The Importance of Bilateral Amendment in Canadian - Assignment Example

College Canadian Democracy in a North American Introduction David R Cameron is the of the article “Recognizing Quebecin the constitution of Canada”, being a professor of political science at Yale university and one of the directors dealing with European union studies, Professor David is a well experienced author in the law field. He has written dozens of books and articles that pertains to laws in Canada, USA, and the European Union. In this particular article, he expounds on some of the challenges that this province is going through to preserve their rich French culture and language. Being the only province in Canada that speaks French, the professor tries to identify the laws that affect Quebec and how relevant these laws are to the French population. To try and support the province, David tries to analyze ways in which the province can be recognized in the constitution of Canada without any trouble. This would however require amendments that will not only require the expertise of the legislation but will also have to pass by a majority votes in the other provinces. Is it necessary for Quebec to have their own language and hence promote their rich French culture? Body Quebec has always had a rich history in French culture and language. However the other parts of the country speaks English and does not have a rich French culture that exists in Quebec. Preserving the French culture has always proved to be a problem and as a result of this, the leaders have come with amendments that will allow each province to be able to determine some few issues affecting them without having to affect other provinces. For example in this case, Quebec could be able to change its laws and make French the official language in the province unlike other provinces which has English being their official language. Doing this will however mean that the constitution will have to be amended to allow each province to choose its respective language without legislative opposition. However the bilateral constitution amendments process has to be limited to only a few issues and should not include issues that are critical to the countries security and economy such as voting periods. At the moment however, it is not possible for any province to amend its constitution without legislative approval. The process begins in 1982 when the country adopted a new constitutional amendments process that will ensure that Canada changes its constitution without the inclusion of the British. It has however been argued that during this period, the amendments were made without the approval of Quebec a major province that had over a quarter of the entire population at that particular period of time. This was ironical since Quebec had played a major role in ensuring that Canada got these amendments. However thee countries legislature completely ignored the agenda that Quebec had for this particular change. After this, there have been several failed attempts to accept the changes that Quebec proposes to the constitution. The main arguments of the author are that Quebec has always had a rich French culture that has always been protected by the people all through the years. The people therefore need these cultural values that include French language to be protected by law. This would mean that French become the official language of the province. However currently the law does not recognize the bilateral amendment process that allows each province to amend its own laws. The author argues that in 1982, Quebec fought for a new constitution that would allow the country to amend its own constitution without Britain’s help. Quebec also proposed the inclusion of bilateral constitution amendment, a system that would allow each province to change some of its laws that did not include controversial statements that were important to the country. However during the constitutional amendment process, Quebec were not included in the process and some of their needs were not met. Despite the constant complains by the Quebec leaders, there has not been a consensus on how to promote culture in the area. It is important to note that the amendment process would not affect other provinces. This means that the amendment would not require a majority vote in order to pass. The author argues that the exclusion of Quebec in the amendment process has no justification as this area contained more than a quarter of the entire population. It is therefore ironical that the same province that fought for the constitutional amendments had to be left out of the process. Since French culture is important to the people of Quebec, it is their right to fight and protect it. In the mid 1980’s, the prime minister proposed an amendment of the constitution that would ensure remedy of the Quebec concerns. In this statement, the prime minister recognized the existence of the francophone a group of people in Canada that spoke French and lived mainly in Quebec. The provision is said to ensure that before issuing of any judgment, judges had to show difference in any legislation that was meant to protect the French language since this was a violation of human rights. However this provision did not gather enough support especially in Manitoba and Newfoundland. This was due to the rejection of French cultures by the English speaking Canadians (Cameron 20). Despite the authors efforts to convince people to support the bilateral amendment process, there are questions that still arise from the outcome that this process would bring to the nation. First, language is one of the major things that contribute to national unity. Almost every known country has one language that unifies them a language that is considered to be the national language. By excluding the province of Quebec to have their own language different from that of other provinces, national unity will be compromised. The exclusions of the province to have its own language would also mean that the province would not participate fully to most of the activities taking place in other parts of the country and vice versa. It means that it would require a translator at some point for one Canadian to communicate with another Canadian. This would not promote national unity among all states. The bilateral constitution amendment process would also mean that every province and not only Quebec has the right to change their language and other parts of the constitution that they feel are not good for them. When this is passed, it would mean that there would be different laws that will be passed in other provinces that would affect the general uniformity that exists in the nation. For example, one province may decide to change their system of education. Student transfer from a French speaking province to a non French speaking province can also be difficult as it would be difficult for them to adapt. There are a lot of challenges that the proposed law would come with as opposed to the benefits that it will bring to the minority. In writing this proposal and analysis, the author did not put the interest of national unity in place but instead focused on other issues that were only beneficial to a minority in the country. This article has a lot of value that is important especially to the people of Quebec. First, the author identifies the importance of the French culture to the province of Quebec and how this language and culture can be protected and preserved in the province. The importance of bilateral constitutional amendment is also discussed properly in the article. After reading the whole paper, one is able to know the importance of bilateral amendment to the country as a whole. The history of constitutional amendment process is also important and is well discussed. One is able to know the exact periods of time when such crucial steps were taken in the country. Conclusion Even though having and protecting culture is one of the basic rights the Canadians have, the inclusion of such a crucial matter in the constitution would be controversial to the country. To preserve the French language and culture, the Quebec people do not have to include this in their constitution rather they can look for a way that will help promote this culture and language. For example, the people can speak French in their homes and while doing different transactions. However for official use, the national and official language is necessary. If the country is separated into different regions each speaking different languages, then there would be a lot of problems that would be caused by this as opposed to the advantages. It would mean that national unity would be overlooked to meet the interest of the Quebec people. The bilateral constitution amendment process would also mean that every province and not only Quebec has the right to change their language and other parts of the constitution that they feel are not good for them. When this is passed, it would mean that there would be different laws that will be passed in other provinces that would affect the general uniformity that exists in the nation. For example, one province may decide to change their system of education. Work cited Cameron, David R. Recognizing Quebec in the constitution of Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999. Print. Read More