The reason the United Alternative
will not succeed is that their primary objective is to replace the Liberals as the ruling
party in Ottawa. By the time the Reform/P.C. policies conform to the respective
leaderships, Canadians will end up with a mediocre watered down version of the Liberal
party. At that point another attempt to reform Ottawa, either from the West or Quebec,
will go down to defeat and we will still be left with a dysfunctional federal/provincial
arrangement that will result in disunity, high taxes and a weak Canadian dollar.
The ROC (Rest of Canada) party has a
solution to the sorry state of our Canadian politics, and although the ROC party proposes
some real constitutional changes, would the founding fathers of Canada see these changes
as an acceptable political evolution after 132 years? We all know that if nothing changes
everything remains the same. Canadians want political improvement.
The constitutional changes proposed
by the ROC party are as follows:
1. (a) Division of Power
Would you believe that if Ottawa was
restricted to the powers as identified in our 1867 constitution, we would not have a unity
problem with Quebec? As with any power hungry organization, Ottawa has slowly encroached
on provincial powers, especially after World War II. This has resulted in the constant
power struggle between Ottawa and the provinces and especially Quebec which has resulted
in unproductive wrangling, duplication of bureaucracies, uncontrolled federal spending and
our high personal taxes.
The ROC party believes we should go
"back into the future" and reassign the powers as our founding fathers had
outlined. That would mean that Ottawa go back to primarily looking after the military,
foreign affairs and the Bank of Canada (including our public debt, currency and banking).
Other primary federal
responsibilities would also include 1st Nations, postal services, statistics, weights and
measures and federal law administered by the Supreme Court.
Our further change to the
constitution would be to reverse one important constitutional position.
Instead of all other matters not
specifically assigned to the provinces falling under federal jurisdiction, the reverse
should be the case. Ottawa should be limited only to the powers as first set out in our
1867 constitution.
1. (b) House of Commons
To reflect a lesser role of our
federal government, the ROC party proposes that the number of MP’s be reduced from
301 to 201. Furthermore to give a voice to the MP’s instead of only to a Prime
Minister and his confidants, the ROC party proposes to abolish the position of Prime
Minister. This would result in removing a major irritant to Canadians and that is an
elected dictator (the Prime Minister) who is kept in that position between elections by
his subservient government MP’s who tend to turn into "sheep" and serve the
PM’s will and not that of Canadians.
Without the PM’s position to
diminish the role of the individual MP’s, these MP’s would be empowered to do
the following:
- Elect Cabinet Ministers among
themselves to lead the federal functions assigned to the federal government
- Elect committee members
- Elect the house speakers.
Under such a House of Commons there
would no longer be a requirement for political parties at the federal level. The election
of the MP’s would depend on the positions they would hold on the various federal
powers that they would exercise. The House of Commons would function as does the USA
Congress or Senate which operates without powerful Prime Minister like positions.
1. (c) House of Provinces
The ROC party would abolish the
Senate and replace it with the House of Provinces. The purpose of the Senate back in 1867
was to make sure the interests of the well to do were not diminished by the House of
Commons. We all know that over the years the senate symbolizes patronage appointments by
the Prime Minister. At the very best, the Senate is to be a place of sober second thought
and is also ment to represent regional interests.
The ROC party proposes that the
House of Provinces would be comprised of the provincial premiers and territory leaders.
The House of Provinces would then be elected, equal and effective (EEE) without the
unattainable senate reform once advocated by the Reform Party. What better way to
represent regional interests than by the premiers themselves!
1. (d) Monarchy to Republic
As is happening in Australia, Canada
should also consider replacing the monarchy with a Republic. Although Canada has
historical ties both to Britain and France we should also remember that in 1867 one of the
main reasons we aligned ourselves to Britain and the monarchy was to protect Canada from a
potential take over by the Americans. Certainly that threat no longer exists and we should
move on. Becoming a Republic would also coincide with removing some outdated colonial
positions such as Governor Generals, Lieutenant Generals and privy councils. As well,
Canadian unity could be enhanced if we swear allegiance to our country and not a far off
foreign monarch. Our new flag should include the Maple Leaf, the Union Jack and the Fleur
de Lise to acknowledge our Canadian history.
With a Republic, our head of state
would be a President which the ROC party proposes to be a symbolic position similar to
that of Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa. Our Canadian President would be elected
by the MP’s. Presidential candidates would be Canadians other than elected MP’s
or MLA’s.
1. (e) Taxation
The main thrust of the ROC party is
to shift the power from the federal government to the more responsive provincial
governments. The most effective way to accomplish this is to have Revenue Canada and
customs report to the House of Provinces and not to the House of Commons. Under such an
arrangement the federal department budgets would be approved by the House of Provinces and
the funds allocated accordingly. Again, as the provinces and territories are closer to the
people, they would be more responsive to the taxpayers.
The ROC party proposes that all
transfer payments to individual Canadians including the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age
Security and Employment Insurance be administered by the House of Provinces.
As Revenue Canada and Customs is to
become an independent agency in 1999, the shift of responsibility from the House of
Commons to the House of Provinces would not be difficult.
2. How Will ROC Succeed?
The above platform of the ROC party
will be presented to the people of Canada for their consideration at the next federal
election in 2001 or 2002. It is anticipated that the BQ federal party would support such a
platform and that a coalition between the ROC and the BQ would form the majority in the
next House of Commons. Once the majority is attained the platform would become a reality
within two years of the next federal election. The coalition of the ROC and the BQ parties
would certainly signal an era of national unity for Canada.
3. Why Proceed with the ROC
Plan
Canada has been blessed with natural
resources, climate, beauty and being next door to the largest economic market in the world
and yet it is floundering under a heavy debt load, high taxation, an embarrassing low
dollar and disunity. Canadians have all the potential of a great nation yet we are held
back by a dysfunctional Ottawa/provincial-federal government structure. The analogy would
be a card game where you are dealt a winning hand and still lose. Canada has been on a
national decline over the last 20 years in good part due to our unity problems. Although
Quebec jumps to our minds when we discuss national unity, the real problem with our
country is Ottawa and that is what the ROC party addresses. Once Canadians realize that
Quebec is keeping our country together while Ottawa is driving us apart the platform of
the ROC party will succeed.
The platform that the ROC party
promotes is similar to that of Switzerland which is a prosperous united country with a
highly decentralized form of government that deals with not only 2 but 4 official
languages. The Swiss have proven that the ROC solution can work. The present political
system in Canada does not work. The ROC party should be considered as the
"political" alternative before the next federal election.
4. A New Canada
How will the new Canada as proposed
by the ROC party function? The most important differences would be the removal of friction
between the federal and provincial governments. The federal government would be restricted
to it’s core federal functions while the provinces would deal with the bulk of the
functions that directly affect the lives of Canadians. There will be no doubt that the
"action" will be in the House of Provinces and provincial capitals and not in
Ottawa.
Present federal irritants such as
gun control, the Wheat Board, GST, health and education funding, employment insurance,
immigration, environmental targets, energy policies and other federal intrusions would be
removed and dealt with either by the House of Provinces or by the provincial capitals.
Bilingualism policy would be a
non-issue as language and culture would fall under provincial jurisdiction.
Quebec and all other provinces will
be masters within their own province and would have no reason to consider separation from
a strong, prosperous and united Canada.
Can the provinces and territories
handle all this power? The answer has to be "yes" as this proposed political
structure would give the real power to the people of Canada. Provincial capitals are much
easier to find and influence than Ottawa. Provincial governments are also much easier to
change if they stray from the will of the people.
The net result of this proposed
political reorganization is that as Canadians, we would finally achieve our economic and
social potential that has eluded us from confederation and throughout the 20th century.
Will the 21st century finally belong to Canada?