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In the column below, MP Walter McLean provides some reaâ€" soned arguments for the inclusion of "the supremacy of God*"‘ in a newly â€" written Canadian constitution.. e Parficularly noteworthy is McLean‘s observation that Eastern religions hold to the concept of a supreme being or force, in the various ways so conceived. PAGE 6 â€" WA TE RLOO CHRONICLE Our understanding is that all of the world‘s reliâ€" gions â€" even those which are falsely preceived as being polytheisâ€" tic when they speak of various deities â€" are essentially monothâ€" eistic at their core. or believing in one beneficient power from which all things flow. j Consequently, there can be no offending anyone in this mulâ€" ticultural and religiously pluralistic society with the inclusion of God in the constitution. No one, that is, but perhaps a minority of atheists and agnosâ€" tics. But must all our principles, beliefs and customs be watered down for the sake of every conceivable minority? Do we dismiss the Queen as head of state because a certain segment of the population no longer believes in the relevance of the monarchy in our society? Would we dismantle parliament and its earthly supremacy be cause a radical faction would rather have a dictatership? We would venture that about 90 per cent of the population â€" whether Catholic, Hindu, Baptist, Jew, Buddhist or a nonâ€"practisâ€" ing anything â€" subscribes to a faith in the supreme. That belief â€" not only contemporary but of our ancestors should be asserted in the Canadian constitution. During the constitutional debates which led up to the founding of our nation in 1867. one of the burning questions to be resolved by the Fathers of Confederation was what name they should give to the country. It was agreed that it was to be Canada. But, was it to be "The Kingdom of Canada‘, or ‘‘Canaâ€" da‘‘ only? One of those founding fathers, Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley of New Brunswick. had the habit of reading every morning, for his own spiritual growth, from the scriptures. From the daily devotions of one Father of Conâ€" federation, a legacy came down through our history. Tilley came across Psalm 72, verse 8. It reads as follows: "And He shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.‘‘ We became known as the Dominion of Canada. Enshrined in our coat of arms was the motto ‘from sea to sea." That is our history. That is our tradiâ€" tion A few months ago. the Joint Senateâ€"Comâ€" mons Committee on the Constitution of Canâ€" ada agreed that the proposed Charter of Rights should recognize and affirm the basic principles underlying our nationhood . _ These were ag}eea upon and expressed in the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. It was therefore MP‘s stand has ment WALTER McLEAN WwEDNESDAY $16 a vear in Ur. address correspondence Lo proposed by Hon. Jake Epp, Constitutional Spokesperson for the Progressive Conservaâ€" tive Party, that the new Charter of Rights and Freedoms begin with the following staâ€" tement: "Affirming that the Canadian nation is founded upon principles that acknowledge the supremacy of God, the dignity and worth of the human person, and the position of the family in a society of free individuals and free institutions, Affirming also that inâ€" dividuals and institutions remain free only when freedom is founded upon respect for moral and spiritual values and the rule of law ..." This was rejected by a Committee vote of 14 to 10. The Liberal Senators and M.P.‘s joined to defeat the combined votes of the New Democratic and Conservative members. Consequently, the first section of the Charter, as it is now being debated in the House of Commons and the Senate, makes no mention of the ‘supremacy of God.° We have always ‘prided ourselves that we are a nation under God; that we are a dominâ€" ion from sea to sea. By virtue of that vote, taken on Jan. 22, 1981, the present Governâ€" ment of Canada wants to deny that. It means, in short, that the past is over. Their plans for the future of Canada have no room for the wisdom®f the Fathers of Confederation. subscriptions $14 a year in Canada Jrited States and Foreign Countries Publisher Editor establisheqa 1854 1981 Phil Jalsevac Paul Winkler God‘s role in our nation ? L8 There were three main objections to Mr. Epp‘s amendment. Senator Jack Austin sugâ€" gested that is should be placed in a preamble to the whole Constitutional package. and not be included in the Charter of Rights. Mr. Svend Robinson, M.P. (N.D.P. â€" Burnaby, British Columbia), objected that the amendâ€" ment would diminish the rights of those who do not believe in God. Hon. Robert Kaplan, (Acting Minister of Justice). objected on the grounds that there was no agreement in the Cabinet and that there was some difference between the French and English versions. All of these objections, however, do not take into account Mrm Epp‘s reason for adâ€" ding the wording from the Bill of Rights. This point was taken up by Hon. David Cromâ€" bie. M.P. (P.C. â€" Rosedale. Ontario), when he said that: ... the wording for all constituâ€" tions, in the Western world at any rate, have always included some suggestion that there is a power beyond a government power. In all laws â€" particularly consitutional laws â€" there is not only the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law; and the spirit of the law comes from the recognition that there is a supreme being â€" a God, a life force, an entity, whatever phraseology people would care to use, to indicate that beyond people and The very essence of the Trudeau Governâ€" ment‘s Constitutional Proposals is that they put the supremacy of government over and against the supremacy of the individual and the inalienable rights we have. As I stated in the Constitutional Debate in the House on February 20th: °* ... the omisâ€" sion on the part of the Government of any reference to God is symbolic of that shift toward the tendency of the Government to decide rights, rather than rights being given as a gift to us as a part of our humanity." The multiâ€"cultural mosaic that is Canadian society today depends upon the guarantee that the different concepts of God held, by Soviet Jews, by those who came from Islaâ€" mic. Buddhist and Confucian religious backâ€" grounds, could bring with them their beliefs in a supreme Being. If Canada is forced to cut itself off from its fundamental tradition of protecting an individual‘s inalienable rights, surely we break our promise to Canaâ€" dians who came since 1867‘ beyond governments there is another authâ€" ority." Many immigrants came to Canada in the first place, because of the freedom here to express their concepts of God as they saw it fit. DOING NORTH old