Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 11, 1978, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press wednesday october 11, 1978 13. Nation committee on constitutional Reform govt. Told to head Back to the drawing Board Ottawa up after just six weeks of hearings the joint Senate commons committee studying constitutional Reform has told the government to go1 Back to the drawing Board in redrafting the country s Constitution. L chairman of the committee my Mark Macguigan Windsor Walkerville summarized the unanimous feel Ings of the 35 committee members tuesday this Way we can do better than this. We be told the government to go Back to the drawing Board and come up with a better Macguigan spoke to reporters shortly after the re port was tabled in the commons. Flora Macdonald progressive conservative spokes Man for constitutional affairs called the report a pretty damning response to the government s Constitution Al Reform committee urges Complete redraft on rights charter Ottawa up the joint Senate commons commit tee on the Constitution recommended tuesday that a charter of human rights and freedoms proposed by the government be almost completely redrafted. The committee had several objections to the govern ment s proposal part of an Over All constitutional package. The committee criticized the proposed charter on the following grounds it does not make Clear that he Basic rights contained in it Are supreme Over All other existing and future legislation. It contains clauses which limit its application in ways which seriously jeopardize its value. It provides different treatment for Canadian citizens native people and landed immigrants. It fails to make Clear which rights will remain untouched even if the government deems it Neces sary to impose limiting legislation such As the War measures act. It contains no provision guaranteeing the Public reasonable Access to government documents. In trying to legislate against discrimination the charter could Unin Tentilly end up by denying special programs to disadvantaged people and groups. It does not specifically impose on the state the obligation to make sure any accused person has Access to knowledgeable Legal counsel. The charter fails to prohibit discrimination against any person on the grounds of marital status. It should does not require that the government justify use of emergency legislation which limits human rights such As the War measures act. The charter s provisions protecting the right to hold and use property Are vaguely worded and need redrafting. Miss Macdonald Kingston and the islands said the entire 17-Page report was summed up by a single phrase. Quoting from the first of the report s 17 recommendations she read the committee assumed the government would not proceed with this legislation Early in the forthcoming session unless it received Broad support. Such Broad support does not exist at the then she added that kills it. It certainly rejects Bill c-60 the legislation containing the government s Reform package As a composite piece of the report was the response of All four political parties plus the Senate to the constitutional reforms package presented to parliament last june by prime minister Trudeau. Among the issues raised were replacing the Senate with a new House of federation changing the supreme court of Canada adopting a new human rights charter and defining the role of the monarchy in Canada. The committee said in the report that it is too soon to make detailed recommendations to the govern ment but added canadians should not get the impression that the Constitution cannot be provincial affairs minister Marc told re porters he considers the committee s report a Clear sign of support for the government s approach to constitutional Reform. Calling the report an excellent first rate document Lalonde said he was encouraged the committee could agree with the government on the need to redraft the Constitution the committee gave its unqualified support to the principle that the ill year old British North America act which now serves As the country s Constitution should be replaced by a new truly Canadian Constitution even better value a Winter Utility Bonus in addition to amazing Low rents from discover maximum privacy Comfort and Beai it in 2 and 3 bedroom town Homes on the Banks of the red River but it warned that the avowed intention of the parti quebecois government to have its province separate from the rest of the country will make redrafting the Constitution More difficult than Ever before. In the forthcoming negotiations one partner can not be expected to play its full the committee said it was not Given enough time to come up with specific recommendations on what it considered the most important proposals in the government package Reform of the courts and of the Basic Structure of parliament. Macguigan said he sees no possibility of any com Mittee completing its study of the government s constitutional Reform package by Lalonde s stated deadline of july he told reporters he expects the government to re establish his committee which ceased to exist with the ending of the session of parliament. A new session started today and new legislation is necessary to reconstitute the committee. The newly constituted committee probably will be Given a reduced mandate Macguigan said. He suggested that the Cabinet might signal the committee to postpone examination of the government s plan to abolish the Senate and concentrate on other less controversial parts of the Reform package by the july 1 deadline. The proposed replacement of the 104-seat Senate with a new 118-seat House of the federation with members selected by the provincial Legislatures and the commons is clearly the most contentious part of the Reform package he said. Among the committee s recommendations were it should be reconstituted As a committee so it can continue its work during the new session of parliament. Unlike before it should have the Legal and financial backing of parliament to hire advisers such As Legal counsel. The statement of Aims contained in the preamble to the government s proposed new Constitution should be redrafted for conciseness and wording. The government should continue its efforts to incorporate a charter of human rights and freedoms into the country s Constitution. Replying to suggestions that the report shows a Lack of enthusiasm for the government s approach to constitutional Reform he said it s As positive a report As one could expect. Nobody Hope expects anybody to be wild in supporting anything. That s very rare in on a number of controversial issues the commit tee merely pointed out that some of the witnesses it heard were critical of the government s plans. It said various experts and scholars Are sceptical about the Federal government s right to act without the stated approval of All provinces in making any major change in the Constitution. This would include changing the Senate the role of the monarchy and the composition of the supreme court. It said Many witnesses were critical of the govern ment s plan to approach constitutional Reform in two stages. The Federal government has proposed that it Deal with certain matters which fall under Federal jurisdiction in phase one before july 1 and it act jointly with the prov inces on matters requiring co operative action As a second phase. It said Many witnesses consider Lalonde s july 1 deadline for phase one of the constitutional Reform process to be unrealistic. Asked Why the committee used this mouthpiece tactic miss Macdonald told reporters we used the witnesses comments As a basis for the questioning that s going on throughout the country of the government s proposals. We had to show How much doubt there st marys South of Vista phone 257-1883 try puss h boots flavour morsels in the new economical 12-pack. Save Money for the Kitty. C uss n boots flavour morsels in the new 12-pack is Good for both of you. Convenient and More economical for you. Complete and balanced nutrition for your cat. 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