A cancer control strategy and deliberative federalism: Modernizing health care and democratizing intergovernmental relations

This article describes the nature of, and the need for, a national strategy on cancer control. It then considers the implications of such a strategy for the working models of Canadian federalism. The ideas, structure, and process of developing the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control involves a new model for the conduct of intergovernmental and inter-sectoral relations, an approach we can call deliberative federalism. In this model, interest groups, professional associations, and other social actors are part of the modern state alongside cabinet parliamentary government and federalism. As a multiple partnership arrangement, the Strategy is a platform for communication between governments, non-governmental agencies, health professionals, and cancer survivors and families. Adopting a strategy for cancer control is thus an opportunity to modernize the management of chronic diseases and to further democratize the conduct of intergovernmental relations.