Canada's national social security system is a valued and integral part of our national character. However, with recent government cutbacks, the future of the welfare state is now in jeopardy. Focusing on the development of the Canada Pension Plan and medicare - the cornerstones of Canada's social net - Planners and Politicians is a timely examination of the Liberal Party's role in the development of national social policies.

P.E. Bryden reveals that Liberal politicians were largely responsible not only for designing the social security legislation but also for creating its justification. She points out that not only did party organization, the structure of Canadian federalism, and internal party power shifts influence the development and implementation of social programs, but the opposite proved also to be true: the commitment to social security imperatives changed the shape of both the Liberal Party and federalism.

Planners and Politicians explores the interrelationship between social programs, federal-provincial relations, the role of the bureaucracy in devising and legitimizing policy, and the nature of political power in the modern Canadian state. By considering social policy as part of national policy and recognizing that the federal government was shaped by the imperatives of the programs it was designing, this book offers a new perspective on Canadian social policy and the evolution of the state.