September 24, 2006
This is definitely something for all concerned Canadians to check out.
A new vision for Canada
By: Link Byfield
For: The Calgary Herald
Thursday, September 14, 2006
At the end of this month, this city will host an unusual national event -- a grassroots assembly called the Calgary Congress: Restoring Responsible Government.
It's the brainchild of a policy group I chair, the Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy. Attendance at the Congress is open to anyone who believes in reforming federalism.
Though similar in some ways to the historic 1987 Western Assembly in Vancouver which launched the Reform party, the aim is not to start a new party. We've been down that road before.
The Calgary Congress will create a new vision of how Canada should work, and to debate the basic ground rules to make it possible.
Pie in the sky? Not at all. Some of the most successful politicians in the country will address the Congress -- including our own premier -- and many of Canada's most insightful economic and constitutional policy experts.
Greetings will be brought from the federal government by Calgary MP Jason Kenney, parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The federal government has not taken an active role in the Congress, but is interested in the subjects it will debate. The Harper government has already taken the first small steps in most of them.
The Congress will debate:
It is important for citizens and policy experts to now speak, loudly, freely and clearly, thoughts that elected politicians fear to speak.
Such as the historic reality that Canada was not built on the principle of regional sharing -- quite the opposite. It was a way for Ontario to escape the high cost and low productivity of Quebec. This was stated openly and frequently at the time.
Such as the likelihood that if English Canada had not centralized power in Ottawa in the 1950s and 1960s, Quebecers would not have started electing separatist governments in the 1970s.
Such as the fact, often demonstrated and always ignored, that federal regional transfers are just as bad for the provincial economies that receive them as they are for the provincial economies forced to provide them. And that rather than uniting us, they breed economic torpor, regional resentment and irresponsible government.
Such as the fact that in the last election, the Liberals and NDP ran almost entirely on platforms of even greater intrusion into provincial responsibilities, beginning almost every campaign promise with, "We will work with the provinces to . . . " This is Ottawa-speak for "Whether provinces want it or not, we will force all Canadians to pay for . . . "
Such as the all-important fact that Ottawa's entire equalization transfer goes, in effect, to paying the interest on provincial debts that were incurred because of the equalization formula itself.
For too long -- half a century too long -- Canadians have allowed vague and false bromides about compassion and national unity to substitute for clear principles of federal union. We have forgotten what once made us strong -- a system of responsible and accountable government, with clear lines of division between the powers and responsibilities of Ottawa and the provinces.
There is today a new and harder tone coming into federal discussions. It's no accident that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is taking a hard line against expanding equalization. The cost of the federal system is steadily killing his province.
And it will kill Alberta, too, notwithstanding our giddy but temporary financial surpluses. No province can afford to donate five to 10 per cent of its economy every year to federal programs that perpetuate a needless and fruitless demand for more.
If money is to be shared, it should be done in ways that increase productivity in weaker provinces, not lower it.
To learn more or to register for the Calgary Congress, visit www.CalgaryCongress.ca or call 1-866-666-6768.
Link Byfield is chair of the Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy, co-chair of the Calgary Congress, and an Alberta senator-elect.
By: Link Byfield
For: The Calgary Herald
Thursday, September 14, 2006
At the end of this month, this city will host an unusual national event -- a grassroots assembly called the Calgary Congress: Restoring Responsible Government.
It's the brainchild of a policy group I chair, the Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy. Attendance at the Congress is open to anyone who believes in reforming federalism.
Though similar in some ways to the historic 1987 Western Assembly in Vancouver which launched the Reform party, the aim is not to start a new party. We've been down that road before.
The Calgary Congress will create a new vision of how Canada should work, and to debate the basic ground rules to make it possible.
Pie in the sky? Not at all. Some of the most successful politicians in the country will address the Congress -- including our own premier -- and many of Canada's most insightful economic and constitutional policy experts.
Greetings will be brought from the federal government by Calgary MP Jason Kenney, parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The federal government has not taken an active role in the Congress, but is interested in the subjects it will debate. The Harper government has already taken the first small steps in most of them.
The Congress will debate:
- Should there be a constitutional restriction on federal spending?
- Should provincial parties and interests control a reformed Senate?
- Should provinces appoint all judges within their borders, as happens in almost all other federations? Should there be term limits on Supreme Court judges?
- Should a reformed Senate, not the courts, hold ultimate power to demarcate the boundaries of national and provincial responsibilities?
It is important for citizens and policy experts to now speak, loudly, freely and clearly, thoughts that elected politicians fear to speak.
Such as the historic reality that Canada was not built on the principle of regional sharing -- quite the opposite. It was a way for Ontario to escape the high cost and low productivity of Quebec. This was stated openly and frequently at the time.
Such as the likelihood that if English Canada had not centralized power in Ottawa in the 1950s and 1960s, Quebecers would not have started electing separatist governments in the 1970s.
Such as the fact, often demonstrated and always ignored, that federal regional transfers are just as bad for the provincial economies that receive them as they are for the provincial economies forced to provide them. And that rather than uniting us, they breed economic torpor, regional resentment and irresponsible government.
Such as the fact that in the last election, the Liberals and NDP ran almost entirely on platforms of even greater intrusion into provincial responsibilities, beginning almost every campaign promise with, "We will work with the provinces to . . . " This is Ottawa-speak for "Whether provinces want it or not, we will force all Canadians to pay for . . . "
Such as the all-important fact that Ottawa's entire equalization transfer goes, in effect, to paying the interest on provincial debts that were incurred because of the equalization formula itself.
For too long -- half a century too long -- Canadians have allowed vague and false bromides about compassion and national unity to substitute for clear principles of federal union. We have forgotten what once made us strong -- a system of responsible and accountable government, with clear lines of division between the powers and responsibilities of Ottawa and the provinces.
There is today a new and harder tone coming into federal discussions. It's no accident that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is taking a hard line against expanding equalization. The cost of the federal system is steadily killing his province.
And it will kill Alberta, too, notwithstanding our giddy but temporary financial surpluses. No province can afford to donate five to 10 per cent of its economy every year to federal programs that perpetuate a needless and fruitless demand for more.
If money is to be shared, it should be done in ways that increase productivity in weaker provinces, not lower it.
To learn more or to register for the Calgary Congress, visit www.CalgaryCongress.ca or call 1-866-666-6768.
Link Byfield is chair of the Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy, co-chair of the Calgary Congress, and an Alberta senator-elect.
