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This paper examines the “social structure of accumulation” in Canada in the post-World War II period. It is argued that the rapid rates of economic growth achieved between 1945 and the early 1970s were based upon an institutional setting which stabilized conflict and provided the basis for high rates of productivity and profitability. Subsequently, Canada’s worsening economic performance is traced to the breakdown in this institutional setting. Particular emphasis is placed upon the erosion of the capital-labour “settlement” and increasing labour militancy. The paper concludes by examining whether the economic recovery since 1983 represents the emergence of a new social structure of accumulation based upon greater capital mobility, reduced social spending, and a coercive system of industrial relations.

Le fossé grandissant entre les dépenses et les revenus municipaux se traduit fréquemment par un déséquilibre ou un épuisement fiscal. Il est bien connu que les gouvernements municipaux au Canada ne jouissent pas d’une position constitutionnelle et que leurs sources de revenu sont succinctes, de faible croissance et inadéquates. En même temps, les municipalités sont obligées de procurer de plus en plus de services à leurs citoyens, il en résulte un accroissement continu des dépenses. Cet article examine l’étendue du déséquilibre fiscal à Winnipeg depuis les cent dernières années. Il tente non seulement de décrire la réaction d’une ville spécifique face aux pressions du déséquilibre fiscal, mais aussi de relater la réponse par rapport à la doctrine économique et aux conditions de la période.L’article débute avec une description des hypothèses principales concernant la cause de la crise fiscale urbaine et présente une structure comptable servant à l’examen des indicateurs de l’épuisement fiscal. Puis, il découpe en cinq périodes le survol de l’expérience fiscale à Winnipeg, depuis son incorporation en 1874 jusqu’à 1984. Pour finalement conclure que les réactions du gouvernement municipal face au déséquilibre fiscal sont conditionnées autant par les impératifs de la doctrine économique, ce qui constitue une action fiscalement responsable, que par des facteurs externes tels le niveau des revenus et la demande publique de services.A growing gap between municipal expenditures and municipal revenues is often characterized as fiscal imbalance or fiscal distress. It is well known that municipal governments in Canada have no constitutional standing and that their revenue sources are meagre, slow-growing and inadequate. At the same time, municipalities are obliged to provide their citizens more and more services, thereby resulting in continuous expenditure growth. This paper examines the extent of fiscal imbalance throughout the past century for the City of Winnipeg. It attempts not only to portray the reaction of a specific city to fiscal imbalance pressures, but also to relate the response to the economic orthodoxy and condition of its period.The paper begins with a description of the main hypothesis concerning the cause of urban fiscal crisis and presenting an accounting framework for examining indicators of fiscal distress. A survey of the fiscal experience of Winnipeg is then presented, from incorporation in 1874 to 1984 by dividing the century into five periods. The paper concludes that the reactions of municipal government to fiscal imbalance is conditioned just as much by the reigning economic orthodoxy of what constitutes a fiscally responsible action as it does by external factors such as revenue flows and public demand for services

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