Brisk constitutional
Bishop, Jordan
Report from Canada BRISK CONSTITUTIONAL THE NEW FEDERALISM VERY EARLY on the morning of October 24, Canada's federal Parliament was the scene of a session described variously as "rowdy,"...
...There is a curious irony in the fact that it is probably much easier for M. Trudeau to carry out his constitutional plans with Rene Levesque in power than it would be with Quebec Liberal leader Claude Ryan...
...The vesting of rights in a federal constitution is another debated point...
...That may be one reason why M. Trudeau wants a bill of rights in the constitution...
...what appeared to many as a private deal between Prime Minister Trudeau and NDP leader Ed Broadbent...
...His present proposal includes a federal bill of rights that would be binding on the provinces, guarantee of some wealth-sharing among provinces to be managed by the federal government (this exists now as "equalization payments") and a formula for amending the constitution that would not give a veto to each and every province...
...Confusion is increased by the fact that the B.N...
...Manitoba's Sterling Lyon, the most conservative of Tory premiers, is probably the most partisan of those who oppose M. Trudeau, while Bill Davis of Ontario has consistently supported the federal position, as has 5 December 1980: 677 Richard Hatfjeld of New Brunswick...
...This round began last spring as the Quebec referendum on M. Levesque's "Sovereignty Association" took place...
...To turn the constitution over to Canada is one thing...
...That, in the end, may be the real question...
...The NDP has twenty-six...
...Provincial .leaders are also wary of an amending formula that would in effect by-pass provincial control in the event of a deadlock...
...To legislate a bill of rights for another country is another...
...When the eleven-day debate ended, thirty-three Liberals, thirty-one Tories and eight New Democrats had spoken to the motion, and the only substantial revision in the proposal—an affirmation <>f provincial jurisdiction over resources—had come as a result of...
...Proposals for a bill of rights include the thorny question of minority language rights, which raises hackles almost everywhere...
...M. Trudeau has already declared that he will not trade basic rights for economic considerations...
...Alan Blakeney of Saskatchewan, heading the only socialist government in Canada, has serious doubts about vesting a bill of rights but is open to discussion...
...Broadbent concerns provincial control over resources, and Broadbent's support is crucial, not so much in terms of votes—the Liberals have a majority government—as in terms of geography...
...By sundown the Tory premiers of Alberta, Newfoundland, and Manitoba, along with the Social Credit premier of British Columbia, had formally decided to contest the government's move in the courts...
...The NDP (New Democratic Party) voted with the Tories...
...The question of "bringing home'' the B.N...
...Alberta's first reaction was, to say the least, negative...
...Over the summer of 1980, formal and informal meetings were held around the country...
...Both federal and provincial leaders are concerned over the power to manage the economy, jurisdiction over resources (now provincial), the advisability of vesting a bill of rights in a new constitution, and the way in which this constitution is to be amended...
...For the fourth time in the past twenty-five years, the government...
...A "No" vote was a vote for a new federalism...
...Premier Brian Peckford of Newfoundland has expressed worries not only about offshore mineral rights, but also about the effects of the bill of rights on Newfoundland's unique educational system, where almost all schools are both denominational and state-funded...
...Fifty-three years and several eonferenceslater, the constitution has become a major issue...
...The Liberals have only two seats west of Ontario...
...In British Columbia the Social Credit Party is in power...
...Yet the polarization over the constitition does not follow party lines...
...Canada has for a constitution a combination of the British Constitution—which of course is unwritten—and the tired and true British North America Act, usually referred to as the B.N.A...
...A. Act was first raised, in a formal way, at least, in 1927...
...There are also some indications that the British Parliament might raise some problems on the question of a bill of rights...
...Commonweal: 678...
...Even for devoted Canadian news watchers, trying to keep up with the great debate on the constitution is something like taking a picture of a fast-moving train with a box camera...
...In addition, such an arrangement is extremely inflexible...
...Canada's Supreme Court has no tradition of involvement in such questions as exists in theJJnited States, and even some strong civil libertarians fear that the courts might take an extremely conservative line in interpreting a bill of rights...
...Part of the campaign for a "No" vote, led by Quebec Liberal leader Claude Ryan with some help from federal Liberals, was the insistence that a "No" vote was not merely a negative thing...
...Rene Levesque, who thinks that a federal constitution is someone else's problem, was the first to threaten court action against the proposal of unilateral action by the federal government...
...It is mostly concerned with sorting out responsibilities between federal and provincial jurisdiction, between the federal government and the ten provinces that now make up the Canadian Federation...
...The vote for closure was carried by the Liberals' comfortable majority...
...In addition, the present bill of rights—which is an act of the federal Parliament—does not apply to matters under provincial jurisdiction, such as education...
...Report from Canada BRISK CONSTITUTIONAL THE NEW FEDERALISM VERY EARLY on the morning of October 24, Canada's federal Parliament was the scene of a session described variously as "rowdy," "angry," hostile and bitter...
...As the voting began, a small group of Tories left their benches and surrounded the speaker's chair, demanding to be heard...
...Levesque is willing to stir the pot, but in the end he is uninterested in any federalism, new or old...
...He hopes to have the resolution, amended and polished, through Parliament by December and through the British Parliament by July of 1981...
...As the proposal goes to committee, finance minister Alan MacEachen has brought down a budget which includes a tax on natural gas...
...For that same reason many provincial leaders see it as an intrusion by the federal government on matters of provincial jurisdiction...
...Given population density, this would mean an effective veto for Ontario and Quebec, but for no other provinces...
...Trudeau is counting on the support of the people, and here he is probably right, even with the perennial Quebec problem compounded with talk of Western separatism...
...Ryan's brand of new federalism would lead to sharp conflict with the federal government...
...For some, it conflicts with a basic element in Canada's unwritten constitution: parliamentary supremacy...
...The debate never stops, and while the players are all known, there are some questions about the rules of the game...
...M. Trudeau is pushing ahead...
...Or would it...
...M. Ryan produced a "beige paper" that would resolve the problem of Quebec being considered as a province like the others by making the others provinces like Quebec—with a degree of provincial autonomy that few federal leaders, of whatever party, could accept...
...The rest of the Tory caucus, en masse, solemnly sang "Oh Canada...
...In September, a meeting of first ministers demonstrated that the provinces were unable to reach an agreement, even though (or perhaps because) the meeting took place in the shadow of an implied threat of unilateral action by the federal Parliament...
...The rest, except for Rene Levesque's Parti Quebecois, are Tory...
...Britain does not have one, at least written into a constitution...
...If the provinces were unable to agree, provision is made for a national referendum on constitutional amendments after two years...
...Yet it is fairly obvious, as the resolution goes to committee, that he is open to negotiation on a number of other things...
...A parliamentary system, it is contended, is in itself a sufficient guarantee of basic freedoms...
...This is a piece of legislation written in Canada by Canadian political leaders and enacted by the British ParliaCommonweal: 676 ment at Westminster in 1867...
...Brian Peckford of Newfoundland is opposed to any deals on resources, while MacLean of Prince Edward Island has maintained the lowest profile of all...
...This would take the form of a resolution to the British Parliament requesting that jurisdiction over the constitution be transferred to Canada under conditions outlined in the resolution...
...John Buchanan of Nova Scotia is concerned about offshore oil and gas resources but is biding his time...
...For many Canadians it is a disgrace that the basic charter by which the political existence of the country is defined is in fact the act of a foreign government, and that legally it cannot be amended or changed except by that government...
...Given the historical inability of provinces to agree on anything, it might well mean in practice that amendment by referendum would be the usual procedure...
...proposed—and sustained—a closure of debate...
...Court action by some provincial governments will most likely prove to be a bust, but its importance is political rather than legal...
...In Saskatchewan there is an NDP government...
...As this question is raised by a majority Liberal government in Ottawa, there are now no provincial Liberal governments...
...all but one of the New Democrats voted with the Liberals to refer the government's resolution on the repatriation of the constitution to committee...
...A. Act is not all of Canada's constitution, and that bringing it home would not, of itself, change the unwritten constitution...
...JORDAN BISHOP (Jordan Bishop, a regular contributor, teaches at the College of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia...
...The deal made with Mr...
...For his part, M. Trudeau has had the constitition on his mind for a long time...
...The vote on the substance of the government motion was an anticlimax...
...That Western support will give the Liberals more credibility, especially since much of the hard-line opposition to the government's proposal comes from the West...
...British Columbia's premier Bill Bennett, as might be expected, has lined up with Alberta's Peter Lougheed...
Vol. 107 • December 1980 • No. 22
