Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of the official opposition to speak to the proposed changes to the Constitution Act, 1867, to amend paragraphs (1) to (4) of section 93, which provide for the creation of denominational school boards in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
The proposed change to the Constitution Act follows a resolution adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec, asking the federal government to amend section 93 of the act to facilitate the establishment of linguistic school boards.
I want to be clear: the official opposition supports the idea of linguistic school boards. We are not opposed to the creation of a better school system or a school system where groups are formed on the basis of language. However, this amendment is neither about linguistic school boards, nor about modernizing the school system in Quebec, nor about giving parents more power in choosing an education system for their children. This amendment is about taking away minority rights which are guaranteed in the Constitution and protected by the federal government.
I will repeat: the Reform Party is not opposed to the establishment of linguistic school boards. However, it cannot condone the abrogation of vested rights without the consent of those directly affected.
We have outlined in our debate in the House three tests for amendments of this nature. The first is a test of democratic consent and by this we mean not only the consent of the majority but as the parliamentary secretary says, the majority of the minority and the majority of the groups directly affected.
Parliament must be satisfied that Quebec citizens were well informed about the proposed amendment and its implications radically consulted by the government and that a majority of those affected are in favour of the amendment.
The second test that we have outlined is that the change must respect the rule of law and that it must not prejudicially affect minority rights. In other words, the correct amending formula must be used and we must be certain that we are not offending the very right guaranteed in section 93, not to prejudicially affect the rights of professional groups.
The Quebec National Assembly suggests that section 43 of the Constitution Act specifies the applicable amending formula but we do not believe it has made a case that this does not prejudicially affect minority rights.
The third test is that the amendment must be in the national interest. Parliament must determine whether the actions of one province affecting education rights may create a significant precedent regarding the educational rights of Canadians in other provinces.
With respect to the first test, the committee was informed that the national assembly and the public have addressed the issue of linguistic school boards for the past three decades. We just heard from the parliamentary secretary that this is not the case. What has been debated in the past is the establishment of linguistic school boards. There seems to be a unanimous consensus in favour in Quebec from all quarters.
However, the proposed amendment before us today has not had that kind of rigorous discussion. The parliamentary secretary just said that in the past few years it has had some public scrutiny. I suggest that what he really means to say is in the past year. The implications of this amendment have really not been seriously debated.
The problem here is that we are talking about extinguishing a right which was central to the compact of Confederation. The Supreme Court of Canada has said that section 93 represents a central part of that compact. Peter Hogg, one of our leading constitutional experts, says that it is in itself a miniature bill of rights, that section 93 was that important to the heart of Confederation.
What we are discussing here is not some administrative realignment of the Quebec school system. As I have said, that is something that we support. Education administration is a provincial responsibility and we do not object to that. However, what the Constitution does is to vest in this Parliament the power to protect the rights of minority groups and groups empowered with educational rights at the time of Confederation. Those Fathers of Confederation put that amendment in place in 1867 because they anticipated a debate like this might happen today in this House.
Many groups appeared before the committee. As the government has said, some 60 witnesses. By my count, roughly half of those witnesses opposed the proposed amendment. Most interesting is that the only groups that I recall—ordinary parents, people who were the most directly affected and who came before the committee to ask that this Parliament not approve the amendment—were those opposed to the amendment.
On the first days of the hearings we had a room full of parents opposed to the amendment. These people were not lawyers, education bureaucrats or politicians. They were parents concerned about how this would affect their educational rights. Many other groups appeared before the committee, including constitutional law experts, who indicated that this amendment would threaten and eventually extinguish confessional school rights in Quebec.
I see I am out of time. I will continue my comments after question period.