a referendum on sovereignty is, if no longer a ballot question, always a possibility, the implications of Quebec separation are once again being debated, including in the most interprovincially integrated region in the country. “Thirty years after the failed 1995 referendum, the relationship between Ottawa and Gatineau has only deepened,” writes Association for Canadian Studies President Jack Jedwab. “The region is no longer merely two neighbouring cities on opposite sides of a river. It functions as a single metropolitan space.” Here’s Jack Jedwab with Where the Two Solitudes Meet: Quebec Sovereignty and the National Capital Region.

From Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Program to his son’s climate change policies to Canada’s equalization system, the reasons for Western alienation are well known. “Taken together,” writes Forum of Federations Program Manager Jamie Thomas, “the ways in which these issues continue to inform the discourse on dissatisfaction with Alberta’s place in Canada are fundamental to understanding the context that has led us to the current political moment.” Here’s Jamie Thomas with From Resentment to Referendum: The Challenge of Western Alienation.

With Canadian federalism under unprecedented pressure from inside and out, the concept itself is worth re-exploring. “We have to look upon this federal moment,” writes Forum of Federations fellow and former president of the Canada School of Public Service Taki Sarantakis, “and decide, plainly and clearly, whether we are prepared to become just a little more Canadian than we were before the U.S. threat emerged, or not.” Here’s Taki Sarantakis with The Meaning of our Federal Moment.

A Scottish independence referendum rally in Glasgow, May 2018/Wikimedia

While Canada hasn’t seen an independence referendum since 1995, the 21st century has seen key separation votes elsewhere, including in Scotland and Catalonia. “Separation referendums are ultimately questions of politics, not process,” writes Forum of Federations Senior Program Manager Liam Whittington. “While the constitutional and legal thresholds are fundamental, they do not operate in abstraction; context matters.” Here’s Liam Whittington with Paralysis by Plebiscite? Lessons for Canada from Separation Referendums Elsewhere.

On August 21st, 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney pulled Canada out of tariff negotiations with the United States. While the impossibility of negotiating with the Trump administration in good faith has created an unprecedented bilateral breach, it has also refocused attention on economic adaptation. “Our bilateral trade crisis has ended the comfortable assumption that access to the American market could be taken for granted,” writes Forum President Rupak Chattopadhyay. “We should use the moment to rethink how Canada is connected — within the federation, to the United States, and, increasingly, to Asia.” Here’s Rupak Chattopadhyay on August 25th with Federalism, National Unity, and Trade: From Bilateral Shock to National Renewal.

We will be posting pieces in this series regularly throughout the second half of 2026.

Policy magazine serves as an independent, nonpartisan platform for insight and analysis on Canadian, U.S. and international politics and public policy, written by policy and political professionals.