CASTOR COMMEN} Not Hatched Yet The Federal government should not crow too soon over the agreement obtained in the House on sending the Constitution to Men are not as dumb as they look. They have been studying for several thousand years how to get around women and they've done pretty well. They persuaded women to have Beaver Bob. RATTLED BRAINS way things are going. The experts tell us the human race has been around for about half a million years or maybe longer. You would think in that time we would have gotten to be a 'government and Parliament came London. It still has to be approved by the Supreme Court. In effect, the Supreme Court will be asked whether it is within the power of the Federal Parliament to rewrite Canada's Con- stitution in matters within provincial jurisdiction, over the ob- jections of a majority of the provinces. A Manitoba provincial court has returned a split decision on the issue; a Newfoundland court has rejected unilateral amend- ment in matters concerning both parties. A Quebec court has said that Mr. Trudeau's approach is legal but destructive of pro- vincial rights. All of these are provincial courts with no power to rule out an action by Parliament, the highest court in the land. The provincial courts had difficulty deciding what the Con- stitution actually represented. Most of the judges agreed that it was not a pact (perhaps because none wanted to revive the shade of Maurice Duplessis); some said it was a statute of the United Kingdom Parliament; all seemed uncertain of its Canadian par- thogenesis. There is really no mystery about it. Confederation is an agree- ment and the Constitution is the written expression of that agreement. The B.N.A. Act simply represents the terms of the contract to which the provinces gave their assent on entering Confederation. The original signatories of the agreement were four provinces, Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The other six entered in the course of time. When they did so, they accepted the terms of the Confederation agreement and became signatories of the contract. Speaking in the Confederation Debates, John A. Macdonald made it plain that agreement by the governments of the pro- vinces was essential to the existence of Confederation. He prided himself on having obtained that agreement. He said it was unlikely, if Confederation failed, that the agreement would ever be obtained again. He left no doubt from the tenor of his remarks, and his actual words that the thought of proceeding without agreement by the provinces had never crossed his mind. Confederation is more than a legislative union. Confederation was the building of a nation. Confederation created a central government, which did not exist up to the passing of the B.N.A. Act; and that central government, too, was bound by the terms of the articles. When John Robarts was Premier of Ontario, that government issued the theory that the central government was: a creature of the provinces, in the sense that it was created by agreement among the provinces. This may have been technically accurate; but it is largely irrelevant. Once the central into existence, they represented the nation; but at all times they represented the na- tion only in those spheres of activity given to them by the Con- stitution. When the central government and Parliament depart . from their assigned jurisdiction, then they are acting unconstitu- tionally and without validity. It is very well for the courts to say that Mr. Trudeau's course has been legal. That does not make it constitutionally valid. It may be quite legal for a man climbing a mountain to slice through a rope; but if his action sends three others tumbling to their deaths, his action must be classed as destructive. That in essence was the ruling of the Quebec court. Legal but destructive of provincial rights. This shows the folly of asking lower courts to adjudicate questions of high policy involving constitutional mechanisms. Regardless of court decisions, the stance of the Federal Government in re-writing the Constitution, in matters assigned to the provinces (education and language) over the objections of the majority, must be faulted on a number of grounds, all of them fatal to a continuation of Confederation as we have known it. REVIEW "One Canada" Box 359, Russell, Ontario Editor: Tom Van Du sen, Submissions preferably typed, Associate Mark Van Dusen, double-spaced are welcomed, Sports: Jack McLaren, Editor, publishable at the discretion of the 445-2131; Gary Ris, Columnist editor. 238-4142 Published by Castor News: Russell; Suzanne Publishing, Russell, Ontario. Schroeter, 445-5709; Greely, Bar- _ President: Thomas W. Van bara Overell, 821-1155. Dusen. _ Photographs Subscription rate: $4.00 a year; Dusen, 445-5770. $5.00 out-of-country. Printed by Perfor:nance Print- Advertising Manager 'esa Senttha Mail Theresa Griffith, 445-2820. ing, Smiths Falls. : : Bookkeeper: Joan Van Dusen, NEXT DEADLINE 445-3345 Mike Van A45-2080. JUNE 1 Coming events: Jude McGann, NEXT, ISSUE 445-3108. _ JUNE 13 Second Class Mail Registration NEXT MEETING _ No. 4218 ISSN 0707 . iss - 4956 MAY 28 the babies, sweep out the cave, look after the fire, while the men went out and hunted sabre-tooth tigers and mastodons. At least, : that's what they said they weredo- Several million years ago they ing. 4 "say, there were creatures, not 'quite men, but humanoids with big heads, bumps on the back of - their heads and deep-set eyes. ' They became extinct. I thought : they went to work for the govern- ment. These were followed by Neanderthal Man who is not quite the creep he is made out to be. Neanderthal Man was quite a nice 'lot smarter. Or would you? Maybe we started smart and got 'dumber. About a hundred years ago, women started to get smart.-They found out men were having all the fun by going to war, wearing smart uniforms, flying around in planes, voting themselves fancy pensions and things like that, be- ing in business, getting big ex-' pense accounts, going to conven- tions; so they decided they wanted = guy, built something like us, with some of the action and that 4 brain almost the same size. Since started Women's Lib, which has * We use only one-tenth of the cir- been described as the greatest disaster to hit the human race since instant mashed potatoes. I understand that in the United States there is an organization which arranges for men to send away for Japanese brides and so far this year, three hundred have come over. That shows you the Man used even less. He had no where tomorrow's lunch was com- ing from. That hasn't changed. Scientists say that man's brain has been growing steadily at a rate of about 2% every million years. That -is certainly encour- cuits in our brains, Neanderthal!' real problems except to figure. . aging. The first humanoids had small brains. They lived in trees about 4 million years ago. How scientists can tell the size of a -guy's brain who was running around in the trees 4 million years ago, I wouldn't know. Scientists can take a skull and measure the brain cavity. Let's assume the skull is carbon-dated 4 million years old. Now, if it has a small brain cavity, scientists figure the creature, homo erectus. he is known as, must have had a small brain. That, of course, is based on the assumption that the brain can never be larger than 'the brain cavity in which it is located. Imagine some poor slob whose brain was too big for his brain cavity. It would result in a tight fit, like shoes. Would: he be in constant pain, or would he turn out a genius? They say the brain doesn't feel pain. Perhaps a tight- fitting brain is the explanation for the geniuses of history, James Watt, Alexander Graham Bell, Don Ameche, Robert Fulton, Leonardo da Vinci. Maybe the trouble with the rest of us is that our brains are too loose and they are rattling around in the brain cavity. The Old Workhorse "(Michael VanDusen Photo) Correspondence b) very bad and misleading budgeting by previous boards -- political pressures inside of/outside of the Russell RA were responsible for this; . c) overspending -- a common problem of governments, at all levels (Russell RA to the Federal Government of Canada). A suggestion to the RA Board -- tell the residents of the first four concessions what the present ser- vices cost including the value of significant subsidies being given to Editor, Castor Review; Re: Your March/81 Edition -- Page 6 -- "RA Report" As a former "RA treasurer and director", I would like to compli- ment the finance committee in- itially and secondarily, highlight a few "missing pieces" to the story: a) the "'user-pay policy" is not new to the Russell RA Board of Directors. Back-room political pressures placed upon previous RA Boards by their' sub-committees, i.e. Minor the various committees/groups. hockey; figure skating; the Good Luck! pool; and other groups,' Keith Boothe, resulted in less than adequate revenues being generated to cover escalating expenses of the RA. I was rather unpopular with many people for even sug- gesting such a concept -- "user " pays'. In fact, after almost 1-1/2 years of political in- terference in my proposed financial policies, I elected to Former RA Director, "POETS OF THE.. CASTOR; The Ena Life and death are one Part of an eternal existence resign as the RA Treasurer in { Inextractably joined lieu of being a party to the {In one endless circle financial policies of the then {To fear death Amherst, N.S." ™ perhaps, of the very beginning. Bruno "Beefs I along with many other members of this planet have spent years believing we were in the wrong time, that perhaps our ideas were more fitting an earlier century. Only recently have I ac- quired insight to say that, without question, this is the greatest time in man's development. People my age and younger will be able to experience an age of af-- fluence which, has never existed for us with the exception, We will cross the threshold of pet- tiness and go on to become a united world, a world of love and peaceful. co-existence. We will prove to the universe that we, within a short span of time, have conquered greed and bigotry. We have truly come of age. We will become children of God, children of the universe. Is to fear the future Death is as inevitable as life There is no such thing as an end For all buds are beginnings As all beginnings are an end Death too is a beginning The rounding of a new corner A new street 'To be part. of.and one with... . RA Boards. Former Township Council Members were aware of "why"' the Russell RA was having financial problems at that time, however, they chose not to get involved, with the exception of Albert Bourdeau who assisted with "Win On- » stario"' .grants; » = ats, To never end is to never begin No matter what is done or not Something is done Even if it is nothing Thus in finishing I start THE BEGINNING ~