From: golchowy@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Gerald Olchowy)
Subject: Re: What is the referendum about?
Organization: University of Toronto Chemistry Department
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 17:00:01 GMT

In article <1bbordINNq9@fbi-news.Informatik.Uni-Dortmund.DE> maennig@siggi.informatik.uni-dortmund.de writes:
>
>Now, I read all the statements about the referendum, but I have not got what
>it is about, and what the people has to vote for or against.
>
>Could anyone tell the _facts_ to me shortly?
>

I'll attempt to not let my personal biases (I oppose the Accord
strongly, and think it's approval would eventually have devastating
consequences) interfere too much.

Basically, the referendum (technically a plebiscite) on Oct. 26 is on
whether to approve or to reject a rather extensive and wide-ranging 
package of amendments to the Canadian constitution.  The set of
amendments is called the Charlottetown Accord.

A brief constitutional history of Canada...we sort of became a country
in 1867 with the passage of the BNA Act, which was an Act of the British
Parliament and formed the basis of the written part of our constitution.
We sort of became a real country with the passage of the Statute of
Westminister in 1931.  However, our constitution, the BNA Act, remained
an Act of the British Parliament, and the only way to amend it was to
have the British Parliament pass a law.  Thus, since 1931, various
governments have attempted to patriate the constitution so it could
be amended and changed in Canada without having to go to London.

One would think this would be easy, but the government of Canada and
the provinces could never agree on an amending formula, and some parties
wouldn't agree to an amending formula unless changes accompanied
the patriation.

So they failed in the thirties, war preoccupied the forties, they
failed again in the fifties, sixties, and seventies.  When Trudeau
was re-elected in 1981, (after being defeated in 1979...the years 
may be wrong...after the Quebec referendum of 1980, and after having
failed in his previous terms of office, and realizing that this would
be his last), he decided to force the patriation without the approval
of the provinces.  The Supreme Court decided that he could do this
without the approval of all the provinces, so Trudeau forged ahead
and patriated the BNA Act from the British Parliament over the
objections of the PQ provincial government in Quebec (the PQ is the
sovereignist or separatist party) with an amending formula that had
been proposed by the provinces, and with a Charter of Rights and
a notwithstanding clause to protect legislative supremacy, minority
language education rights, and a few other modest changes to get
certain premiers on side.

The patriation now done...it now becomes much more political...and
any reading of events is tinged by how one views the patriation and
whether Quebec has a case for feeling legitimately wronged.

The Meech Lake Accord was an agreement of the first ministers (the PM
and the premiers) to amend the constitution in 1987 who intent was
viewed to right the alleged wrongs done to Quebec in the patriation,
but it failed to be ratified in 1990 mainly due to political
incompetence and intransigence...by the time it failed to be ratified,
the majority of people in Canada probably opposed it...although
Quebeckers probably approved it more as a symbol than as achieving
the type of federalism the nationalists in Quebec would like to see.

The current agreement, the Charlottetown Accord, is sort of Meech Lake
II, with additions to (allegedly) satisfy more of the disgruntled groups in Canada.
It is a much more extensive agreement that Meech Lake.  Nominally,
Meech Lake really only addressed the Quebec "problem".  Charlottetown
includes aboriginal self-government, major reforms to the Senate and
Parliament, in addition to the essential content of the previous Meech
Lake Accord.

Personally, I think it is an appallingly bad agreement that will weaken
Canada, and lead to its slow disintegration.  It has several egregious
flaws, worse than things in Meech Lake...like the abandonment of 
representation by population in the lower chamber or the House of
Commons...and has features that will diminish individual rights, and
makes changes that will make it more difficult to meet the economic
challenges we face.  Like Meech Lake, it is really an agreement of
premiers, by premiers, and for premiers.

Gerald