Conference kaosws::canada

    I have had the same sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach since
    our glorious leader was elected in '84.  I did not vote for him,
    since I was not in Canada at the time, but would not have done so.
    I agree wholeheartedly with you about the Meech Lake agreement.  It's 
    difficult enough now to get agreement among the provinces on any
    issue; what will happen once any of them can veto the others?
  
    As far as Canada being sold out, I have the horrible fear that that
    is what is about to happen in a Free Trade aggrement.  I for one
    hope to return to Canada next year, not to another US state.  Sometimes
    I think that Mulroney has some personal interests which he is trying
    to protect, rather than the good of the country.  
    
    I am leaving DEC tomorrow to take a contract for an outside firm
    - my last one before returning to what, I hope, will be CANADA.
    

    I can't claim to have followed the last few decades closely, but I 
THINK this "balkanization" is a tendency that the Conservatives began 
after Diefenbaker.  I remember Pierre T. being quoted as saying that Joe
Clarke was going to "give away the store" as PM.  And sure enough, our
man Brian is up there doing it.  Federal careers probably be the WORST
careers you could choose if you ever hope to get into the Senate,
since prospective senators must now be nominated by a province. 

    It's as if he thinks the job of a PM is not to be a statesman and 
leader, but just a chairman of the provincial premiers.  He seems to
have no concept of Canada as a nation.  Of course he comes from the
executive suite of a large iron ore company in Quebec; if companies like
his will be dealing MORE with a small provincial government, and LESS
with a large central government, they will probably have a LOT more
influence.

     The Canadian public?  They're watching Dallas, and Oliver North.
Nothing happening in Canada, as far as they know!  Among all
nationalities, Canadians must have the least consciousness of their own
country. 

re. 11.2

>     The Canadian public?  They're watching Dallas, and Oliver North.
>Nothing happening in Canada, as far as they know!  Among all
>nationalities, Canadians must have the least consciousness of their own
>country. 
	
	Are you a Canadian? If so you should be ashamed of yourself. I for one
have a great awareness as to what goes on in this country. From what I have seen
in my many trips to the U.S is a severe lack of knowledge about their country on
THEIR part. I knew more about the U.S than they did, and they thought that
because I was from Canada, I must snowshoe to work and hunt Penguins for 
sustenance. When I told them we had hot summers and that some parts of Canada 
are even further south than many parts of the U.S, they gasped in disbelief. I
found that most Americans, not all of course, were geographic illiterates. One
other thing bothered me, when I would tell them that I was originally from 
Montreal, they would often refer to someone they knew who lived in Montreal and
ask me if I knew that person. Montreal is a little bigger than Walnut Grove 
Minnesota and as far as I know, they've done away with party lines.
	Nay nay I say, it is the Americans among all nationalities that have the
least consciousness of their own country!! I for one do not watch Dallas and as 
far as Oliver North is concerned, I wouldn't be surprised if they ( the Astute
American Public ) would elect him as their president on the merits of his 
honest face!! 

	Yours in true Canadian Patriotism,

				Glenn		

    re.3
    I recently heard the results of a study done on 8th graders geographic
    knowledge. Apparently when asked to identify the land mass commonly
    known as the United States 80 % COULD NOT CORRECTLY IDENTIFY IT
    ON A WORLD MAP! 40 % of those pointed to Brazil. In addition, most
    did not believe that China and Russia had larger populations than
    the US.
    
    So much for education. BTW the big push here is to reintroduce civics
    and morals into the classroom. Civics is considered love of country,
    pride of nation, etc. And then they have the nerve to say that the
    Soviets are "brainwashing " their youth. 
      

    re.4
    This study was done to ascertain the knowledge level of US students.
    

    
    I guess they did not find anything.
    

    In any political arena, the more extreme a shift in one direction,
    the more extreme will be the reaction in the other direction a few
    years later.  Trudeau was jerking Canada too far to the left, too
    far towards Canadianization of the economy, too far towards strong
    central government.  The actions of the Conservatives could be
    predicted to swing away from Liberal policies.  The question with
    Meech Lake and the free trade deal is not whether these actions
    should be taken, but how far should they go.  I concur that on the
    Meech Lake agreement they has been an overcorrection.  However,
    it must be remembered that the deal has corrected many problems
    in the field of Federal-Provincial relations.  The deal should be
    ammended, but not scrapped.

    Correct me if I'm wrong but any amendment would require concurrence
    of all the provinces; a rather dubious event considering the diverse
    and oftentimes contradictory policies of each constituency. This
    is a catch 22 that Canadians seem to find themselves in.
    
    Carol
    

    If my memory serves me correct, most constitutional ammendments
    require at least 2/3 of the provinces (currently 7 of 10) with at
    least 50% of the population.  The Meech Lake accord changed this
    for Senate reforms and the inclusion of new provinces, both of which 
    now require approval of all provinces.

    
                 A VIEW FROM CENTRAL ONTARIO
    
    
    AS LONG AS QUEBEC IS VIEWED AS A "UNIQUE" SOCIETY AND DEALT WITH
    KID GLOVES THE PROBLEM WITH CANADIAN NATIONALLITY WILL CONTINUE.
    
    I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT CANADA WAS SUPPOSE TO BE A MOSAIC AND NOT
    A MELTING POT.!!!! THEREFORE THIS WHOLE COUNTRY IS FULL OF "UNIQUE"
    SOCIETIES. AS MEECH LAKE STANDS IT MAKES IT JUST ABOUT IMPOSSIBLE
    TO ENFORCE ANY LEGISLATION ACROSS CANADA.
    
    			ANY THOUGHTS.???	BRIAN V
    

    Brian,
    
    The Meech Lake Accord would change the Constitution so that Quebec
    would be recognized as a 'distinct society'.  A point that is
    overlooked is that any laws that could be judged constitutional solely
    on that clause, could be enacted by invoking the Nonwithstanding Clause
    (such as the recent inside/outside sign law) anyway.  It's more
    symbolic than substantial, and does a lot to ease francophone fears of
    assimilation. 
    
    The second important point is that further constitutional change
    (Senate reform, division of powers between Federal and Provincial
    governments) are on hold until Quebec signs the Constitution.  The
    Meech Lake Accord is a pragmatic solution.  Perfection comes one
    step at a time.
    
    Glenn