Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to the official opposition motion regarding the need for consultation on national unity.
We have the good fortune to live in one of the best countries in the world. Canada, with its prosperous economy, is a stable democracy that respects the values and aspirations of all Canadians. No other country can point to such a free and tolerant society, where diversity and difference are accepted, as witnessed by the languages and cultures of its citizens.
These are all reasons to be proud and to view Canada's future with optimism. Cooperation between the federal government and the provinces can only assure us of a better future by revitalizing our Constitution.
Effort is required to strengthen the Canadian federation. This effort has been made by the premiers of nine provinces who met in Calgary last September. These premiers drafted a declaration which embodies some of the basic principles that all Canadians share to guide future efforts in uniting this country.
What is monumental about the process surrounding the Calgary declaration is its emphasis on consultation. Unlike the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, the Canadian public is being consulted at the front end of the process about its vision of Canada in the 21st century. We hope that the public, the premiers and this government are listening.
The Calgary declaration provides a way to renew the debate on ways of improving our country. It includes principles universally applicable in Canada and not limited just to eastern or western provinces, principles applicable in Quebec, even though the premier of Quebec was not at the Calgary conference.
Mr. Bouchard said he would not take part in any public consultation process. He is not unaware, however, that if the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords failed, it was because Canadians were not consulted. He adds that he has no interest in consulting Quebeckers as to whether they truly want to participate in Canadian society. By taking this approach, Mr. Bouchard is standing in the way of democratic debate in Quebec and in the way of Quebeckers' right to participate in free and open consultations with their elected officials on ways of becoming their own masters in the Canadian Confederation. The Quebec government alone is preventing Quebeckers from having a say in the definition of their future.
These consultations are essential to achieve a proper balance in the Constitution. The Calgary declaration proposes ways to rebalance the sharing of powers and responsibilities.
Of the seven principles found in the declaration, three—Nos. 1, 2 and 6—underline the equality of all citizens and of the provinces. The Reform Party is especially committed to this principle of equality. The first principle ensures that the equal rights and the freedoms enjoyed by all Canadians under the charter of rights and freedoms are recognized as the basis for any constitutional negotiation.
The second principle puts forth an idea that is not new, but that has been neglected in constitutional negotiations over the last 15 years, and that is that all provinces are equal. Canadians have reiterated in all consultations that the provinces are equal and that none is entitled to special constitutional status.
This is stated again clearly in the sixth principle, where it is said that “if any future constitutional amendment confers powers on one province, these powers must be available to all provinces”. Any constitutional amendment that provides more powers to the provinces must do so in a way that benefits equally all the provinces.
This equality is one of the things that unites us as Canadians. The provinces may be equal, but that does not mean that they are all the same or identical.
That is why the declaration contains principles that recognize the diversity of Canada, the differences that make it a great country. Principles Nos. 3, 4 and 5 state the unique character of Canadian society, including its “diversity, tolerance, compassion and equality of opportunity” that allow it to be without rival in the world.
Respect for diversity and equality forms the basis of Canadian unity. The unique character of Quebec society, including its French speaking majority, its culture and its tradition of civil law is a fundamental element of the fabric of Canadian society.
The declaration avoids the basic errors of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, which included special treatment for a province or a people. Canadians are opposed to the idea of incorporating in the Constitution a justiciable “distinct society” clause or any other phrase that would contribute mostly to divide instead of uniting the country by giving a province special status or greater powers. The declaration emphasizes the importance of diversity within the framework of equality of status between the provinces, and, in doing so, it offers a clear departure from constitutional phraseologies that have failed in the past.
This principle defines a framework within which the federal government and the provinces can co-operate to find a new balance for the Confederation by excluding the federal government from exclusively provincial jurisdictions.
The Reform Party has been calling for a long time for a better balance within the Canadian federation between the federal government, the provinces and the population itself. Our party has developed 20 proposals to strengthen the Canadian union. Most of them can be implemented without going through lengthy federal-provincial negotiations or without having to amend the Constitution.
They are calling upon the federal government to withdraw from areas of jurisdiction which are more suited to the provinces and they are calling for the reform of federal institutions like the Senate, the supreme court and the Bank of Canada.
There is a critical role for the federal government in jurisdictions of national and international importance, including defence, foreign affairs, monetary policy, regulation of financial institutions, the development of national standards through interprovincial co-operation and in the areas of criminal law and reform of the criminal justice system.
But the federal government ought no longer to have the option of meddling in areas which are the exclusive purview of the provinces. The services and powers of this government must be decentralized so that the government in the best position to serve the population will be the one responsible. The costs and the inefficiencies caused by jurisdictional overlap between the federal government and the provinces is what lies behind most of the frictions threatening national unity.
The Reform Party recommends that the federal government refrain from intervening in areas such as natural resources, manpower training, social services, language, culture, municipal affairs, housing, tourism, sports and recreation. The provinces are in a better position to meet Canadians' needs in these areas.
The federal government should be prevented from using its spending power to intervene in provincial jurisdiction. The federal cash block grants to the provinces should be replaced with tax points at a fixed percentage of federal tax revenue whose value would increase as the province's economy grows to allow each province to enhance social security of its citizens.
Parliament should also pass an amendment unilaterally to the Constitution forbidding future deficit spending and massive increases in spending without approval through a referendum.
Lastly, a constitutional amendment should be passed to abolish the federal government's ability to disallow and reserve provincial legislation and to legislate under the declaratory power in areas of such jurisdiction.
We also believe very strongly there is need for further reform of federal institutions, particularly in western Canada with a growing economy and population. We find institutions like the Senate and the supreme court, the Bank of Canada and the appointment of lieutenant governors increasingly anachronisms that do not represent the growing parts of this country.
We must reform those institutions, among other things, through an elected, equal and effective Senate. Supreme court appointees should be nominated by the provinces, as should directors of the Bank of Canada and lieutenant governors.
Finally, we also believe that any future changes to the Constitution ought to be approved by the people in a referendum first.
The renewal of the Canadian federation of necessity involves the reform of federal institutions. We have good reason to believe that Quebeckers do not share their leaders' obsession with symbolic gestures. They are demanding significant changes. The citizens of Quebec agree with westerners that the federation must be rebalanced and that real changes must be made. Quebeckers and westerners have a great deal in common.
Quebeckers and westerners acknowledge that the federal government is interfering in areas exclusively under provincial jurisdiction by imposing national standards and by using its spending power not as an encouragement but more often as a way of ensuring that the provinces comply with its wishes.
Quebeckers and westerners agree that the provinces are in a better position to govern in areas such as culture, language, manpower, social services, housing, tourism and a good many others.
Quebeckers and westerners agree that the federal government must give up certain powers and give more power to the regions.
There is only one point which Quebeckers and westerners do not have in common. Quebeckers have been excluded by their government from the process of drafting the Calgary declaration.
Their government denied them the opportunity of working with Canadians to build a better Canada. Quebeckers must have a voice. They must be part of this popular initiative, working equally with Canadians in a positive, creative and constructive effort to build a new Canada that they will be an integral part of.
Quebeckers know all too well the outcome of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords. Both failed miserably because of a secret process. Quebeckers and other Canadians were not really consulted. The two accords were produced by the great decision makers, without real consultation or prior agreement.
We have therefore called on the federal government to take responsibility for what the separatist government has refused to do, namely to involve Quebeckers in the Calgary process. But nine weeks have passed since the Calgary declaration and still the federal government has done nothing to seek input from Quebeckers on the process. How much longer must we wait? Most other provinces have begun to complete their consultations, yet Quebeckers have been locked out and not told honestly what the declaration says to them.
As for us in the Reform Party, we cannot be satisfied with the Liberal government's inertia. We will therefore take the initiative in Quebec to show Quebeckers that, despite the stereotypes of the Reform Party perpetuated by the Quebec elite, we believe passionately in a Canada that includes Quebec. We believe in a strong and flexible Confederation comprising ten provinces and in which all Canadians can achieve their goals.
