Explaining a Policy Failure: Jurisdictional Framing, Federalism, and Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Canada

This article develops the concept of jurisdictional framing: describing a policy field as properly belonging to one particular level of government. It applies this concept to explain how federalism frustrated Canadian attempts to create national assisted reproductive technology policy. Canada's failed policy can be traced to how the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies and the federal government failed to align their substantive framing strategies with the procedural requirements of the Canadian Constitution. Future policy studies should focus on the interaction between substantive and jurisdictional framing, as policy failure can stem from the language used to justify legislative authority in unforeseen ways