Before attempting to deal with the problems of provincial-municipal relations one might well ponder the following comments of some who have previously delved into the problems of the relationship between governments: “A student should enter the field of intergovernmental fiscal relations with modesty and even humility…. It is a field in which students and committees, one after another, have spoken their piece, registered complaints, made recommendations and achieved no action. It is a field mined with explosives; beneath a placid surface lie some very deep emotions ready to burst into flame at the slightest provocation. If discretion were the determining factor, the student might well choose some other field to conquer.” The problems of provincial-municipal relations are of such urgency and importance, however, that the risks of indiscretion must be incurred. The urgency, from the municipal view point, arises from the increasing pressure on the limited municipal finances; its importance lies in the necessity of preserving the reality of local self-government in a democracy. On the surface the problem appears to be a financial one but the political aspects may be of even greater significance in the long run.