The intergovernmental affairs minister says “no”. Let me simply say that when the Prime Minister said that this issue would be irreversible, and when the Prime Minister, right after the referendum, said “We won”, he in fact said that this rule was the one we expected.
I listened very carefully because I said this was debatable. I say to my colleagues across the way that they should bring forward the powerful arguments they have to make this debate clear to every Canadian. I simply ask for that.
Reform supports and argues for 50% plus one of all the ballots cast, including spoiled and rejected ballots. That would prevent electoral shenanigans from affecting the result. We also believe—and this is the flip side of that coin—that 50% plus one is a powerful deterrent. If 50% plus one could divide Canada, 50% plus one could also divide Quebec.
We have laid out and, if an unclear question were asked under a provincial secession referendum attempt, we propose a two pronged question. I will shorten the question. First prong, “Should—a province—separate from Canada, yes or no?” Second prong, “If—the province—separates from Canada should your community remain a part of Canada, yes or no?” What a mess. What chaos. Who would enter such a disaster knowingly? One other issue that could and should be improved in the bill is the level of public consultation. The government rightly notes that this is not just an issue for the province wishing to secede, but neither is this just an issue for politicians nor just for journalists and professional commentators. This issue cries out for public consultation, public hearings and vigorous debate. The debate should not be conducted behind closed doors. It should be conducted around the kitchen tables of the country.
The bill has highlighted some problems with secession that would need to be negotiated, namely the division of assets and liabilities, any changes to the boundaries of a province, aboriginal claims and the protection of minority rights. This list is not exhaustive. I might suggest that the bill could also mention citizenship, passports, pensions, creditor confidence, the Canadian dollar, international agreements, an access corridor if the province is in the centre of Canada, defence issues, military assets and a potential rejoining of Canada. All these issues make separation chaotic and very unappealing.
When the official opposition put forward its ideas for improving the federation and laying the clear rules for secession, we made it plain that the secession rules would be debated and passed in parliament but never proclaimed unless a secession attempt were made. That was in the hope and belief that positive changes to the federation would make this legislation unnecessary. I suggest the bill before us could well be improved by exactly the same proposal.
Now to the gaping hole in the bill. It may be unfair to call this a hole in the bill, but along with this bill we believe there should be specific measures to improve our federation. When this issue is raised in questions to the government, we hear that the government has actually made significant changes. I hear that the recognition of distinct society, a regional veto and the social union are evidence of those changes.
However, these are not the sorts of changes that I think Quebecers and other Canadians want. Once again the official opposition has put its significant changes to paper in “Loi sur le nouveau Canada, Partie A—Améliorations au fonctionnement de la fédération”.
These fundamentals are designed:
(a) to treat all Canadians with fairness and equity;
(b) to promote equality of opportunity for all Canadians;
(c) to respect the equality of rights and the dignity of all Canadians, as well as their various needs;
(d) to recognize that all provinces, despite their different characteristics, have the same legal standing.
We wish for a better sharing of powers under the constitution; reduced federal spending powers in areas of provincial jurisdiction; a dispute settlement mechanism and a change in policies and programs for aboriginal people; and a democratic reform of federal institutions, especially the House of Commons, the Senate and the supreme court, to make them more accountable to Canadians.
These changes must be made if we want to avoid problems with the federation in Quebec and outside Quebec.
These are changes that would leave us with an option other than the status quo or separation. These are positive and constructive changes.
Finally, I will put a historical context on the unity debate and place on the record what the official opposition has said and done on this debate both here in Ottawa and even prior to our arrival here.
The Leader of the Opposition in chapter 17 of his book The New Canada, and I ask my colleagues to read chapter 17, laid out with a clarity of vision the unity issue and foresaw exactly where we are today. I invite any student of Canadian history to look at the copyright date, which is 1992. This is a short quotation from the book:
This revival of the concept of Canada as an equal partnership between founding races was doomed from the start. Even in the 1960s it was profoundly out of step with the times. The Québécois wanted to be “maître chez nous”.... Federal politicians responded by trying to bolster a national duality that had been in decline for ninety years. The cultural backgrounds of people in English-speaking Canada were becoming more and more varied. Quebeckers were calling for less bilingualism, not more bilingualism, in their own province and in the other provinces.
Most importantly, Canadians outside Ontario and Quebec were beginning to realize fully the real significance of the “two nations” theory of Canada. A Canada built on a union of the French and the English is a country built on the union of Quebec and Ontario in which the other provinces are little more than extensions of Ontario. Moreover, arrangements giving special constitutional status to the French and the English as “founding peoples” relegate the twelve million Canadians who are of neither French nor English extraction (including aboriginal peoples) to the status of second-class citizens.
It goes on to say that this history describes the constitutional road that federal politicians and their predecessors have travelled for a very long time. It is a road marked by signs in both official languages that say things as equal partnership between French and English, founding races, languages and cultures, and special status based on race. It largely bypasses the constitutional concerns of Atlantic Canada, western Canada, northern Canada, aboriginals and the 12 million other Canadians who are of neither French nor English extraction.
In other words, this road leads to an unbalanced federation of racial and ethnic groups distinguished by constitutional wrangling, deadlock, regional imbalance and a fixation with unworkable linguistic and cultural policies to the neglect of weightier matters such as the environment, the economy and international competitiveness. That was in 1992.
On June 9, 1994 the Leader of the Official Opposition published an open letter to the Prime Minister asking him to bring clarity to the issues of a secession referendum. He asked the Prime Minister:
Prime Minister, we cannot stand by passively and allow Quebec voters to make the decision—separation or Canada—without offering them a vigorous defence of Canada, including a positive federalist alternative to the status quo. And we cannot let them make their decision without disputing the separatist contention that separation will be a relatively uncomplicated and painless process.
That was in 1994 before the last referendum. He went on to lay out 20 issues that would need to be negotiated, including division of assets and liabilities, boundaries, native rights and minority rights. Does that sound familiar?
Then in the spring of 1996 we brought out our 20:20 vision for a new Canada: 20 proposals for a new confederation; 20 realities of secession. That was clear as a bell.
Bill C-341 was given first reading October 30, 1996. That bill was Stephen Harper's act to establish the terms and conditions that must apply to a referendum relating to the separation of Quebec from Canada before it may be recognized as a proper expression of the will of the people of Quebec. It set out the ground rules for a clear question. Does that sound familiar?
Also in October 1996 we released a fresh start for unity, again laying out ways to rethink the Canadian federation and improve it.
On August 20, 1998 there was the supreme court reference, which we supported alone among the parties opposite the government, the government having asked for it. We asked for two things: clarification on secession rules and new partnership rules to make Canada work better.
In May 1998 we brought out the new Canada act, once again putting forth positive changes to fix the federation. After public consultation we introduced the new Canada act this month, taking into consideration the Prime Minister's wish to finally clarify the secession rules.
I have spent this time going over the historical record so that everyone in Canada will know that the Leader of the Official Opposition has ploughed this ground before.
In summary, Bill C-20 does provide some clarity on the issue of a question that could result in separation. It leaves undefined the issue of what would be a suitable majority and I repeat, I think that is unwise. I urge the government to put forward positive changes to the federation that will truly put the secession issue forever into the annals of history.