Mr. Speaker, it has been a very interesting debate with regard to the constitutional amendment which was tabled in the House on Friday, May 31 by the hon. Minister of Justice and Attorney General for Canada.
This issue has been discussed among governments, school boards and members of Parliament for some time now. One of the things I found about this issue is that many different dimensions and many themes have evolved. A lot of those really depend on what point of view one is taking. In listening to the argument, in looking at the research and in looking at the information that was received by all members of Parliament, a number of questions came to my attention just by looking at some of the basic facts.
I understand that a referendum was not necessary in Newfoundland. This particular amendment under section 43 of the Constitution Act does not require a referendum, but rather a bilateral change as a result of the will of the legislature of Newfoundland and concurrence or agreement by the federal government pursuant to section 43. However, a referendum was taken and that alone raises a question for me. Why was there a referendum? If it was not necessary, why did the Newfoundland government of the day decide that a referendum had to be held? It is an interesting question.
We could carry this aspect of the referendum a bit further. We are wondering why Newfoundland held a referendum. Then we look at the fact that the referendum was called during the summertime, a time when people across Canada tune out politics and other matters. And why is it that the Government of Newfoundland did not campaign during the referendum campaign? The vote was held on September 5, 1995. These are the questions I have and I hope all hon. members will find the answers before they cast their votes tonight.
There was a referendum which was not necessary. It was held at a time when people were tuned out. The government did not campaign for the referendum. However, every member who spoke in this place in favour of the term 17 amendment said how critical it was, how crucial it was for the poor kids in Newfoundland.
I do not think we could find a person in this place who would argue against fixing Newfoundland's education system. We could ask for unanimous consent at this moment and get it. I am absolutely certain of that. The issue is not whether we should help the province of Newfoundland fix its education system, it is more than that. I am not exactly sure of all the details, but there is more to this. If we asked the people of Newfoundland today whether they wanted to fix the education system, 100 per cent would say yes.
That begs another question which must be answered: Why did 45 per cent of the people vote against fixing the education system? Only 52 per cent of the eligible voters turned out to vote on this very important issue. One hundred per cent of the people should have voted for it because it is so critical, yet only 52 per cent of the people turned out to vote. Of those who voted, only 54 per cent actually voted in favour of the resolution. Forty-five per cent were against it. I do not know what the answer to the question is. Why is it that such a large number of the people in Newfoundland whose
education system is in a terrible situation voted against something which obviously would have fixed it? There must be more to this.
Newfoundland entered Confederation in 1949. As part of the terms of joining the union, its present system was established. There are presently many school boards and denominational rights. In fact, others have often said that all of these denominations represent 95 per cent of the people in Newfoundland and it could not possibly be some majority trying to do something to the minority denominations, that it must be something else.
The problem started in 1949. There was no public school system. There were entrenched minority rights on a denominational basis. They were earned. There was a quid pro quo. They gave up something to have this and the other party gave up something to have this. That is the essence of negotiation. That is why they have a lengthy debate about the terms of union of Newfoundland.
Some would say this is not an issue of minority rights. That is not true. in 1987, after so many years under the system, the Government of Newfoundland in its wisdom, having assessed its whole situation since 1949 right through to 1987, saw this terrible problem. What did it do? It came to Parliament and said it wants a constitutional amendment and it wants to add two more school boards, it wants to make the problem worse.
It raises another question with me. If people have a problem with a school board system, why would they ask for changes to even add more school boards? It does not make sense.
There must be an answer to this question. The issue of this 95 per cent of the people of Newfoundland as represented by the seven denominational groups is a very good trick in politics. It is intellectual dishonesty but it is a trick because it is using numbers to say something to make people think it is such a big number, it must be true. If people list all the denominations in the world, obviously they will add up to being the majority of the population of the world.
In this case we have seven denominations with various boards associated with them, some 27. It is not so much that these denominations add up to 95 per cent. It is how those denominations voted as a block or as a group and who voted for and who voted against.
There is a minority rights issue here. Ask anybody who knows anything about the situation that occurred during that referendum and they will say very clearly it was the Catholics and the Pentecostals who predominantly voted against term 17.
The rest of them, as a block, consolidated their efforts. Those individual minorities became a majority of 55 per cent. As a result of that referendum, which was not necessary, they made a decision affecting primarily the Roman Catholic church and the Pentecostal church.
This is a clear example of a minority right acquired under the terms of union with Newfoundland when Newfoundland entered Confederation. That minority right is lost. The majority took it away.
I looked at many of the letters. I have another question for all members. Can anybody explain to me why in late March and April a framework agreement was moving forward to address all these problems without the federal government, without the legislators?
It was school boards and churches and government officials working together. We have all kinds of examples of the commission and the various other things. These things were moving along and then something happened.
Once we had things in place that over a few months would have resolved most of the substantive issues related to the educational problems in Newfoundland something else happened. It was an election. It was a premier who had made some commitments, who had done something and said something and had a plan in place and we had an election. I do not know what the arrangements were. I do not know what the deals were. There are more considerations here than education.
What happens to the assets of the various denomination groups that lost the referendum, that will lose their denominations rights. They own the buildings. They do not own the land. What can they do with them?
Those are real problems to deal with. Were the people of Newfoundland, when they were asked to consider to vote in that referendum, given all the facts and figures? Were they told about the minority rights situation? Were they told about the constitutional implications? Were they asked about the future of minority rights as they relate to education, language and other aspects which they negotiated for? They were not.
I asked the member to please help me answer the question. Why did 45 per cent of the people who voted vote against this? The member, who is supporting term 17, said it was ignorance.
It is not ignorance. We must understand why 45 per cent of the people voted against term 17. It is a principle the Liberal Party has stood for time and time again through its history, fighting on behalf of minority rights. It is why I am a Liberal. I am here fighting for minority rights.
Term 17 to me is not an education issue. I will do whatever I can and I know all members in this place will do what they can to make sure Newfoundland's education system is rectified properly. However, I do not want to see decisions made for fiscal expediency. That is what it really comes down to. We can put out a budget and
save $25 million. Let us just grab control of the situation and placate this and we could have a public school system.
The issues raised have been interesting, but they do not go to the heart of it. We need the political will and integrity to deal with the real issues, the real points of debate, minority rights. For all of these reasons and all the questions and concerns I have, I cannot support the constitutional amendment to term 17.