by Brian Peckford
April 18, 2022
The attack is is on!!!
Attack the Charter of Rights and Freedoms on its 40 th anniversary of becoming the law in Canada.
Three commentators in the Epoch Times have a shot this past weekend.
Rather than deal with the people who have mangled its meaning , the Governments of Canada and the Judiciary , so far, they attack the document.
Sad!
Here is my response to the Epoch Times who in my communication with them will carry it with some editing. But here’s the original :
Omid Ghorish
Epoch Times
I would ask you to carry the article below in response to two articles you recently carried in your paper.
Brian
‘I Take Issue Issue With The Two Theorists Who Have Articles In You Paper
How nice to hear from the theorists in our midst .
Tearing down our nation even more that it is already.
The never elected talking about the unelected.
Perhaps its time for these people to get elected.
The Epoch Times (inadvertently ?) exposes William Gairdner and Bruce Pardy , two regular commentators on our Constitution.
A little too much theory methinks.
One espouses that we have been re-colonized , the other, just bring on a new Constitution.
You know , we’re just a bunch of modern colonials , and take an extra weekend and craft a new constitution.
As a First Minister who helped craft the Constitution Act of 1982 I find this simplicity too much to take.
Mr. Gairdner talks of ‘we’ did not achieve responsible Government until 1867 . If the ‘we’ is Nova Scotia , that was 1848, same for the Province of Canada, and New Brunswick, and 1841 for Prince Edward Island and 1855 for Newfoundland. So says Professor Dawson in his semInal book ‘The Government of Canada .‘
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was not Trudeau’s Charter ( his was defeated in his loss in the Supreme Court) it was the collective effort of ten Provinces ( Quebec objecting at the end of the 17 months of negotiations ) and the Federal Government.
You see, opinion does not necessarily make fact.
As far as Professor Pardy goes, he well understands that achieving a new Constitution is fraught with destroying our country altogether . It took 114 years to get a second Constitution Act to our existing Constitution . Does one think it will be easier to get a whole new Constitution? Quebec is not even part of the Second Act?
Before we start tearing down, we need to see if we can change what we have within the existing system .
Options are available , Federally and Provincially.
We need to reform :
We need a reform to our political parties ; to be ones that will abide by and practice the existing rules of a true parliamentary democracy, true responsible Government and themselves be transparent and accountable.
We need to re-establish the supremacy of Parliament involving among other things the active involvement of parliamentary committees over all major legislation with new rules to prevent the tyranny of the majority.
We need to abolish Prime Ministerial rule; it is inconsistent with the constitutional conventions of this nation
We need to reform our educational system nation wide by Introducing civics as a mandatory subject from grade eight to grade 12 .
We need to examine the relationship of our universities with authoritative , totalitarian regimes and whether such relationship serves the values of our nation.
We need Organized People Engagement on an ongoing basis to insist through themselves and through their elected representatives that the judiciary abide by the plain meaning of the Constitution as written.
We need Organized People Engagement on an ongoing basis to insist through them and their elected representatives that the judiciary appointment system be revised to reflect true neutrality and merit using public hearings through Parliament .
That we insist through Organized People Engagement that we are proud of our traditions and development and must return to the basics that built this country .
That we insist through Organized People Engagement that we are proud of our customs, conventions , common law and the evolution of a written rights and freedoms document .
Strong civic engagement means strong democracy, weak civic engagement means weak democracy .
This is only a start but we, ‘deplorable colonials ‘ must organize and insist on major reform of the existing system and try it before destroying it altogether with a so called NEW CONSTITUTION .
Theoretical constructions are important to our nations debate in the public square but they too must be scrutinized to ensure reality and practical solutions in order to advance our democratic future built on the best of our past.
Honourable A. Brian Peckford P.C.
Only Surviving First Minister Who Helped Craft The Patriation Agreement of 1981 That Authorized the Constitution Act of 1982. ‘
The two articles :
https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-charter-at-40-how-canada-got-re-colonized_4179647.html
The unspoken reality is that of a Woke Liberal revolution in Canada. As long as the Liberal Party control our federal government, Canada will continue its journey to its pre-conceived status as a neo-communist society.