Canada

Mitchell urges
abortion action

The federal government has been
accused of contributing to “‘mass chaos”
by failing to make a clear statement fol-
lowing the Supreme Court decision on
abortion.

“The federal government should have
provided immediate leadership and should
have clearly communicated the implica-
tion of the Supreme Court decision,”
Vancouver East NDP MP Margaret Mit-
chell told the House of Commons last
week.

The vacuum in federal policy, she said
has led to some provinces such as B.C.
“‘victimizing women and imposing impos-
sible decisions on doctors.”

Mitchell called on the government to
instruct the provinces of their responsibili-
ties under the Canada Health Act to pro-
vide “universally accessible, comprehen-
sive and portable” health services.

She wants to see publicly-funded

women’s health clinics established, and
said the federal government should under-
take a campaign to prevent unwanted
pregnancies.

Veterans sign
Call for peace

_ Soviet, Canadian and U.S. veterans
issued a joint statement in Moscow last
month calling for the “abolition of war
and violence by the year 2000.”

The 2,000-word document, signed by
the leaders of the three organizations,
declared: “Differences in ideology are triv-
ial matters while the continuity of life is
threatened. The ‘image of the enemy’ must
be banished.

The statement,which followed a joint
meeting of the groups, warned that “war-
riors can no longer protect their home-
lands from total destruction: The security
of our planet now depends on mutual
respect and confidence.” It added that

adherence to existing arms agreements
and future treaties would “build world
peace.”

That in turn will require ‘“‘a significant
change in the mind-set of humanity,” the
document stated. ““The human mind can-
not comprehend
the awesome power
of modern wea-
pons nor envision
the horrors ahead
if present policies °
continue.”

The statement
appealed to “vet-
erans of every na-

tion to unite in one %
final campaign in >.
support of the abo- JOHNSON

lition of war and elimination of violence as
an instrument of policy.”

The statement was signed by Canadian
Maj.Gen.(ret’d.) Leonard Johnson, a
leader of Veterans Against Nuclear Arms;
Jerry Genesia, head of Veterans for Peace
Inc. (U.S.) and Maj.-Gen. Nikalai for the
Soviet War Veterans Committee.

Indians want
McKnight fired

The head of the Assembly of First
Nations has called on Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney to fire Indian Affairs
Minister Bill McKnight for bargaining in
bad faith with the Lubicon Lake Cree
band.

“It is glaringly obvious that Mr.
McKnight is in a conflict of interest,” said
George Erasmus. McKnight is also
responsible for Western Diversification.

“He offers $500,000 to the Crees of
Lubicon Lake, who never signed a treaty,
then he hands a foreign company 19 times
that much — $9.5 million — plus the
timber resources of the Lubicons and at
least seven other bands, all of whom have
been denied reserves. It’s an outrage.”

Lubicon Chief Bernard Ominayak rejec-
ted the federal offer, calling it the worse
yet. He also warned the band would take
whatever steps are necessary to stop any
cutting on their traditional land.

By SEAN GRIFFIN

Despite the flood of praise that he has
received from Liberal Premier Robert Bou-
rassa, his new found ally in Quebec, Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney. has. been unable
to suppress the undercurrents of disagree-
ment that keep surfacing over his Meech
Lake constitutional accord.

The debate has been submerged over the

past several weeks by the free trade deal
with the U.S. but the opposition to the
government's proposals for constitutional
change — opposition which ranges from
women’s groups, ,
Native councils, the
Communist . Party,
political parties in
Quebec and trade
unions to teachers’
organizations —
continues to run
deep.

Last week, the
territorial govern- ES
ments of the Yukon
and the Northwest
Territories announ-
ced that they were
making application
to take their opposi-
tion to the Meech
Lake accord to the
Supreme Court of
Canada.

The accord, signed
at the Quebec resort
of Meech Lake April
30 following meetings between Mulroney
and the provincial premiers, was negotiated
without any reference to the two territorial
governments and threatens their future
achievement of provincial status by giving
any province the right of veto over the pro-
cess. Accordingly, the two governments are
challenging the right of the federal and pro-
vincial governments to make changes which
affect their citizens but provide them no
forum for representation.

But the objection raised by the Yukon
and Northwest Territories is only one of the
currents of opposition to the accord.

It was the concession to Bourassa’s
demand on constitutional language — the
recognition of Quebec as a “distinct

HARCOURT

BROADBENT

Free vote mutes opposition on Meech Lake

society” — that the federal government has
trumpeted as the great compromise that
sealed the accord and brought Quebec into
the constitution. (Former premier Rene
Levesque refused to sign the first constitu-
tion document in 1982.)

But there is nothing in the deal to give any
substance to that language. Instead, the
pact diminishes federal powers and gives
increased rights to the provinces, posing a
renewed threat to national programs and
institutions.

_ Any single province can veto constitu-
tional amendments which affect federal
institutions. Provinces can also opt out of
any national program and still receive fed-
eral funding merely by providing a similar
provincial program “compatible with
national objectives.” And provision has
now been made for provinces to submit lists
of nominees for the Senate and the Supreme
Court.

_ Worse, the accord Suggests no constitu-
tonal provisions which would guarantee
women’s right to equality or aboriginal
rights — despite demands for such changes
from national women’s organizations and
Native councils across the country.

In Quebec, the deal has been repudiated
by the opposition Parti Quebecois, the Parti
Communiste de Quebec and the Quebec
wing of the New Democratic Party as well
as the three trade union centres in the pro-
vince. In fact, it has majority support only in
the Conservative Party and the Liberal
government of Premier Bourassa.

In a joint statement issued following the
signing of the accord, the Communist Party
of Canada and the PCQ charged that the
deal “represents an entrenched denial of the
right to self-determination of the French-
Canadian people.”

“It endangers the unity of the people of
Canada and at the same time represents an
increased threat to the sovereignty and
independence of Canada,” the statement
said.

So far, only Quebec and Saskatchewan
have passed resolutions in their provincial
legislatures formally endorsing the accord,
although others are expected to do so in
upcoming legislative sessions. The provin-
ces have up to three years to ratify the
accord.

MULRONEY, BOURASSA ... no substance in “distinct society’ language and

concessions to provincial rights.

In this province, the issue is expected to
come up in the current session, which opens
Feb. 23.

As he has been with the free trade deal,
Premier Bill Vander Zalm has been a boos-
ter of the Meech Lake accord which he
joined other premiers in signing April 30.

But the full weight of the opposition in
B.C. may not be felt in the legislative debate
because of divisions within the NDP and
the decision by NDP leader Mike Harcourt
to allow a free caucus vote on the issue.

Harcourt’s support of the accord has also
highlighted the divisions in the federal party
which have resulted in Ed Broadbent sup-
porting the accord on the basis that it
“undoes the historic injustice that saw
Quebec isolated within Confederation”
while the Quebec wing of the NDP has
rejected the accord.

The opposition to Meech Lake has been
substantial in’ this province because of the
failure to entrench women’s and aboriginal
rights and the danger that many see in the
new power given to the provinces to replace
national programs.

The B.C. Federation of Labour conven-
tion voted in December to “condemn the
Meech Lake process of constitutional
change as closed and undemocratic” while
the B.C. Teachers’ Federation representative
assembly last month joined its counterpart
in Quebec in rejecting the deal. Native
councils have been unanimous in repudiat-
ing the accord.

That opposition has echoed by some
NDP MPs and MLAs, including Van-
couver-Kingsway MP Ian Waddell who.
was not re-appointed as a caucus critic for
his stand. But the most forthright position
was registered by the party’s B.C. provincial
council which voted to oppose the accord.

Harcourt would not carry that position
in the legislature, however, and the free vote
compromise was put forward to resolve the
dispute.

Unfortunately, the result of the com-
promise will be to increase the numbers of
MLAs voting for the Social Credit govern-
ment’s resolution — and to diminish the
impact of those in this province who are
continuing to speak out against the accord.

Pacific Tribune, February 24, 1988 « 5