A Distinctive National Flag and Constitutional Problems in Canada . Mr. W. F. KUHL's (Jasper-Edson. Member of Parliament, Ottawa) presentation before The House of Commons Ottawa, Thursday November 8, 1945 . "But personally I consider that under the constitutional conditions prevailing in this country at the moment such action is premature. "There are other and more important actions to be taken, before it is appropriate to adopt a new flag.(but they adopted the new flag anyway; looking back now, it would have been better to have continued on under the original United States constitution). "The
flag question.(link to https://www.detaxcanada.org/canflag.htm
has been taken down; they don't want you to know the truth).is
just one of the many anomalies which exist in Canada's constitutional position.
Some of these have been referred to this afternoon. One of them, the matter
of Canadian citizenship, is intended to be dealt with at this session.
There are others, such as amendments to the constitution.(there
was no constitution and neither
is there one today as Canada, like the U.S. was in bankruptcy {caused by
the policies against people by the cabal}
and when bankrupt, contracts can't be entered into), appeals to
the privy council, the power of disallowance, the matter of a federal district
proper, and doubtless there are others.
To Account For Anomalies "I wish to indicate, Mr. Speaker, my reasons for
contending that the method that is proposed to attempt to remove these
anomalies is improper and undemocratic. Then I wish to indicate what I
consider to be the proper method to use. To do this I first wish to endeavour
to account for the constitutional circumstances in which we find ourselves
at the moment.
Submit Reasoned Argument "I propose to make a reasoned argument supported
by the best evidence I have been able to secure. If my argument is to be
controverted,
I demand that it be met with a reasoned argument and not with personal
abuse and statements which are wholly irrelevant.
I expect a more intelligent criticism of my argument than was exhibited
by a certain hon. member when I discussed this subject in a previous parliament.
In.Hansard.of
April 8, 1938, at page 2183, this little exchange took place between myself
and the hon. member for Selkirk, Mr. Thorson:
|
Note: It says.'governments
...derive their just powers from the consent of the governed'.
When people in one area have
no effective say, it's a 'closed shop' for those that have the say.
And you can add to this:
Britain back then was inflexible when it came to maintaining control of
her colonial possessions, even using coercion
when necessary.
|
"In order to endeavour to account for the contradictions
in Canada's constitutional position and to suggest a remedy therefor, I
wish to lay down some fundamental premises on which I shall base my entire
argument..Locke.is
credited with saying:."Men
being by nature all free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out
of this estate and subjected to the power of another without his consent.
The only way whereby anyone divests himself of his natural liberty and
puts on the bonds of civil society is by agreeing with other men to join
and unite into a community."
Federal Union Defined "In addition to that promise I wish to indicate the definition of a federal union. What is a federal union"?".Bouvier in his law dictionary defines 'federal government' as:."a union or confederation of sovereign states, created either by treaty, or by the mutual adoption of a federal constitution.".(*) "Doctor Ollivier, joint law clerk of the House of Commons, on page 85 of the report of the special committee on the British North America Act, said:."A confederation is a union of independent and sovereign states bound together by a.pact.or a treaty for the observance of certain conditions dependent upon the unanimous consent of the contracting parties.(who were voted in by the electorate.–.confederation means 'people get together'), who are free to withdraw from the union." . "A. P. Newton, in his book entitled.Federal and Unified Constitutions, at page 5 says:."A federal state is a perpetual union of several sovereign states based first upon a treaty between those states or upon some historical status common to them all, and secondly upon a federal.constitution.accepted by their citizens.".(*). . "Two points stand out prominently in these definitions. The first is that.the states which form the union must be sovereign, free and independent before they federate; the second, that.the federal constitution which forms the basis of the union.must be accepted by the citizens.of the federating states. . "I think it worth while in this connection to point out, that.when the States of Australia federated,.the people of Australia.were provided with two opportunities of voting on their constitution. I should like to quote a paragraph from a history of the Australian constitution by Quick and Garran. This paragraph is on the meaning of the words "have agreed" in the constitution, and it states:."These words make distinct and emphatic reference to the consensus of the people, arrived at through the procedure, in its various successive stages, prescribed by the substantially similar enabling acts adopted by the legislatures of the concurring colonies. In four of the colonies.(in Australia), acts were passed enabling the people to take part in the framing and the acceptance or rejection of a federal constitution.for Australia..(and all decent and properly set up democracies have massive citizenry involvment, the State of Virginia, U.S., being but one example the people in the Provinces in Canada could utilize in setting up a fitting constitution for all Canadians).Through those acts.the people agreed, first to send representatives to a federal convention charged with duty of framing for Australia a federal constitution.under the Crown in the form of a bill for enactment by the Imperial Parliament, and secondly,.they agreed to pronounce their judgment upon the constitution at a referendum, which in each colony was arranged to follow the convention. In.all.the colonies,.the constitution was eventually referred to the people. At this referendum each voter was enabled to vote by ballot "yes" or "no" on the question asked on the ballot paper, "Are you in favour of the proposed federal constitution?" "In this manner there was in four colonies a popular initiative and finally in all the colonies a popular ratification of the constitution, which is thus legally the work, as it will be for all time the heritage of the Australian people. This democratic method of establishing a new form of government may be contrasted with the circumstances and conditions under which other federal constitutions became law." Federal Union Desired In 1867 "Now I should like to ask a few questions concerning our position in Canada. Did the provinces of Canada desire federal union? "The Quebec resolutions, the London resolutions and the draft of the bill by the London delegates all indicate that the Provinces of Canada desired federal union. "The preamble to the Quebec resolutions reads:
"The
best interests and present and future prosperity of British North America
will be promoted by a federal union under the crown. Clause 70 of the
Quebec Resolutions
indicates that whatever agreement was arrived at by the delegates would
be submitted to the Provinces for their approval. It reads: The sanction
of the Imperial.(Britain).
and
local parliaments shall be sought for the union of the provinces, on the
principles adopted by the conference.
|
"The next question is:.Did
Canada become a federal union, under the British North America Act?.I
submit that the manner in which the bill was drafted and the manner in
which it was enacted throw much light on the answer to this question. The
act was drafted by the law officers of the Crown attached to the Colonial
Office. Lord Carnarvon, Secretary of State for the Colonies, was the chairman
of the conference. Sir Frederick Rogers, undersecretary for the colonies,
in Lord Blachford's Letters, is quoted as saying at page 301: They held
many meetings at which I was always present. Lord Carnarvon was in the
chair, and I was rather disappointed in his power of presidency.
|
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.