Martin's "Democratic deficit" has elected Representatives "Leafleting in the rain for their seats.
Interesting item from an equally interesting Journalist-democratic activist-elected senator Link Byfield.
It seems that Alberta's senators showed up in the rain to pass leaflets out to the Premiers in an attempt to remind them that the nation runs on "constitutional convention”. This means there are many changeable federal political processes where the constitution need not be touched to enable them. Contrary to the lies Martin tells about senate reform, it can become a reality by the provinces simply demanding an elected senate.
This is a subject I've some knowledge of and I can't resist commentary on some of the more pertinent passages in the article:
"Well, the premiers were there to discuss matters of national urgency such as extending Daylight Savings Time. Bert Brown, Betty Unger and I were fulfilling our mandate to promote the idea that all provinces should elect senators."
Yes, interesting the divergence of priorities between promoters of democratic reforms and those who profit from the current democratic federal vacuum. The Premiers are part of the castrated patronage payroll pimping that confederalism has been reduced to by racketeering Liberal regimes.
"Canada is the only federation in the world which allows its prime minister to choose its members of Parliament (along with the Supreme Court, the cabinet, and everything else that matters). "
Yes. Amazing isn't it? Shameful concentration of unilateral executive powers that most despots would envy. Also, we were the drafters of the UN declaration of human rights but we have a Federal Charter of rights and Freedoms which omits or denies/represses 6 civil rights of the UNDHR and a devolved undemocratic federal system which breaches 3 primary articles of the UDHR...primary among these breaches are: no individual property rights, reverse onus in federal laws, open police search and seizure without just cause in federal laws, coercive unilateral federal executive powers, executive appointment powers which ignores popular public will, political and jurisdictional prejudice. Yes we're very hypocritical when it comes to our own democratic and civil deficits. ( The breaches are articles: 2,3,7,11,12,17,18,20,21)
Now I want to revisit this dangerous misconception:
"Canada is the only federation in the world which allows its prime minister to choose its members of Parliament"
Sorry Link, Canada is NOT a federation...never was, never will be, and was not founded or constituted as one. There is no supporting constitutional documentation to assume this confederal dominion was dissolved into a federation. Canada is a CONfederation. The differences in political operation of the government between federations and confederations is VERY important in understanding Provincial rights and jurisdiction. In a confederation all parties are "equal and sovereign within right". This means that the provinces are NOT subservient to Ottawa that they are the supreme authority within their jurisdiction....and their jurisdiction is clearly enumerated in section 92 of the constitution ( BNA act). It also means that the central government in a confederation is restricted to only a few responsibilities relegated to it by the sovereign states in the confederation.
Also; confederal partnerships are "consensual" and all partners in the confederal association are not bound into an irreversible associative contract like those in a federation are. Any confederal partner is free to leave the association at any time by the same democratic mandate that they entered into it...Switzerland is a confederation..and so is Canada..even though outlaw federal statists wish it was a soviet federation.
The Clarity act recognizes this confederal agreement and was a response to the SCC reaffirming our confederal national association. Any fed regime that acts like they are the supreme authority in a federation is acting ultra-vires and can legally/constitutionally be ignored. NEVER FORGET THAT!...even though our spineless Premiers have.
"But if anyone is living in fantasyland, it's the premiers with their vaunted "Council of the Federation." It's a Quebec notion, based on the alluring mirage that the provinces acting together can shape the national agenda in health, urban affairs, economic development, and social programs. Under the Canadian Constitution, these are all provincial, not federal, responsibilities. "
Again; the premiers are well aware of the devolved operational confederation. They are the ones who have sold off their constitutional jurisdictions/responsibilities to Ottawa which has bought their way into the jurisdictions with money stolen ( ultra-vires taxing) from the provinces. I disagree with Link here about the senate being the sole tool to stop this.
The key to stemming this ultra vires revenue/jurisdiction raiding is to have section 91 (3) interpreted as it has been for 100 years by numerous SCC rulings. Liberal stacked SCCs since the Trudeau era have ignored precedent in the interpretation of federal taxing powers and have misinterpreted section 91(3) out of context of Sec 91's preamble to mean unlimited federal tax power. This is fraudulent! It will take Premiers with some testicular fortitude to stand their ground on fed taxing and kick the looters out of taxing and regulating where they are in constitutional breach. There is NO constitutional evidence that the current remittance/transfer system of funding the provinces is constitutionally legal. Then the elected senate can act according to the will of their province and the proper interpretation of the constitution.
Remove Ottawa's stolen revenue streams and you reduce their influence back to where it was intended by the framers of the constitution.
"The only institution with both the mandate and the constitutional authority to protect provinces from the federal government is the Senate. But it never uses its power because its members are all appointed by the prime minister. "
Only partially true Link. The senate was originally intended to be a legislative body with veto powers over legislation passed to it from the house...and it exercised this veto for years ...so in convention they have effective power now they simply do not exercise it because they feel they have no right to stop legislation passed by elected reps....which is amiable but a trite excuse to resist change.. Elected senate appointees can be installed right now without a change in the constitution...the GG is in charge here and NO change is needed to install an elected senate appoinee...SO...we have 2 of the 3Es of senate ready to go. The only thing that requires a constitutional change is to make the upper house equal regionally in seats.
For now I suspect the west and Alberta and the 6 4% of voters who do not support the liberals would be happy with this very do-able democratic reform...it's a very easy patch to the democratic deficit that will stem off separatism....but it requires the PM and his party to relinquish executive powers to a mandate from popular will (as the UNDHR Canada signed, says we must do...the bias must always be with a public mandate over unilateral executive power) Both these manageable changes (which defer autocracy to democratic mandate) CAN be done but require the GG and PM to seek a higher calling to democratic responsibility adhere to convention or break convention....IMHO neither has the moral nor intellectual fortitude to do so.
"Things such as the selection of Supreme Court judges. Liberal prime ministers pick liberal candidates to reinterpret the Charter. An independent Senate could insist on different candidates."
Ahhhh there's the second rub...because these partisan sycophants also have to "interpret" the constitution (although the constitution is in clear language and needs no interpretation). Since Pearson liberal stacked SCCs have rubber stamped federal ultra-vires taxing powers. Fed taxing powers have been corrupted to accommodate the current theft of revenues out of the provinces for redistribution on a patronage basis. This is ( as I said) the key to a corrupt federal governing power over the provinces. So it's a chicken or egg circular argument as to which must happen first...senate reform or constitutional taxation reform.
“Premiers, stop kidding yourselves. Either force Senate reform, or continue losing jurisdiction to Ottawa until you are completely irrelevant.”
Well said senator elect Byfield…but I would add this caution to the premiers; Stop kidding your constituents that you are powerless to stop the feds from raiding your freely given up jurisdiction…stop snowing us, grow a pair and lead constitutional/democratic reform…because Ottawa sure as hell won’t….giving up a virtual autocracy will be an impossible task for these Fed looters.
It seems that Alberta's senators showed up in the rain to pass leaflets out to the Premiers in an attempt to remind them that the nation runs on "constitutional convention”. This means there are many changeable federal political processes where the constitution need not be touched to enable them. Contrary to the lies Martin tells about senate reform, it can become a reality by the provinces simply demanding an elected senate.
This is a subject I've some knowledge of and I can't resist commentary on some of the more pertinent passages in the article:
"Well, the premiers were there to discuss matters of national urgency such as extending Daylight Savings Time. Bert Brown, Betty Unger and I were fulfilling our mandate to promote the idea that all provinces should elect senators."
Yes, interesting the divergence of priorities between promoters of democratic reforms and those who profit from the current democratic federal vacuum. The Premiers are part of the castrated patronage payroll pimping that confederalism has been reduced to by racketeering Liberal regimes.
"Canada is the only federation in the world which allows its prime minister to choose its members of Parliament (along with the Supreme Court, the cabinet, and everything else that matters). "
Yes. Amazing isn't it? Shameful concentration of unilateral executive powers that most despots would envy. Also, we were the drafters of the UN declaration of human rights but we have a Federal Charter of rights and Freedoms which omits or denies/represses 6 civil rights of the UNDHR and a devolved undemocratic federal system which breaches 3 primary articles of the UDHR...primary among these breaches are: no individual property rights, reverse onus in federal laws, open police search and seizure without just cause in federal laws, coercive unilateral federal executive powers, executive appointment powers which ignores popular public will, political and jurisdictional prejudice. Yes we're very hypocritical when it comes to our own democratic and civil deficits. ( The breaches are articles: 2,3,7,11,12,17,18,20,21)
Now I want to revisit this dangerous misconception:
"Canada is the only federation in the world which allows its prime minister to choose its members of Parliament"
Sorry Link, Canada is NOT a federation...never was, never will be, and was not founded or constituted as one. There is no supporting constitutional documentation to assume this confederal dominion was dissolved into a federation. Canada is a CONfederation. The differences in political operation of the government between federations and confederations is VERY important in understanding Provincial rights and jurisdiction. In a confederation all parties are "equal and sovereign within right". This means that the provinces are NOT subservient to Ottawa that they are the supreme authority within their jurisdiction....and their jurisdiction is clearly enumerated in section 92 of the constitution ( BNA act). It also means that the central government in a confederation is restricted to only a few responsibilities relegated to it by the sovereign states in the confederation.
Also; confederal partnerships are "consensual" and all partners in the confederal association are not bound into an irreversible associative contract like those in a federation are. Any confederal partner is free to leave the association at any time by the same democratic mandate that they entered into it...Switzerland is a confederation..and so is Canada..even though outlaw federal statists wish it was a soviet federation.
The Clarity act recognizes this confederal agreement and was a response to the SCC reaffirming our confederal national association. Any fed regime that acts like they are the supreme authority in a federation is acting ultra-vires and can legally/constitutionally be ignored. NEVER FORGET THAT!...even though our spineless Premiers have.
"But if anyone is living in fantasyland, it's the premiers with their vaunted "Council of the Federation." It's a Quebec notion, based on the alluring mirage that the provinces acting together can shape the national agenda in health, urban affairs, economic development, and social programs. Under the Canadian Constitution, these are all provincial, not federal, responsibilities. "
Again; the premiers are well aware of the devolved operational confederation. They are the ones who have sold off their constitutional jurisdictions/responsibilities to Ottawa which has bought their way into the jurisdictions with money stolen ( ultra-vires taxing) from the provinces. I disagree with Link here about the senate being the sole tool to stop this.
The key to stemming this ultra vires revenue/jurisdiction raiding is to have section 91 (3) interpreted as it has been for 100 years by numerous SCC rulings. Liberal stacked SCCs since the Trudeau era have ignored precedent in the interpretation of federal taxing powers and have misinterpreted section 91(3) out of context of Sec 91's preamble to mean unlimited federal tax power. This is fraudulent! It will take Premiers with some testicular fortitude to stand their ground on fed taxing and kick the looters out of taxing and regulating where they are in constitutional breach. There is NO constitutional evidence that the current remittance/transfer system of funding the provinces is constitutionally legal. Then the elected senate can act according to the will of their province and the proper interpretation of the constitution.
Remove Ottawa's stolen revenue streams and you reduce their influence back to where it was intended by the framers of the constitution.
"The only institution with both the mandate and the constitutional authority to protect provinces from the federal government is the Senate. But it never uses its power because its members are all appointed by the prime minister. "
Only partially true Link. The senate was originally intended to be a legislative body with veto powers over legislation passed to it from the house...and it exercised this veto for years ...so in convention they have effective power now they simply do not exercise it because they feel they have no right to stop legislation passed by elected reps....which is amiable but a trite excuse to resist change.. Elected senate appointees can be installed right now without a change in the constitution...the GG is in charge here and NO change is needed to install an elected senate appoinee...SO...we have 2 of the 3Es of senate ready to go. The only thing that requires a constitutional change is to make the upper house equal regionally in seats.
For now I suspect the west and Alberta and the 6 4% of voters who do not support the liberals would be happy with this very do-able democratic reform...it's a very easy patch to the democratic deficit that will stem off separatism....but it requires the PM and his party to relinquish executive powers to a mandate from popular will (as the UNDHR Canada signed, says we must do...the bias must always be with a public mandate over unilateral executive power) Both these manageable changes (which defer autocracy to democratic mandate) CAN be done but require the GG and PM to seek a higher calling to democratic responsibility adhere to convention or break convention....IMHO neither has the moral nor intellectual fortitude to do so.
"Things such as the selection of Supreme Court judges. Liberal prime ministers pick liberal candidates to reinterpret the Charter. An independent Senate could insist on different candidates."
Ahhhh there's the second rub...because these partisan sycophants also have to "interpret" the constitution (although the constitution is in clear language and needs no interpretation). Since Pearson liberal stacked SCCs have rubber stamped federal ultra-vires taxing powers. Fed taxing powers have been corrupted to accommodate the current theft of revenues out of the provinces for redistribution on a patronage basis. This is ( as I said) the key to a corrupt federal governing power over the provinces. So it's a chicken or egg circular argument as to which must happen first...senate reform or constitutional taxation reform.
“Premiers, stop kidding yourselves. Either force Senate reform, or continue losing jurisdiction to Ottawa until you are completely irrelevant.”
Well said senator elect Byfield…but I would add this caution to the premiers; Stop kidding your constituents that you are powerless to stop the feds from raiding your freely given up jurisdiction…stop snowing us, grow a pair and lead constitutional/democratic reform…because Ottawa sure as hell won’t….giving up a virtual autocracy will be an impossible task for these Fed looters.
posted by W.L. Mackenzie Redux | 5:35 AM
4 Comments:
I second aizlynne Bill,
See, ya'll got 2 votes already .. ;-)
This is the best laid out argument I have seen yet.
Many people comment that the premiers are powerless , failing to understand the arrangement in confederation.
You have made it clear what confederation is and who is laying down on the job. I just wish you would post this everywhere on the Canadian blogs for it is there that I see the misconceptions and misunderstandings. Perhaps if people understood confederation better they would urge their premiers to get off their duffs and do their jobs.
Thanks so much!
Precisely SnowBunnie: How Can Canadians know what they have been robbed of if they have no proper knowledge or understanding of Canadian history. I believe that part of Menshevik deconstructionism is historical revisionism...part of this program to dumb down Canadians is to cheat them of a proper understanding of their nation's foundation and governing institutions.
If you were to take a poll of the many Canadian bloggers, I bet less than 1% could tell you the gist and outcome of the 1864 Quebec conferences...or the significance of Mackenzie, Baldwin, LaFontaine, Brown and Lords Monck and Durham on the establishment of responsible government, reformation of governing institutions and founders of confederal colonial amalgamation.
I'm willing to bet that most 20-30 somethings have no idea the impact of refusing both Meech and Charlottetown accords has on confederation. I wonder if they realize that these were attempts by the federal government to establish federal powers for Ottawa and they were roundly rejected by both Quebec and the people in a referendum.
All these events lead to the core fact that Canada remains a confederation of equal sovereign within right partners. Ottawa is NOT the boss and has illegally and unconstitutionally stolen provincial powers.....and not for the betterment of all.....for the betterment of Ottawa and a few private patronage clients.
I think the problem is Bill, that most Canadians would sigh, and give the ol, "who gives a damn" response.
Government in this country has gotten so big, that I'm afraid it's reached the critical demographic point where Nanny becomes more important than the individual. To many people view Nanny as the only guarantor of personal rights and prosperity. It's a dangerous place to be, but if not mistaken, even Klien is growing government faster and faster, suckering Albertans into the Nanny dependency.
People in that state of mind don't care one bit for what your post has eloquently stated.
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