4 - Wednesday, June 3,
™

1987 ~ North Shore News

See:

Bob Hunter

® strictly personal ®

1 HAPPEN to be in the tiny majority — 51 per cent —
of Canadians who like the Meech Lake accord.

Brian Mulroney should be ap-
plauded for pulling the deal
together. He did what he is
reported to be so good at —
negotiating.

Some people say he gave away
the shop to the provinces to bring
Quebec fully into Confederation,

Hout I say any time Ottawa wants
to lessen her Mandarin's Burden
of power, that’s fine by me.

I find it sad that such a con-
stitutional deal could be struck
among the premiers, yet.no com-
promise could be reached with
the Indians a month earlier.

The failure at the aboriginal
conference was the result of an
unwillingness on the part of Mr.
Vander Zalm et al to take a leap
of faith.

They wanted to know exactly
where every penny would come
from and go. They wanted a
detailed read-out of the future.
Couldn’t take any chances, you
see. Had to think about their
responsibilities to their constitu-
ents. Indians have too much
power already, they implied.

“The ‘complaints that the
‘premiers have been”
-elevated to a new level of
‘authority and that the
._prime ministership has
been weakened are reasons
“to cheer, as far as Ican —
see.’’ .

But.at Meech Lake, suddenly

there was no worrying about the
nickels. and « dimes. -The modus
operandi was: Go for it! ©:

The difference, of: course, was.
that’ Mulroney offered the

premiers ‘what they wanted, but’

didn’t want the Indians to haves
more power. ©

“With that qualification - _ - that ‘
tragédy and a blot on the ©

it. is ‘a
whole process that the, natives
have ;been left out =~ 1 think
Meech Lake was: a move in the
right direction. .,

. Ultimately it could lead toward
a more civilized method of rule

| than what we have, which is‘bas- «

ed. purely on’. the economies of

‘ premiers. have been‘elevated.to a
new. level of authority and that
the prime. ministership’ has been
weakened are reasons to cheer, as
far as I can see. I’d-rather be rul-

ed by a national council than the

PMO

What we have now, thanks to
the concentration of _ political
‘power: in Ottawa, is a surrogate
kingship. © :

Parliamentary democracy, for
-all its advantages, still remains a
de facto oligarchy between elec-
I tions, with awesome authority
invested in, entrenched
bureaucracies and very. little

means of challenge open to the
citizen,

For the surrogate king himself
to give each province a veto over
further constitutional changes is
a bald, even daring move. In how
many places in the world has
power ever evolved downward
from the pinnacle?

Well, of course, that is the
essence of Canadianism, isn’t it?

We never had a revolution
because power got handed over
by a weary mother empire.

And it just might be that none

of the various separatist’ move- |

ments will ever succeed in break-
ing Canada up into smaller bits,
but the net effect will be the
same: the country will become so
decentralized it will - function
more as an alliance than a feder-
ation.

Canada is already considered
one of the most decentralized
federal states in the world. The
accord reached by Mulroney and
the premiers decentralizes the
country even further.

While Liberals like Don
Johnston bemoan the accord as a
“One-way «street to a weaker
Canada,” the fact of the matter
is that Canadians. enjoy a certain

extra margin of freedom precisely.

because the powers above us are
divided.

» It-is all very well to say that it
would be nice to have Ottawa off
our backs, but would anybody in
their right mind want Victoria

alone on top? ‘Likewise, a coun- |

try dominated’ by just ‘Ottawa
would be an awful, grey, strangl-
ed thing. .

To the extent “that the accord. |.
restricts federal spending, allows ‘|
provinces a hand in the design of .

national shared-cost programs,
wand -lets. Quebecers admire

“themselves in the mirror. of their -
~ own‘distinct culture as much as |

they like, it is good.
Fears that the accord means

the idea of serious senate reform |

has been. “‘deep-sixed”’
premature, I hope.
Certainly, there is no reason to
expect Quebec and Ontario - to
give up their 24 senators each
without having their backs scrat-
ched or their . butts booted, but
that will be the essence of it from.

, are

here on in: horse’ ‘trading, nitty-.

gritty stuff. - .

Mulroney has said, . an effect:
“All right, boys, I'm dealing you
in. Start playing.” .

‘Our modern world is a big,
complex place run mostly by lit-
tle, simple ideas. We are-ruled,
even when technically ‘‘free,’’ by
quaint old documents and even
quainter political philosophies.

Among those ‘are the ancient

notions that big is beautiful and |

that a strong central authority is
absolutely necessary.

Sez who? Canada is getting
looser, thanks to Mulroney, not
tighter.| And:

: already. O1 One for the guy.

ay é
iy tw witht ‘ot Lora, tt
~
biog Sis b Sih anes

yy) nt be ,
70 by, » Gs Befey ‘. who

.

7 c° , ° a
“pie ff

vat hyp fon

‘May 30 -at

‘feels ‘ better |

Artist wins $500

NORTH VANCOUVER'S § Kiff
Holland has received a $500 cash
award in the 47th Annual Exhib-
ition of Northwest Watercolors
competition,

The exhibition, which opened
the Bellevue Art
Museum, features works by 114
artists from B.C,, Washington,
Oregon, Montana and Idaho.

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