From: buckland@ucs.ubc.ca (Tony Buckland)
Subject: A requested re-post
Organization: University of B.C. Computing Services
Distribution: can
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1992 23:34:36 GMT

 The following is re-posted, with neither editing nor any assumption
 of responsibility on my part (or that of my organization) ...
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Message  inbox:33 - New, Read
From:    Norbert Schlenker <nfs@Princeton.EDU>
To:      <buckland@ucs.ubc.ca>
Cc:      <nfs@Princeton.EDU>
Subject: Could you post this for me?

>From nfs@Princeton.EDU  Sat Aug 22 15:51:50 1992

Our connection to the relevant groups is still read-only.  Could you post
this article for me?  Thank you very much.

Norbert

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Newsgroups: can.politics,soc.culture.canada
Subject: Re: The tentative agreement of August 19th
Summary: 
Expires: 
Followup-To: 
Distribution: world
Organization: Princeton University, Dept. of Computer Science
Keywords: 

In article <1992Aug20.172749.2090@pandora.matrox.com> thood@corvus.matrox.com (Thomas Hood) writes:
>The first ministers' agreement-in-principle of August 19th is
>the first agreement since the Meech Lake accord which looks like
>it could pass...
>[all unfortunate details omitted]

I see from other postings in these groups that many are surprised
(dismayed may be better) that the premiers have fallen for this.  I'm
not surprised, because the premiers are all as dumb as bags of
hammers.  I have been assured by correspondents that Clyde Wells has
some smarts; if he agreed to this bs, it is clear that can't be true.

Gerald Olchowy has argued (in other articles) that senate abolition
would be preferable.  Why hasn't anyone pointed out that the agreement
effectively abolishes the senate as written?  They might as well have
gone to a unicameral system, strictly rep by pop but with a proviso
that every province get at least nine seats.  I submit that such a
proposal, which would be spurned by many, is indistinguishable from
what has been agreed.

Yes, the new senate would have some powers over areas where people
admit abuses have occurred in the past, but it has no powers over
abuses yet to come.  Instead of the NEP, suppose Ontario and Quebec
want a new National Grain Policy which requires that grain sold inside
the country command half the world price.  Can the new senate stop
this?  No, because grain isn't a natural resource and because the big
grain producing provinces don't come close to a majority position in
either the new Commons or the new Joint Session.

Think about what happens in an election.  40% of the electorate votes
for the winning party, which gets 60% of the seats in the Commons and
40% of the seats in the Senate.  How can the Senate be a check on the
power of the Commons in such a case?  60% of the senators vote no on
the new NGP, which forces a joint session with the Commons.  Who is
going to win a joint vote?

What happens if some mastermind forms the new O&Q party for the sole
purpose of running Canada for the benefit of the centre?  What can
the proposed new Senate do about this?

This agreement is doa.  Since it messes with federal structures, it
requires unanimous consent.  At least in B.C., it requires approval in
a referendum and not by the idiots in the legislature.  Surely the
people outside the legislature are not stupid enough to fall for this,
even if the politicians are.

There is still time to get out of this.  The feds have already
acknowledged that provinces have the right to secede, by their
pandering to Quebec with respect to votes on sovereignty.  All it will
take to scuttle this insanity is a credible threat to secede by
Alberta or B.C.  They merely have to say that it is ridiculous to
think that they will agree to a federal structure which guarantees all
federal power will remain based in central Canada, with no effective
check on that power from other parts of Canada.

The centre has always ruled, and it wants to keep things that way.  If
we cannot persuade them otherwise, the right thing to do is let them
rule, but only in central Canada.  It's time to be done with this farce.

Norbert
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