From: thood@twitus.matrox.com (Thomas Hood)
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: Challenge
Date: 15 Sep 92 22:33:07 GMT
Distribution: can
Organization: Matrox Ltd.

golchowy@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Gerald Olchowy) writes:

>For those who are voting yes to the referendum question,

I haven't fully decided yet, but...

>I challenge you to state what in the deal you support that
>cannot be achieved legislatively, or which is already
>the norm or custom via tradition.


0) The AEPESE Senate.  Almost equal (the territories are not
represented equally and who knows what aboriginals will get)
Perhaps elected and Symbolically effective.

1) The "Distinctsociety" clause (stronger than in Meech;
say goodbye to individual rights in Quebec! :-{ )

   Quebec constitutes within Canada a distinct society,
   which includes a French-speaking majority, a unique
   culture and a civil law tradition;

   The role of the legislature and Government of Quebec
   to preserve and promote the distinct society of Quebec
   is affirmed.
    
2) The "vitality of minorities" clause.  (Noted for having
different wording in English and French... and up to
the courts to pick one or the other! :-{ )

   Canadians and their governments are committed (CHQ) /
   attached (Quebec) to the vitality and development of
   official-language minority communities throughout Canada.

3) The "opt out with compensation" clause.  The federal
government will be required to withdraw from a field of exclusive
provincial jurisdiction at the request of that province's provincial
government, and provide that province with its fair share of the
dough.  (This should keep the feds out of these fields altogether.
:-} )

4) The "Protection of Intergovernmental Agreemets" item.
(For the first time, two governments would change the
constitution and tie the hands of future governments
simply by passing acts. :-{ )

   The Constitution should be amended to provide a mechanism
   to ensure that designated agreements between governments
   are protected from unilateral change.  This would occur
   when Parliament and the legislature(s) enact laws
   approving the agreement.
   Each application of the mechanism should cease to have
   effect after a maximum of five years but could be
   renewed by a vote of Parliament and the legislature(s)
   readopting similar legislation.

5) The entrenchment of a "publicly-administered" Medicare
system.  (This means we cannot change our minds unless
we amend the constitution again. :-{ )

6) A justiciable aboriginal right to self-government
(whatever that may mean. :-{ )

7) Lotsa dandy words like these:

   Canadians are committed to racial and ethnic equality
   in a society that includes citizens from many lands
   who have contributed, and who continue to contribute,
   to the building of a strong Canada that reflects its
   cultural and racial diversity;
   Canadians are committed to respect for individual
   and collective human rights and freedoms of all
   people;

Pardon me while I barf. :-{

I'm going to have trouble voting "yes" to all that.

--
Thomas Hood                                                    thood@matrox.com
Montreal
Newsgroups: can.politics