Conference kaosws::canada

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Pieter

================================================================================
Path: pa.dec.com!decwrl!parc!lll-winken!looking!clarinews
From: [email protected] ((Morrissey/Standard Broadcast News))
Newsgroups: clari.canada.gov
Subject: <Language-NB> (OTTAWA) A constitutional amendment has been passed in
Keywords: canadian broadcast, state government, government
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 2 Feb 93 00:38:00 GMT
References: <[email protected]>
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Location: canada
ACategory: national
Slugword: Languag-NB
Priority: regular
ANPA: Wc: 206/184; Id: z5711; Sel: cnng; Adate: N/A-NA; Ver: 0/1
Codes: jngs.cn.


	(OTTAWA) A constitutional amendment has been passed in the House of
Commons to give English and French communities in New Brunswick equal
status. 

	The amendment, which had been part of the Charlottetown Accord, has
already been approved by th New Brunswick Legislature. However,
procedural wrangling by two Bloc Quebecis MPs prevented it from being
passed in the Commons before Christmas. 

	But constitutional lawyr Deborah Coyne, who campaigned hard for the
``NO'' side in the referendum, says she plans to take the issue to court
in mid-February. She says the amendment effects all Canadians, NOT just
those in New Brunswick, because it's a ``constitutional'' amendment. She
says Canadians clearly voted against the Charlottetown accord and she
sys the government is pushing constitutional changes through the back
door. She says changes must be aproved by a majority of provinces, NOT
one province. 

	Prime Minister Mulroney says this is a ``stand-aone'' matter which
had been agreed upon previously, and says it was NOT related to the
harlottetown Accord. He insists it is NOT a model for future bilateral
agreements. He calls the amendmet ``social justice''. 

Interesting episode...

Mulroney has refused to negotiate or enact any of the other pieces of the
Charlottetown agreement separately, because (he says) they were rejected in the
referendum.  It's true that New Brunswick voted "yes" in the referendum, thanks
to an overwhelming "yes" from the Acadians, but I think Mulroney's
differentiation of this part of the package from the rest, as reported above,
is pretty weak.  

Mulroney has enough political smarts to know we're all fed up with the 
constitution.  However, with an anti-bilingualism backlash going on in
anglophone New Brunswick, where the "Confederation of Regions" party is the 
official opposition, there's a consensus among the mainstream parties to
entrench New Brunswick's official bilingualism in the constitution.
    
Coyne, a former adviser to Clyde Wells and the mother of Trudeau's most recent 
child, is a staunch opponent of the concept of "collective rights," claiming 
they inevitably detract from individual rights.

The Bloc Qu�b�cois showed their Parliamentary incompetence when they blocked
passage of this before Christmas, apparently without understanding what they
were doing.  As separatists, they aren't big on bilingualism, but they usually
at least try to appear sympathetic to their fellow francophones.    

-Stephen

    re .2
    
    Stephen,  are you suggesting that this is a desperation move by the
    feds (in concert with the New Brunswick Liberals of Frank McKenna)
    to entrench minority rights before the CORE party sweeps in and
    erodes them?
    
    Pieter
    

    No, I think (hope) CoR has probably peaked.  They are not a very
    impressive group.  The lanuage issue is very much alive in New Brunswick, 
    however.  Not a "desperation move," but a bid to safeguard the equality 
    of services in the 2 languages from possible threat, and maybe a political 
    move to undermine CoR by getting the issue out of the realm of partisan 
    debate at the provincial level.
    
    I'm from New Brunswick, but I'm not closely in touch with what's going
    on in politics there, so my feel for the situation isn't as good as it
    might be.
    
    At the federal level, it seems to me that opposition to this would be a
    no-win proposition for any of the parties; the pro-bilingualism
    consensus among them holds. 
    
    -Stephen