To the Editor: I want to congratulate Quebec on the end of the Sovereignty Movement. I would have thought that the Province and Separatist Groups would have announced the end of the Sovereignty Movement to the rest of Canada, but perhaps a big ceremony is being planned and the formal announcement will be made at that time.
The end of the Quebec Sovereignty Movement was marked by the passage of the Canadian Consumer Product Safety Act (Bill C-36). The Bill represents the largest transfer of Provincial Power to the Federal Government in Canadian history. Not only was Quebec silent while the Bill passed, but the Bloc Quebecois supported the Bill.
Consumer products represent the largest part of our economy. Our Constitution gives the Provinces jurisdiction over property and civil rights, such as consumer products. Because the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction over consumer products, Bill C-36 is an exercise of Parliament's criminal law power.
In the past, Provinces would not allow the Federal Government to encroach on Provincial jurisdiction using the criminal law power where there was minimal risk. The most famous example is called the Margarine Reference. After the Second World War the Federal Government outlawed margarine because of the "risk" it posed. This was challenged in the Supreme Court of Canada which struck down the law. The Court said that although an argument can be made that margarine carries some risk, the risk is not significant enough to be considered truly criminal. The Court went on to say that if they allowed the Federal Government to encroach upon Provincial jurisdiction where there was minimal risk, then there really would be no area of Provincial jurisdiction the Federal Government could not encroach upon simply by saying there is a "risk" and using their criminal law power. This has limited the criminal law power to areas where there is significant risk. So for example, the law being replaced by the new Bill, the Hazardous Products Act, respected this significant risk threshold.
The new Law applies to all consumer products regardless of risk. Everything from clothes, teddy bears and paper are covered. Almost all consumer product businesses will now be regulated by the Federal Government regardless of risk.
Sadly, this new Law also undermines the rule of law. It enables federal inspectors to seize, and in some cases keep, private property without any Court supervision. The Federal Government can now make binding orders taking control over private property, again, without Court supervision. The new law exempts such orders from the publication and review provisions of the Statutory Instruments Act, so that this can be done in secrecy. None of us will know of families destroyed by unsupervised state discretion. Finally, the Bill exempts the federal inspectors from the law of trespass so that, unlike the regular police, they do not have to leave your property when they are there without a warrant. All of this is ironically being done for our "safety".
My congratulations on the end of Quebec Sovereignty is not heartfelt. Every time I have visited Quebec I have fallen in love with the people. As a British Columbian I have always thought it would be a real loss for the rest of Canada for Quebec to leave. At the same time, the Separatist Movement served to protect all of the Provinces from the seemingly endless centralization of power in Ottawa. If Quebec will not stand up for Provincial jurisdiction and the rights of Her citizens, then who in Canada will? Consequently, when Quebec does come out with its official announcement on the end of the Sovereignty Movement, it will be a sad moment for many non-Quebecers who would never want Quebec to leave but appreciated the protection Quebec's assertion of her rights provided the rest of Canada.
Shawn Buckley, British Columbia.
