Financial Post
for February 20, 1998

Having been warned, read on and, even if outraged, file this column for future reference, likely around 2001.

There are two roads to catastrophe which will converge, within the next five years, in British Columbia and when they do, B.C. separatism will no longer be something confined to malcontents but a very important if not overwhelming force.

The first road could be called Constitutional Way. That road itself carries on it sufficient trouble to seriously imperil British Columbia's continued membership in our federation.

The dangers are, of course, denied by politicians both in Ottawa and Victoria whose long range vision carries no further than the next election.

We are now slavering over the possibility of enacting the Calgary Declaration, an exercise where 9 premiers, Thesaurus' in hand, brought nit picking semantics to the constitutional table.

This Declaration has just been approved in a poll taken by the B.C. Unity Panel and by the panel's dissection of the submissions it received.

(I made a submission - it was not dealt with, which is fair enough, but I did participate.)

The problem is, the public weren't asked to address the real question, namely, "are you in favour of a constitutional amendment which would give a veto over all constitutional changes to, amongst others, Quebec? And would your answer be different if B.C. had one too?"

This question, if the Calgary Declaration is to be anything more than Premierial hot air, must sooner or later be put to B.C. voters by referendum. British Columbians, thanks to Charlottetown, are a very quick study when it comes to constitutional matters - federal spin doctors take note.

Why must this question be put?

Because any special designation for Quebec means to Quebec politicians of all stripes an affirmation of a veto for Quebec at the very minimum! If one looks back over the past 50 years, Quebec has always demanded a veto. In fact until the Supreme Court of Canada ruled otherwise in 1982, it was always assumed that Quebec had one.

It was difficulty in finding an acceptable amending formula which caused Trudeau his problems when he "patriated" the constitution. It was this conundrum which made Rene Levesque a fan of keeping the constitution in Westminster where, he assumed, Quebec had its precious veto.

B.C. (which must by law hold a referendum before approving a constitutional change) will vote down a new amending formula by an even wider margin (nearly 70%) than Charlottetown. And it matters not that B.C. might also be given a veto. It doesn't need or want one - it wants change as population and power in the country shifts. By voting day, British Columbians will all understand this very clearly. And, remember, to change the amending formula requires unanimous consent of all provinces.

The second highway?

Let's call it the Big Chief Express, colloquially known as Delgamuukh Drive.

The Supreme Court of Canada, nine aging lawyers bent upon creating the nation's social policy, have just, according to aboriginal leaders, handed British Columbia over to them, in the words of a late chief, "lock, stock and barrel".

It will take a book to tell this story but suffice it to say that the Supreme Court, flouting evidentiary principles of hundreds of years, decided that when tribal elders give evidence of what their fathers as told by their fathers as told by their fathers and so on, said about use and occupancy of land, that evidence is not only admissible but must be accepted!

Unable to find legal precedents, the court followed the writings of bleeding heart, conscience stricken professors or, in at least one case, their own writings in trade journals!

The consequences of this have been calamitous and will get worse - much worse.

The Supreme Court of Canada has, in British Columbia, less respect than Rodney Dangerfield. It's seen as a cabal of social engineers whose notion of the "national interest" comes from being (mostly) Central Canadians appointed by Prime Ministers from Central Canada. It's hard enough for British Columbians to relate to a parliament which is 100% controlled by eastern interests let alone to a court appointed by faraway prime ministers who know little and care less about their province.

The full impact of Delgamuukh will hit B.C. just when constitutional amendments are proposed.

When that happens, B.C. federalists will be as hard to find as Vancouver Island marmots.