TORONTO (December 15, 1997) - "The word 'freedom' does not appear even once in a 'framework' that is presumably meant to redefine the Canada of the future," says Freedom Party leader Lloyd Walker, in a December 15 letter delivered to each of Ontario's 130 MPPs.
Referring to the Ontario government's current Ontario Speaks: A Dialogue On Canadian Unity questionnaire, Walker questioned the mechanism being employed: "It appears that the government is ignoring its own call for the use of referenda in constitutional matters. If this exercise is simply a process being used to 'take the public's temperature' on (the Calgary Framework), I find it lacking, somewhat reminiscent of the loathed 'negative billing' option."
Walker's letter to each of the MPPs was accompanied by a copy of Consent #28, Fp's 12-page December newsletter which features the full text of a 55-minute speech delivered to the Canadian Club of Kingston by Canadian author and historian Joe C. W. Armstrong. In that address, Armstrong refers to the government's questionnaire as part of "the fastest railroading of any provincial electorate in Canadian history."
"Ontarians have only until December 15 to register a protest against the Calgary Framework, (which is) perhaps the most dangerous document ever put forward," says Armstrong. "They're rushing it so fast, learning after Meech Lake and Charlottetown, that if they let the thing fester very long and people start to find out what it really means and what is being done, then it will be too late."
Walker added his voice to Armstrong's, when he informed the legislature that: "I can say for the record that Freedom Party officially endorses each of (Armstrong's) five recommendations as they appear on page 8 of (your) enclosed newsletter: (1) Eliminate all trade barriers between provinces; (2) Start scrapping the first-past-the-post electoral system; (3) Cut taxes, the deficit, debt, and expenses; (4) Scrap Ontario's Human Rights Commission; and (5) End the historical revisionism that is tearing Canada apart politically and culturally.
"As a starting point for discussion," concluded Walker, "I would urge each and every one of you to consider the political, social, and economic value that can make this province and this country great: freedom itself."
Bob Wood, MPP for London South, and John Baird, MPP for Nepean, were the only two MPPs who directly acknowledged Walker's comments or receipt of Fp's newsletter.
Wood's response was immediate. In a December 16 letter to Walker, he expressed his appreciation for having received the material: "I look forward to reviewing this material with interest."
Baird, who found the articles in Consent to "be both interesting and thought provoking," wrote at further length:
"I was especially interested to read Mr. Joe Armstrong's commentary on the Calgary Framework and on the Ontario government's current dialogue on Canadian unity. While I do not agree with all of Mr. Armstrong's personal opinions, I do agree with his suggestion that meaningful change must be founded on the thoughts and actions of all Canadians, not just our political leaders. I sincerely hope that the Ontario Speaks dialogue can serve to spark just such a reaction."
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last updated on April 28, 2002
