Enough already. Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has called for the formation of yet another expert panel to examine the creation of a single national securities regulator. This has become the default response by politicians when they run into the inevitable provincial intransigence, and it amounts to nothing more than a sideshow. Resolving this issue requires decisive action, not endless study.

There are two ways to achieve a national regulator, and it is apparent that only one has a realistic prospect of success.

The federal government can try to charm, cajole — and, in all likelihood, buy — its way into provincial acquiescence. Or it can force compliance. Unfortunately, only the painfully un-Canadian strong-arm approach is likely to work.

Various governments have tried to horse-trade their way toward a national regulator, and the deals have always fallen apart. The problem with playing nice is that there are too many disparate agendas to placate, too much craven self-interest to eradicate and too much inherent inertia to overcome. The idea that the provinces will eventually be seduced by sufficient study is naïve at best, foolish at worst.

Moreover, it’s not hard to imagine that even if a magical alignment of the planets did somehow produce an agreement to create a single regulator, such an arrangement would be under constant threat. Future provincial governments may well seek to unwind their predecessors’ work or try to carve out local exceptions that undermine national uniformity. At the least, they could threaten to do these things in order to get some federal pork. The horse-trading may turn out to be perpetual.

The only way to solve this issue once and for all is for the federal government to seize jurisdiction and foist a national regulator on the provinces. This may mean facing a constitutional challenge, but that is the sort of decisive finality this issue needs for the capital markets to move forward with certainty.

Until the feds are willing and able to do that, they should keep quiet about the issue. The endless study is a credibility-destroying waste of energy and resources.