Editorials
Wednesday, June 4, 1997FROM the outset, Canada has had identity problems. Monday's elections indicate those problems are worse than ever, with the gulf between the Western provinces and French-speaking Quebec widening. The Liberals will be forced to try to govern this divided country with a much smaller majority. The result may be to give fresh impetus to Quebec separatism, an issue that has distracted Canadians from other problems in recent decades. Canadian elections
reveal deep divisionsThe Western-based Reform Party, which opposes any special status for Quebec, emerged as the main opposition in Parliament. This new role, said Quebec's separatist premier, Lucien Bouchard, "will radicalize politics." Reform, he said, "was elected on the back of Quebec."
The ruling Liberals, led by Jean Chretien, eked out a majority with 155 seats in the 301-member House of Commons, but relied on Ontario for two-thirds of their seats, faring poorly in the West and the Atlantic provinces. Their 38 percent share of the popular vote was among the lowest ever for a majority government.
Meanwhile the Bloc Quebecois managed to win 44 of Quebec's 75 seats, but its share of Quebec's popular vote dropped to 39 percent from 49 percent in 1993. The Progressive Conservatives, who went from a governing majority to only two seats in 1993, managed to qualify for a role in parliamentary debates by winning 20 seats -- mostly in the Atlantic provinces, and at the expense of the Liberals.
Chretien, who barely survived a challenge by a separatist in his own Quebec district, insisted he could govern Canada effectively despite the prospect of five-way debates in a Parliament fractured along regional lines. But after these elections Canada looks less like a country and more like a collection of bickering regions with little in common.
In October 1995, Quebec voters narrowly rejected a proposal for independence. The federalists squeaked through by 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent -- a virtual dead heat. This was far closer than in the 1980 referendum, won by the federalists by 58 percent to 42 percent. The emergence of the Reform Party, which stands against any concessions to Quebec, should provide motivation for the separatists to try again. It wouldn't take much to put them over the top and break Canada in two.
THE need to begin planning legislation on economic development is offered as the reason for the dumping of Lehua Fernandes Salling as co-chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Senate President Norman Mizuguchi added more members of his faction to the key Ways and Means and Economic Development committees while dropping dissidents. Mizuguchi said Fernandes Salling failed to collaborate and communicate with her colleagues, and "we need a team approach." Sen. Randy Iwase, a dissident leader, scoffed at that explanation. Changes in Senate
What the Legislature should be doing to improve Hawaii's dismal business climate is lightening the burden of taxes and regulations on business. But that seems to be the farthest thought from the minds of the current crop of legislators, particularly in the Senate. What they really want to do is to keep in the good graces of the union leaders, especially Gary Rodrigues.
VIOLENT crime is down nationally, reaching its lowest point in more than a quarter century, and theories abound about the reasons. A variety of factors probably were at work in bringing about the reduction. The favorites among politicians are those for which they can claim credit, but those more likely are the least responsible. Crime rate drop
Most violent crimes are committed by young people, and the baby boomers are simply past their prime. As young people continue to comprise a shrinking portion of the population, the crime rate is likely to continue dropping. That is a factor for which politicians can take no credit.
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
