The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Northern Insight by Larry Sanders This is the third in a series of columns leading up to the October 26 national referen- dum. This week, I want to talk about one reason I have for contemplating a "no" vote: the reforms in the Charlottetown Consensus to the Senate and House of Commons. In the Senate, it's worth not- ing that the Charlottetown Consensus will theoretically REDUCE the size of a Chamber that many Canadians think should be abolished out- right. The current appointed Senate has 104 "regular" seats, not counting the nine seats added by Mulroney using an obscure clause in the constitu- tion to stack the Senate with enough Conservatives to ensure the passage of the GST. Under the present system, Ontario and Quebec each have 24 senate seats; Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 10 each; Newfoundland, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba six each; PEI four and the Territories one each. In the new Senate, each province gets an equal number of Senators--six. Territories will get one each, meaning that when the present Northwest Territories split in two as antici- pated, there will be three Senators from the far north. There will also be aboriginal Senators, elected by native peo- ple using a system that has yet to be worked out. There likely won't be any more that six abo- riginal Senators, but that's only Ovide Mercredi's guess. Thus in total, the new Senate is not expected to have more than 69 members--a net saving of about 35 Senators, each with an office, staff, travel allowances, lifetime pension, etc. The push for Senate reform has come from the west. I spent some time recently in Saskatchewan. The westerners I met were not happy with the Charlottetown Consensus not because each province might get an equal number of Senators, or because the Senators would be elected (two of the "E"s in Triple E). The westemers' problem is with the last "E": effective. Central Canada was willing to allow the creation of an elected and equal Senate, but Ontario and Quebec would not allow the new Senate to be completely effective--in other words, just as strong as the House of Commons. The new Senators cannot be appointed to the cabinet and cannot initi- ate legislation that involve taxes or spending money. The new Senate can only hold up House of Commons revenue and expenditure bills for 30 days. The new Senate will only have clear authority to veto leg- islation "materially affecting French language or French cul- ture" and "bills involving fun- damental fax policy changes directly related to natural resources." The Charlottetown Consensus admits that the latter category is vague and it's "pre- cise definition . . . remains to be determined." The idea is to allow the new Senate to be able to veto programs considered an anathema in the west like the National Energy Program, which castrated the western economy for nearly a decade. 'Page 5, Tuestlay, October 13,' 1992 s: concerns over senate Whether the new Senate will in fact be able to do that "remains to be determined," and that's what has westerners worried and thinking about voting "no." As a Northem Ontarian, that part doesn't bother me too much. What does disturb me is the lack of real regional repre- sentation within the new Senate for northern areas within the new Senate and men are likely to get an equal number of Senate seats in Ontario, Saskatchewan and B.C. because the NDP governments there are committed to the notion of "gender parity." But what about regional par- ity within each province? If all six Senators elected province- wide on two ballots (one male, the other female), | Northern Ontario will lose any political continued on page 7 business. ms m e i < ws 7 - . a me ns 'x wt - a = Zi i = m x i a Es E 2 o bn Starting October 1, 1992, the Ontario retail sales tax you pay when you privately buy a used car, van or light truck, will average wholesale value, whichever is more. The average wholesale value is set using the Canadian Red Book, a well-known standard in the used vehicle The tax is paid when you change the vehicle ownership at your local Driver and Vehicle Licence Issuing Office. Buying be based on the purchase price or the Some changes in ownership, such as gifts between certain family members, are tax-free with legal proof. Starting April 1, 1993, if you want to sell your vehicle privately, you will have to buy a vehicle transfer package and give it to the buyer before the sale is completed. The package will be tax. T-800-263-7776. available at all Driver and Vehicle Licence Issuing Offices and from the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations. Consumers will benefit from information Used Vehicle Information Program Pour toute demande de renseignements en frangais, composer le 1-800-668-5821. Or Selling A Used Vehicle? Here's What You Must Know. on the vehicle's history, outstanding debts on the vehicle and retail sales If you're planning to buy or sell a used vehicle privately and would like more information, call 1-800-263-7965. Telephone Device for the Deaf, call Ontario