Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has put forth hastily concocted post referendum proposals that seem, rather than working to bring about a consensus on national unity, to be creating even greater disunity.
The amending formula which proposes four regions does not take into account the strong views of many westerners that the prairie provinces are quite different from British Columbia, the third largest province in Canada. Past constitutional reports acknowledge the importance of this by considering British Columbia as a region for the purpose of constitutional amendments.
A second major question which this proposal raises concerns the implications for the creation of new provinces. At present the Yukon territory, Western Arctic and the newly created Nunavut are not demanding provincehood. However, it is imperative that constitutional measures not be put in place which would prevent the creation of new provinces at some time in the future.
I call on the Prime Minister to clarify what the implications are of this amending formula for the creation of new provinces in his proposed act.