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MAGAZINE
The Prince George
Citizen
SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1987
40 CENTS
The Canadian Senate
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Constitutional accord: Praise, then questions
by EDISON STEWART
OTTAWA (CP) — Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was showered with praise from all sides Friday for a tentative constitutional accord with the provinces which one official described as nothing less than “re-federating the federation.”
But there were questions about whether Mulroney went too far in granting all 10 provinces new powers as part of the agreement to settle Quebec’s five-year-old constitutional grievances.
In the Commons. Liberal Leader John Turner congratulated Mulroney on his triumph but moments later was asking whether expanded provincial powers will make it harder to set up new national programs.
“Does this mean that in future a national child-care program is impossible?’’ Turner wondered. “What about a guaranteed annual income? Would medicare have been possible under this agreement?”
NDP Leader Ed Broadbent also lauded Mulroney but was reluctant to endorse the agreement without deeper study. He echoed Turner’s concern.
However, in Quebec City, the provincial opposition argued that the agreement doesn’t go far enough. Parti Quebecois Leader
Pierre Marc Johnson said Premier Robert Bourassa had “sold the house of Quebec at below market price.”
Mulroney, greeted by a standing ovation from all sides as he rose to outline the accord reached late Thursday at nearby Meech Lake. Que., said it “represents the best features of a vital federal system, one which I believe responds to the aspirations of Canadians in every corner of the country.”
Once formally ratified by the first ministers and then by Parliament and the legislatures, the deal will bring Quebec into the constitutional fold and “enable Canadians to turn their attention to other issues, such as Senate reform and the fisheries,” the prime minister added.
The agreement Would constitutionally recognize Quebec as a “distinct society” in a bilingual and bicultural country. It would also grant all 10 provinces more power over immigration and roles in the appointment of future senators and judges of the Supreme Court of Canada.
In addition, all provinces would be given a veto over constitutional amendments affecting the Commons, Senate, Supreme Court, the creation of new provinces or the extension of provincial boundaries.
It would also be much easier for
HERMAN
provinces to opt out of amendments transferring provincial powers to Ottawa, or out of new national shared-cost programs in areas under provincial jurisdiction.
The prime minister did not respond directly to concerns that the agreement may have gone too far. A federal official told reporters the accord does indeed represent “a fundamental change” in Confederation, producing “reform along federalist lines, the true meaning of federalism, the classic definition of federalism.”
As for Turner’s concern about programs like medicare, the official said: "I don’t think there’s anything in this proposal that would preclude that kind of a program,” although “the program might look different.”
Turner and Broadbent promised to pursue the matter in the days to come but congratulated Mulroney warmly nonetheless. “This is indeed a happy day for Canada and for Quebec.” Turner said.
In Montreal, there was no comment from former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who once rejected some of Mulroney’s proposals as “incremental separatism.” Trudeau said he had not seen the accord.
. . .and in Monday's Citizen. . .
A B.C. doctor says Canada, which is spending millions of dollars promoting asbestos abroad, may be exporting the tragic legacy of asbestos to Third World countries. He wants an independent commission set up to monitor exports to prevent exploitation of foreigners’ ignorance of the mineral’s hazards.
Read Monday’s Citizen for details.
Also planned:
■ A Prince George couple celebrates 60 years of marriage.
■ The unfolding playoff picture in the National Hockey League.
TEACHERS BACKED
OTTAWA (CP) — The 220,000-member Canadian Teachers’ Federation is setting up a national fund to fight proposed legislation in British Columbia which the province’s teachers say was introduced without their consultation.
Federation president Frank Garritty said Friday the legislation is heinous and is being pushed through “unilaterally and against the wishes of the teachers in B.C.”
An initial amount of $25,000 has been set aside by the federation and teachers across the country will be asked to contribute.
The province’s public school teachers staged a one-day illegal strike this week and by week’s end Education Minister Tony Brummet was leaning toward some changes to the proposed act.
The legislation would establish a college of teachers to certify, discipline and set standards for B.C.’s 26,000 full-time teachers.
Teachers would be given the right to strike but would be required to set up unions at the district level to exercise that right.
Membership in the B.C. Teachers’ Federation would no longer be mandatory.
Garritty also said the federation has advised its members that before applying for or accepting a teaching position in the province, they should contact the B.C. Teachers’ Federation.
See also page 2
City homes will carry tax burden
MALCOLM CURTIS The regional hospital district
Staff reporter
Urban homeowners are the hardest hit group to be affected by Prince George tax hikes that city council is expected to approve Monday.
Meanwhile, owners of businesses, apartments and homes in the country will get a break from the city this year because of lower assessments.
Those who own single-family homes in urban areas face an average four-per-cent increase in municipal taxes, in measures proposed by city treasurer Bill Kennedy.
That means the owners of more than 12,000 homes will each have to dip into pockets to find about $25.56 extra this year, bringing the average urban home tax bill (for city purposes only) to $664.44.
The rise could have been more than eight per cent had the city not juggled tax rates to compensate for lowered commercial assessments, said Kennedy.
Varying assessments on properties throughout the city have made tax comparisons a confusing quagmire.
While urban residents face steeper tax hikes than anyone else, Kennedy reports that “in general terms” utilities and industrial properties will pay a slightly larger proportion of the total municipal levy than in past years.
The shift in the tax load is more evident in areas beyond the city’s control.
ARMS CONTROL
Ottawa's
TORONTO (CP) — An appeal from Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev for Canada “to help guide the West” in reaching a deal to eliminate nuclear missiles in Europe was carried directly to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, the Toronto Star says.
In a report today, the newspaper quoted special envoy Alexander Bessmertnykh, who visited Ottawa on Friday, saying Canadian officials showed “great interest” in Gorbachev’s message to Mulroney.
Truck crashes, person killed
One person is dead following a single vehicle accident near Bear Lake Friday evening.
RCMP say a Chevrolet pickup truck left Highway 97 about 9:20 p.m. Friday and rolled into the ditch. The lone occupant of the truck was pronounced dead on arrival at Prince George Regional Hospital.
The cause of the accident is under investigation. The name of the victim is not being released pending notification of kin.
levy for average urban homeowners will practically double to $31.26 from $15.71 last year, for instance.
Kennedy says the hospital increase is the result of the elimination of taxes on machinery and equipment and because of the need to cover $205,000 refunded to forestry mills. The mills successfully appealed assessments made by the B.C. Assessment Authority.
The average school tax increase was reported earlier this week at about 16 per cent.
Kennedy said the city has tried to balance the need for city services with tax increases that are modest and beneath the level of inflation.
The city’s overall tax yield will increase 2.8 per cent.
An analysis of assessment information shows the following percentage increases in city taxes according to tax category:
• Single-family dwellings (Urban): up four per cent.
• Single-family dwellings (Suburban): up 3.4 per cent.
• Single-family dwellings (rural I. up 1/2 per cent.
• Multiple-family dwellings (urban): down 4.4 per cent.
• Commercial properties: down
0.5 per cent.
The city’s finance department was unable to come up with figures for industrial taxes because varying assessments and appeals make year-to-year comparisons difficult.
TALKS
aid asked
After what officials called an unprecedented visit in Canadian-So-viet relations, Bessmertnykh said in an interview there is a danger Moscow’s proposals will constantly be dismissed instead of being used as the basis for an accord.
“The next few weeks are going to be tremendously important” in attempts to reach a pact to cut Europe’s medium-range missiles, said Bessmertnykh, who met with Mulroney, External Affairs Minister Joe Clark and senior officials from Clark’s department.
“Our earnest hope is that Canada will play a role in helping to guide the West to a basically sound response to our arms-control proposals.”
He dismissed a suggestion that Gorbachev’s bid to enlist Ottawa’s support was an effort to further divide the western alliance, which is split over proposals to curb European missiles.
“We have no desire, no intention of trying to spoil (Canada’s) good relations with its neighbors,” said Bessmertnykh, who pledged more consultations in what he said would become a “growing practice of exchanges” between Canadian and Soviet leaders.
No, Jung Cho and Byung Lee are not sitting around relaxing in the gentle breeze of their colorful hand fan. They are actually working hard to get ready for a multicultural fashion show tonight. The Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society is sponsoring
Citizen photo by Lisa Murdoch
the show, where costumes from Korea and 13 other countries will be on parade. The fashion show starts at 7 p.m. at St. Mary’s Auditorium, and will be followed by a dinner and dance. Tickets are $15 and are available at Aimhi ticket sales.
No-strike proposal for mail?
OTTAWA (CP) - A Commons committee probably will recommend that postal workers be stripped of the right to strike, says Winnipeg MP Dan McKenzie.
The longtime Conservative also says the committee is likely to ask Canada Post to study using private couriers to deliver mail in urban subdivisions now served by group mailboxes.
McKenzie said in an interview his proposals are backed by other Tory MPs on the committee and a report should be ready for presentation to the Commons by the end of May.
The Tories hold a majority on the all-party government operations committee, which has been reviewing a controversial Canada Post business plan designed to wipe out postal deficits by March 31, 1988.
McKenzie said Thursday he doubts that opposition postal critics on the committee — Alfonso Gagliano of the Liberals and Cyril Keeper of the New Democrats — will support his ideas.
“They don’t agree with anything we recommend.”
Keeper said nothing would be solved by stripping postal workers of the right to strike because it would not deal with problems caused by bad labor-management relations. Legal strikes would become illegal strikes, he argued.
He also said it would be silly to hire private couriers to deliver the mail when Canada Post has a nationwide network of letter carriers anxious to do the job.
Gagliano said he believes personally that “certain essential postal services” should be maintained during postal strikes but it would be going too far to ban strikes altogether.
As for delivering mail to private homes by courier, Gagliano said the idea is shortsighted and foolish.
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