As my hon. colleague from London-Middlesex has said very eloquently, it is a deal that it simply too risky. It is for this reason that I think we have a golden opportunity here to review some of the wisdom that is coming from that House which has had a little longer to think about this issue.
I know, having 235,000 constituents, that one, we should not be making any changes to the Constitution that are binding. Second, we have a lot of issues that go from this House and a lot require expertise in many areas, but this is one that I do not believe this House can afford the luxury of overlooking or simply saying "I voted for it that time and now that it is coming before us again I am going to maintain my position". I think our ability to think these things out compels members of Parliament to reflect very carefully on the door that they are opening. This is, in my belief, the very thin edge of the wedge. I am not talking from the perspective of Chicken Little.
Instead, I believe that what we have to consider this amendment to be is something that would revoke something of a constitutional guarantee. The speed with which this amendment is about to go through must be worrisome in the context of the time it takes to prepare for admission for provinces like Newfoundland.
The parties that consented in 1949 to join Confederation had some very compelling and valid reasons. As the member for St. Boniface indicated earlier, 50 years ago is not that long ago and although I am the ripe age of 34, I know many changes have taken place. Change is a good thing in and of itself but it must be measured against the consequences that it has on all.
It is not good enough when we talk about the indefeasibility of the rights of minorities, which is a hallmark of the Liberal Party of Canada, to simply turn around and say "we are going to apply some kind of utilitarian principle here, we are going to say that the happiness of the greatest number is the real reason we are here and if it goes well for the majority, so be it". I think that is illiberal as a view.
Although we want to help the province of Newfoundland, it must look to its own people, to its own denominational churches to find a solution. It must not be allowed to open up the Pandora's box of constitutionality, the kind of constitutionality that says 250,000 people can decide by fiat or by the wave of the hand. Perhaps it is through a question they did not understand or by a question that was articulated in such a way that it left a lot of confusion at the end of the day with only 55 per cent participating. This leaves one with the impression that perhaps they did not know at the end of the day what they were voting on. Irrespective of that the reality is that number is too small to bring about the kind of disruption this amendment threatens to bring.
I expressed my fears earlier about minority rights. As a francophone from Ontario, I am very familiar with the situation of people who have found themselves in a position where governments, with the wisdom of the time, have deprived communities of their rights and interests. The effect of doing so is harmful and creates tensions within the country.
For many years certain religions were guaranteed certain rights. For instance, the Catholic religion in the province of Ontario was guaranteed certain rights under section 93 of our original British North America Act. Up until 1984 those rights those rights were disrespected. Catholics were treated as second class citizens. They
did not have control over their entire educational system. We righted a wrong. Is it fair for this Parliament to wrong a right?
In my opinion, the eloquent words of Senator Michael Kirby deserve the attention of this House. Members of all parties here must give careful consideration to the force of his argument.
In essence the argument that has been made by those who have proposed this amendment goes something like this. Newfoundland needs a new school system. The minorities affected had a chance to be heard. In the end nobody is losing much and if we go on they will still have more than their fair share, certainly as far as their counterparts are concerned. Therefore given all this, change can take place.
That kind of argument says that as long as the process is fair, the end justifies the means. I am not one who subscribes to machiavellian philosophy, but I do not believe that the end justifies the means. I believe that in a country as diverse as Canada where we have expressed time and time again the intrinsic value of minority rights, we must be careful to continue to nurture our Constitution, a living document capable of changing with changing times.
We must nurture and protect that Constitution so that it protects those who cannot protect themselves and who are concerned that as minorities they may suffer the tyranny of the majority. We know the difficulties that are encountered by so many groups in this country when we look at parliaments or governments or bodies that say might is right. If you are not on the side of hegemony, if you are not on the side of power then forget it. You have no voice. You have no future.
On the economic plane we are even talking today about the small voices that usually get drowned out. Big business, big labour and big government get to be heard when it comes to resolving a problem, but the new micro industries and young people coming out of our universities with new ideas are simply getting squeezed out. They do not have the traditional levers by which they can express themselves.
The same applies to the wisdom of the Constitution. Our Constitution protects people. It protects them because it believes that at one point or another, no matter who we are as Canadians, whether we live in Newfoundland, Ontario, in Ajax, Pickering or Whitby, or whether we live in British Columbia, we are all, in one way or another, a minority. The Constitution is there to protect not only our status as minorities, it is there to protect our status as individuals who are deserving of rights, rights against being prosecuted unnecessarily by the government, rights against having the rules changed midstream.
I implore the House to consider very carefully what this motion really means. In my view, and I believe in the view of many people in the House and across the country, it is a motion which opens the door, is the thin edge of the wedge, which will allow other governments with certain missions, based on rather important arguments in 1996, in 1999 or a little farther down the road, to remove delicately, softly, quietly, certain constitutional rights, certain inherent rights which we have developed over the years, rights for which many people of this country have fought and died.
I am pleased to say that the amendment which has been proposed by the hon. member for Broadview-Greenwood adopts the wisdom not of senators or politicians but of people who have actually taken the time to think, to consider and weigh that which is Canada. These are people who have said that, yes, the interests of Newfoundland in getting its financial house in order are important. However, we cannot do that by laying waste to their rights.
This amendment, "where numbers warrant", means that we are using a tried, tested and true method by which we are going to be able to protect individuals down the road. I believe, if the House sees fit, it will find that the wisdom of "where numbers warrant" allows it an excellent compromise to achieve the wishes of the people of Newfoundland and their government while at the same time letting the rest of the country breathe easily and know that their rights and the rights that we share as Canadians will not be suppressed.
I would ask this House to give due consideration to the remarks by the member for Broadview-Greenwood, because this is an amendment, a proposal that, in the end, gives us a way to protect ourselves properly, effectively and in keeping with our identity as Canadians.