pkern@utcsri.UUCP (06/03/87)
... Eugene Forsey? Eugene Forsey. "Decentralize Canada? This gossamer, this shadowy, this cobweb central authority could also have a distinctive flag -- 10 jackasses eating the leaves off one maple tree ... " "The statement that Canada needs a new constitution and must have it now is nonsense. It could be dangerous nonsense. You just give ground for every tub thumper, blatherskate, demagogue and cocksure jackass that happens to be loose in the country, and heaven knows there are enough of them of various kinds and descriptions ... " "I keep quoting St. Paul, 'Let all things be done decently, and in order'". extracted from "A Funny Way to Run a Country" by Charles Lynch.
tech@auvax.UUCP (06/05/87)
In article <4865@utcsri.UUCP>, pkern@utcsri.UUCP (pkern) writes: > Eugene Forsey. > > "Decentralize Canada? This gossamer, this shadowy, this cobweb central > authority could also have a distinctive flag -- 10 jackasses eating the leaves > off one maple tree ... " > > "The statement that Canada needs a new constitution and must have it > now is nonsense... > > "I keep quoting St. Paul, 'Let all things be done decently, > and in order'". I am indifferant to the constitution and the charter of rights. I am led to believe that Great Britain has neither and the Soviet Union has both. Need more be said??? It take a lot more paper work to drive a commercial truck across the one country of Canada than it does to drive across Europe. I hold an unpopular view: turf out the ten provinces and two territories and form one Province out of Alberta, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Makitoba, and the Western half of the North West Territories. Leave Ontario in tact. Form a Province out of Quebec, Labrador, and the Eastern NWT. Toss the maritimes into a fourth province. The citizens will only benifit but the politicians would be infuriated. Ooh what a grouch. ********* 73 ********** Richard Loken VE6BSV . **** .. **** Athabasca University .... **** Athabasca, Alberta Canada ..........**** ihnp4!alberta!auvax
bjorn@alberta.UUCP (06/06/87)
In article <178@auvax.UUCP>, tech@auvax.UUCP (Richard Loken) writes: >In article <4865@utcsri.UUCP>, pkern@utcsri.UUCP (pkern) writes: >> "The statement that Canada needs a new constitution and must have it >> now is nonsense... >I am indifferant to the constitution and the charter of rights. I am led >to believe that Great Britain has neither and the Soviet Union has both. >Need more be said??? Pretty good, but yes, there is more to be said. Plenty of countries have glowing constitutional documents with a multitude of guarantees shining brilliantly like stars in the night sky on every page. They are all worth less than the paper they are written on unless the courts and the populace have a tradition of putting some starch into the pages so liberally covered with grand designs. To wit: a) In the US they have this tradition. It appears not uncommon for people there to fight for a cause they fundamentally disagree with because of the breaching of the constitution that would otherwise result. Various censorship/freedom of speech issues come to mind, admissibility of evidence, etc. b) Canada has no such tradition. In fact the reverse seems to be developing. Many (most that I've conversed with) people are quite willing to throw the principle into the wind when it suits them (talking about censorship vs. freedom of speech here), I'm sure you're all familiar with this. c) Icelands constitution dates back to 1944, and is one of those worthless gleaming documents. Up until 2 years ago (or so) the courts here had ALWAYS interpreted the constitution in favor of the state, this includes challenges to the governments monopoly of radio and television broadcasting. Have the people been incensed by this? No not in general. I feel that apathy of the population play's no small part in the courts prolonged favoritism of the state. A sizeable mass of the Supreme Court "old guard" has been retiring of late. I must say that I was ecstatic when I heard of the first successful challenge of government action on constitutional grounds. Since then there has been at least one other successful challenge. In my mind there is not a shadow of a doubt that this is a direct result of the recent make-up of the court. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel somewhere, I'm not counting on it though. I'm continually amazed at the foresight and class of the American founding fathers, in so eloquently and accurately depicting the assaults that would be made on their constitution as well as outlining in full the cost of apathy and the constant sacrifices required to keep the forces of enslavement at bay. Now if you have an effective constitution you face another problem. While the document must (obviously) be mutable, clearly this should not be easily accomplished. What's the right balance? I just don't know. Look at what's happening in Canada at this moment. While I favor the Meech Lake accord (as if I had any say in the matter), considering that it's probably what your going to end up with, I don't understand the rush nor the resistance to public hearings (airings) exhibited by certain premiers. Why the steam-roller? I find Getty's excuse singularly unconvincing (the time worn politicians refrain: we were elected to govern for the people and if we can't handle this we're not doing our jobs). I'm gonna pop over to the library to see just what the minimum preconditions for rewriting are. Ta-da. Reasonably yours in the age of unreasonability 1/2 B-), Bjorn R. Bjornsson {ubc-vision,mnetor}!alberta!bjorn
dave@lsuc.UUCP (06/08/87)
In <178@auvax.UUCP> tech@auvax.UUCP (Richard Loken) writes: > turf out the ten provinces and two territories and form one Province > out of Alberta, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Western half > of the North West Territories. > Leave Ontario in tact. > Form a Province out of Quebec, Labrador, and the Eastern NWT. > Toss the maritimes into a fourth province. > >The citizens will only benifit but the politicians would be infuriated. So will the British Columbians. Or are they supposed to secede? :-) After all, if we're not going to get the Turks & Caicos, at least let's keep Vancouver! David Sherman Toronto -- { seismo!mnetor cbosgd!utgpu watmath decvax!utcsri ihnp4!utzoo } !lsuc!dave