Mr. Speaker, I was very interested in some of the comments made with regard to Bill C-65. I would like to read from the Constitution, section 36(2) which states:
Parliament and the Government of Canada are committed to the principle of making equalization payments to ensure that provincial governments have sufficient revenues to provide reasonably comparable levels of public services at reasonably comparable levels of taxation.
The principle of helping each other through difficult times is an integral aspect of being Canadian. It is something to be proud of. That is the way in which the country was built. Neighbour helped neighbour. We are now at the point where provinces help provinces.
I return to a comment made by the hon. member for Broadview—Greenwood with regard to his passion about the federal government intervening.
We have a rule book when it comes to relationships between the federal and provincial governments. That rule book is called the Constitution of Canada. It is wrong to intervene and violate the provisions of sections 91 or 92. That is where intervention ought to halt. It has not halted there. The government, through the use of its spending power, has intervened into the jurisdictions of the provinces of this country.
Our job as members of parliament above all else is to protect the Constitution of this country, the constitutional rights of every citizen and the constitutional rights of the federal and provincial governments as set out in sections 91 and 92.
Recently the appeal court of Alberta rendered a decision on the federal government's Bill C-68. Four of the five judges admitted that that federal piece of legislation encroached upon the provincial jurisdiction. Three out of the five said it was all right. What was their rationale to come to that conclusion?
If we read the judgment, they have accepted the doctrine that is enunciated by people like the renowned Mr. Peter Hogg who is a constitutional lawyer. What does he say that justifies that the only institution of this country that can protect the constitutional rights of anyone, including the provinces, is the courts? He said that if the federal government introduces a scheme under one of its authority heads such as peace, order and good government, and if it should overlap and encroach upon the provincial governments, it is okay.
With the greatest of respect to Mr. Hogg and to those who support that ideology, I completely disagree, particularly when the provinces do not give their consent for that type of encroachment.
When we look at the interventionist attitude of members on the other side, we ask where in the world did it come from. What they are saying, and I believe this is my understanding of what the member for Broadview—Greenwood was implying, is that if the federal government feels that a provincial government is not doing the best thing for its people in an area of pure provincial jurisdiction as provided for under section 92 of the Constitution of this country, it can intervene without the consent of the province.
The national energy program that practically destroyed the energy sector in Alberta was an encroachment upon the provincial jurisdiction of that province. The member is saying that that is all right.
One of the problems in this country is this thing called unity. We have problems because when the premiers and the federal authorities come together, they throw the rule book, the Constitution of this country, out the window. When we begin to accept and when our premiers begin to accept the encroachment of the federal government into the jurisdiction of the provinces without their consent, it creates tensions which develop feelings of alienation which lead to feelings and expressions of separation.
Members of parliament should be standing in this place to defend the constitutional rights of all citizens in this country and the components of Confederation, which are the federal government as well as the provincial governments.
The federal government sticks its nose into provincial areas unrequested. Yet it ignores those areas that fall under section 91, which is its jurisdiction.
What about interprovincial trade barriers? What about the fact that it costs the consumers of this country, our children and their moms and dads, $5 billion to $6 billion a year because the government allows interprovincial trade barriers to be set up and maintained. Under section 91 it is the federal government's jurisdiction to deal with that and it allows that kind of thing to go on. Why does the government not stay in its area of authority and let the provinces look after their areas? If this would happen, then the tensions that lead to disunity across this country would be eased.
When we want to set standards, let us do it in a co-operative way. Let the federal government negotiate and use the power of persuasion and common sense to say to the provinces that it is in everyone's best interests if we have a standardized health care system, or a standardized measuring system, or a standardized criminal justice system.
This bill opens the door for that kind of debate and intervention. I say to the government, to the people of this country and certainly to members of parliament that it is our duty and responsibility to ensure that we are not led down the garden path by ideologies put forward by extremely passionate interventionists, if I can use the term used by the member for Broadview—Greenwood.
The federal government can intervene in provincial jurisdiction with the authority of the provinces. However, we have had four provinces and two territories oppose Bill C-68 and other bills and the only institutions of government that can protect the constitutional rights of our provinces are the courts of this land. We, as members of parliament, cannot do it.
That was evident when Bill C-68 was debated and the aboriginal rights of the James Bay Cree and the Yukon Indians were being violated. The evidence was very clear that their constitutional rights were being violated and members of this House could not protect them. The only protection they had was from the courts of this land.
With the greatest respect to the Alberta court of appeal, we now have members on that appeal sitting on the bench saying “Yes, Bill C-68 intervenes into provincial jurisdiction, but that is all right”. If the government introduces a scheme under one of its authority heads and it overlaps into provincial jurisdiction that is too bad.
What I am suggesting is that when that begins to occur without the consent of the provinces and the other partners in Confederation then we are contributing to the disunity of this country. We are also contributing to the feelings of alienation that are all too high in some parts of the country. We feel it every time we hold a public meeting in western Canada.