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national rights nor decentralization of
power is the way out of the constitutional
crisis. In our view we need policies
which take into account both the national
aspirations of the French Canadian
people and the legitimate demands of the
people of western Canada and of Atlantic
Canada. This, the resolution before par-

- jiament does not do. And because it does

not do so it has tended to aggravate the

‘crisis of confederation. The proper

course is that the resolution be with-
drawn and a new constitution formulated
based on present day economic and polit-
ical realities and embodying fundamental
human and democratic rights.

Canada possesses the power to draw
up:a Canadian Constitution. Once that is
done and it is adopted, all that is required
to end our links with “‘colonialism’”’ is to
advise the British Government that the
BNA Act be rescinded. It is as simple as

that!

What should be the principles upon
which a truly united, independent and

democratic Canada can be built?

These principles should include the
following:

e Recognition of the national aspira-
tions and the right to self-determination
of the French Canadian nation in
Quebec. The constitution must be based
on the equal voluntary partnership of the
English-speaking and French Canadian
peoples in a bi-national, sovereign and
independent Canada.

e State unequivocally that the real na-
tional interests of the French Canadian
people will best be served in a united
Canada on the basis of complete
economic, social, cultural and linguistic
equality of the two nations. Only a united
Canada which upholds the national rights
of the French Canadian people can effec-
tively fight for its independence from the
pressures of U.S. imperialism. Without
Quebec, Canada cannot be united, and
without such unity Canada can’t be in-
dependent.

e The new constitution must establish
basic structural reforms. To overcome
regional inequalities, these structural re-
forms must be based on the necessity for

all-sided economic development in all -

parts of Canada, combined with
nationalization of all natural resources,
above all, energy resources. Through
joint federal-provincial Crown corpora-
tions, benefits from the development of
natural and energy resources must ac-
crue to the people of Canada as a whole,
as well as to the industrial development
of the provinces where the resources
found. ,

. @ Theconstitution must embody a Bill
of Rights providing guarantees of human

* and democratic rights for Canadians. We
«+ refer to this later on in our critique of the

pi®posed Charter of Rights and Free-
doms. :

e The constitution must include full
recognition of the national identity of the
Native peoples and their right to self-

determination, the enjoyment of regional’ —

self-government, full rights to their lan-
guage and culture, including rights to
their land and its resources.

In this connection the Communist
Party of Canada proposes that the Native
peoples be seated as full participants in
future constitutional conferences with
full power of decision making on all ques-
tions pertaining to their affairs as Native
peoples.

To ensure equality of the two nations
the new made-in-Canada constitution
should establish Canada as a confederal
republic with a government consisting of
two chambers, one such as the House of
Commons today, but based on represen-
tation by population; the other, to re-
place the Senate, to be composed of an
equal number of elected representatives
from each of the nations as well as
guaranteed representation from the Na-
tive peoples.

Each Chamber should have an equal
right to initiate legislation, but both must
adopt the legislation before it becomes
law. This structure will protect dem-
ocratic principles: equality of rights of
nations whatever their size, and majority

~ rule:

A constitutent assembly based - on
equal representation from the two na-
tions should be convened to discuss and
adopt such measures. The proposal ad-
vanced in some quarters of a constituent

assembly based on representation from -

each province would deny the basic
character of Canada as a bi-national state
and perpetuate national inequality.

Now to some comments regarding the

proposed Charter of Rights and Free- ~

doms.

An entrenched Bill of Rights should
create better conditions to strengthen the
rights and freedoms of Canadians but a
Charter of Rights and Freedoms en-
trenched in a constitution approved for
Canada by the British Paliament is un-
likely to give to Canadians the rights they
require. Great Britain itself has no Bill of
Rights as such, the rights of the British
people having been gained in a series of
struggles over many years. It is un-

“reasonable to assume that the British

Parliament will welcome being asked to
entrench a Charter of Rights and Free-
doms in a constitution to be handed to
Canada as the basis for its future. Nor
can the British Parliament be expected to
be aware of the real needs of the Cana-
dian people. Thus, in the same way a
made-in-Canada constitution is needed,
so is a made-in-Canada Bill of Rights.

This is made clear when one examines
the proposed Charter of Rights an
Freedoms in detail. . :

1. The Charter omits a number of mat-
ters of special concern to Canadians:

a) The right of the French Canadian
people to be recognized as a nation in a
bi-national state;

b) The rights of the Native peoples to
regional self-government, to the de-
velopment of their own culture and to
control their own resources;

c) The rights of national minority
groups to retain and develop their mother
tongues and cultural forms;

d) The rights of women.

‘2. The Charter makes no reference to
the following rights acknowledged in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
as adopted by the United Nations.

a) The right to privacy
b) The right to social security
c) The right to work’

Adopt a Canadian
Constitution

Two equal nations in
_ahbi-national state

d) The right to equal pay for work of
equal value

e) The right to form and join trade
unions

f) The right to rest and leisure
_ g) The right to an adequate standard
of living including food, clothing, hous-
ing and medical and social services

h) The right to an education

i) The right to a fair and public hearing
by an independent and impartial tribunal
in the determination of rights and obliga-
tions

j) The right to peace and security for
all nations big and small

The words of Section One of the prop-
osed Charter is such as to limit and ren-
der uncertain the effect of all the follow-
ing sections. It reads: ‘‘The Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms guaran-
tees rights and freedoms set out in it sub-
ject only to such reasonable limits as are
generally accepted in a free and dem-
ocratic society with a parliamentary sys-
tem of government’’.

What the underlined part of the Char-
ter does is negate any rights and free-
doms which the proposed Charter claims
to advocate.

Basic freedoms need to be set out in

such a manger that any existing laws vio-
lating them or any future laws attempting
to violate them would be unconstitu-
tional. This would not be so under the
terms of the proposed Charter.

3. The Charter omits some matters al-
ready dealt with in the present federal
Canadian Bill of Rights and in some pro-

vincial human rights legislation. It con- -

tains for example, no prohibition against
discrimination in employment, tenancy,

_ purchase of property, etc., on the

grounds of race, sex, color, religion.

4. The rights and freedoms given
in the proposed Charter are hedged
around by qualifying words which limit
their exercise.

The effect of these restrictions is to
make it impossible to determine whether
the rights and freedoms given are to be

read along with the present federal and ~

provincial legislation and practices
which in fact limit the exercise of such
rights and freedoms and whether they
could in the future be reduced or de-
stroyed by parliamentary decision. If so,
there would be no real entrenchment of
any rights or freedoms and the proposed
Charter would be without real substance.
The alternative is to make the provisions
of the Bill of Rights clearly dominant so
that any conflict in other laws would be
resolved in favor of the provisions of the
Bill of Rights.

To conclude: We propose that the
government withdraw its resolution and
that-appropriate steps be taken to adopt a
made-in-Canada constitution. We prop-
ose further that the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms as presently formulated be re-
drafted to conform with the International
Bill of Human. Rights including specific
questions having to do with Canadian
reality, such as the national rights of the
French Canadian people, the rights of the
Native peoples, the rights of the various
ethnic communities in Canada, women’s
rights, a bill or rights for labor.

The debate presently in progress
around the resolution introduced to par-
liament has to do with the future of

. Canada. What kind of Canada do we

want? The status quo has brought
Canada to a dead end. Changes are
necessary. The question is whether these.
will be cosmetic changes which change
nothing or whether they will in truth be
fundamental changes corresponding
with what Canada needs. In our view the
proposals we have advanced are directed
to achieve fundamental change and
thereby create the necessary conditions
to achieve a truly united, independent
and democratic Canada in which the
people, not the “‘elite’’, are sovereign.

Submitted by the Communist Party
of Canada, December 10, 1980. -

‘PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JAN. 9, 1981—Page 7

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