Mr. Speaker, in a hastily planned and executed press conference, the Prime Minister announced the Liberal government's agenda for change.
The package the Prime Minister has put forward is both negative and divisive. He offers Quebec distinct society status which Meech Lake and Charlottetown have demonstrated to be divisive. He is offering the regions of Canada a veto power, which means the ability to stop change instead of the ability to offer change, change which is so badly needed in this country.
The Prime Minister gives the provinces control over manpower training. While this might be a step in the right direction, he chose not to go all the way. He offered the provinces the responsibility but the federal government still controls the purse strings.
Bill C-110 proposes to divide Canada into four regions, the western provinces of B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec; and Atlantic Canada. The bill gives the four regions a veto over any constitutional amendment which includes changes to national institutions and the creation of new provinces and amendments regarding the distribution of powers. Currently only the House of Commons holds a veto over most constitutional amendments.
The bill is not a constitutional amendment or even an amending formula. It is simply an unenforceable code of conduct for the federal government. The bill promises the federal government will oppose any constitutional amendment, even one Ottawa puts forward, unless the amendment is consented to by the four regions.
The four regions proposal is a slap in the face to western Canada. If all the west, the netherlands as the Liberal government seems to consider the west, is allocated as one region, obvious problems come forth. If sometime in the future B.C. has a population which exceeds the combination of the population of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, and that seems very likely, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan will lose all real power in terms of constitutional change.
First, they lose it to B.C. because if B.C. becomes more populous than the other three provinces together it will have a majority which will carry under Bill C-110.
Second, under the provincial government ratification procedure now in place a change will be able to get the required support of seven provinces without getting the consent of Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba. Clearly the three prairie provinces lose out under this proposal.
Under the legislation if a region refuses consent it vetoes constitutional change. Because the bill is vague Quebec would be able to veto constitutional change through a written statement from the premier, a resolution from the National Assembly of Quebec or a province-wide referendum.
Therefore the bill would provide a veto of any constitutional change the province of Quebec or Ontario did not want. This change gives the current separatist premier of Quebec a veto over any constitutional change. How much sense does that make? I will touch on that subject a little later in my speech.
The bill is not part of the Constitution and therefore the existing amending formula still applies. If the existing formula still applies and we add the new formula, it would not only give central Canada a veto but it might require unanimity.
Bill C-110 would create a system where there are two rounds of provincial ratification with little federal say in constitutional amendments. Under the current system each province has its say. The federal government, presumably acting on behalf of a united Canada, the country as a whole, is a necessary and vital part of the process.
Under the legislation the government proposes to delegate the important responsibility of constitutional change not to Canadians but to provincial legislatures. The provinces will be consulted twice: once under the old amending formula and once by the federal government in determining whether to apply its veto in support of provincial concerns.
The provinces will look after provincial interests and the federal government will ensure that provincial interests are respected. With the federal veto delegated to the provinces, no one will be looking out for a united Canada, Canada as one country, which is what Canada is.
Can the government not see that Canadians deserve more? They deserve carefully thought out proposals made in the open and not behind closed doors and not by a top down centralist government. They deserve forward thinking proposals, not the reheated leftovers of the failed Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords.
In contrast to this negative and certainly divisive approach by the government the Reform Party has offered Canadians a new and better Canada through our new confederation proposal. The proposal includes a plan to modernize and decentralize the federal government by transferring certain powers to the provinces and the people while strengthening other federal powers.
The proposal also includes a plan to renew certain federal institutions. Among the 20 proposals Reform would guarantee provincial control over natural resources, language and culture. Reform would change the federal role with regard to provincially administered social services such as welfare, education and health care. Reform would foster co-operative agreements rather than impose unilateral standards which are enforced by threats to withhold federal funding.
In addition, the proposals would provide for a further decentralization of powers through an overhaul of federal institutions, for example Parliament, the Senate, the Supreme Court of Canada and the Bank of Canada.
These measures would give the power to the people and to the provinces where it is needed. In turn, it would reduce duplication and interference from Ottawa in areas where it is not needed or desired. Canadians have long been concerned about the concentration of too much power in the hands of the federal executive and the cabinet. The proposals give Canadians a new and more accountable system of government for which they have been asking for some time. I believe Canadians want change. They do not want more constitutional wrangling. The proposals can be realized without reopening old constitutional wounds.
The proposals that have been presented demonstrate once again the lack of a democratic approach on the part of the government. We have seen in the past the lack of democracy in legislation, for example Bill C-41 and Bill C-68, the gun control bill, where MPs who dared to vote against the government-