Pierre Trudeau's biggest political success was bringing home the Constitution in 1982, but it also was the beginning of the end for the Liberal Party in Quebec, political pundit Chantal Hebert said Saturday at an Edmonton conference analysing the historic move.
Many Liberals MPs who voted for patriation lost their seats in the 1982 election, and the Mulroney Conservatives made inroads in Quebec.
But Progressive Conservatives were also eventually a casualty of patriation, Hebert, a Toronto Star columnist and CBC panellist, said while speaking at a University of Alberta conference marking the 30th anniversary of the patriation negotiations.
In his efforts to bring Quebec into the Constitution, PC leader Brian Mulroney brought Quebec nationalists into the party and shifted the makeup, eventually paving the way for the Reform Party.
Today, it's ironic that support for independence in Quebec is at a low ebb, even though Harper is the most unpopular federal leader in years in that province, said Hebert.
That's because of Harper's "hands-off policy" toward the provinces, said Hebert. He does not spend time increasing the federal presence in Quebec. That approach to the federation has more in common with former prime minister Joe Clark's vision of Canada as a "community of communities," she said. It's the one aspect of continuity between the old PCs and the Harper Conservatives.
Harper's rigid approach to federalism will cause tension, Gerald Baier, a political sci-entist from the University of British Columbia said at the conference. The federal crime bill, for instance, will cost the provinces millions of dollars to implement and a few provinces, mainly Quebec, are grumbling.
"You can't just do stuff in your sphere and not expect some upset," Baier said.
Harper's "chess game approach to senate reform" will result in destabilizing the institution by having some elected senators alongside appointed ones, he added.
Meanwhile, the conference heard a few options on how Canada could still address Quebec's roll in the federation.
While there is no political will for major constitutional change, Quebec expert Alain-G. Gagnon suggested the Supreme Court make a ruling that addresses their relationship to the rest of the nation.
Alternatively, the senate could be reformed in a way that would "recognize the national reality of Quebec" as well as regional interests of the country, he said.
"We could build on a multinational federalism" of Quebec, First Nations and English-speaking Canada and regional interests, Gagnon said.
In the more flexible federalism of pre-1981, Alberta and Newfoundland played major roles in the country, said Gagnon, a political scientist at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
"There is a need for Alberta and Newfoundland to assert their positions," he said.
"We need to look at federal vision in which different national communities are equipped to flourish," he said.
That kind of diversity in the country is much more in keeping with the country's historical origins, he said, than the highly centralized state that evolved from the 1982 Constitution Act.
Origin
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Many Liberals MPs who voted for patriation lost their seats in the 1982 election, and the Mulroney Conservatives made inroads in Quebec.
But Progressive Conservatives were also eventually a casualty of patriation, Hebert, a Toronto Star columnist and CBC panellist, said while speaking at a University of Alberta conference marking the 30th anniversary of the patriation negotiations.
In his efforts to bring Quebec into the Constitution, PC leader Brian Mulroney brought Quebec nationalists into the party and shifted the makeup, eventually paving the way for the Reform Party.
Today, it's ironic that support for independence in Quebec is at a low ebb, even though Harper is the most unpopular federal leader in years in that province, said Hebert.
That's because of Harper's "hands-off policy" toward the provinces, said Hebert. He does not spend time increasing the federal presence in Quebec. That approach to the federation has more in common with former prime minister Joe Clark's vision of Canada as a "community of communities," she said. It's the one aspect of continuity between the old PCs and the Harper Conservatives.
Harper's rigid approach to federalism will cause tension, Gerald Baier, a political sci-entist from the University of British Columbia said at the conference. The federal crime bill, for instance, will cost the provinces millions of dollars to implement and a few provinces, mainly Quebec, are grumbling.
"You can't just do stuff in your sphere and not expect some upset," Baier said.
Harper's "chess game approach to senate reform" will result in destabilizing the institution by having some elected senators alongside appointed ones, he added.
Meanwhile, the conference heard a few options on how Canada could still address Quebec's roll in the federation.
While there is no political will for major constitutional change, Quebec expert Alain-G. Gagnon suggested the Supreme Court make a ruling that addresses their relationship to the rest of the nation.
Alternatively, the senate could be reformed in a way that would "recognize the national reality of Quebec" as well as regional interests of the country, he said.
"We could build on a multinational federalism" of Quebec, First Nations and English-speaking Canada and regional interests, Gagnon said.
In the more flexible federalism of pre-1981, Alberta and Newfoundland played major roles in the country, said Gagnon, a political scientist at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
"There is a need for Alberta and Newfoundland to assert their positions," he said.
"We need to look at federal vision in which different national communities are equipped to flourish," he said.
That kind of diversity in the country is much more in keeping with the country's historical origins, he said, than the highly centralized state that evolved from the 1982 Constitution Act.
Origin
Source: Ottawa Citizen
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