Re-Opening The Constitution: Canadians Cool With It, Poll Finds

Canadian Constitution Trudeau

First Posted: 05/26/11 05:56 PM ET Updated: 07/26/11 06:12 AM ET

(CP) -- A new poll suggests Canadians have overcome their aversion to constitutional wrangling.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey indicates a majority is willing to risk re-opening the constitutional can of worms to accomplish some specific goals.

For instance, 61 per cent say they're willing to re-open the Constitution to reform or abolish the appointed Senate.

And 58 per cent say they're willing to offer constitutional amendments in a bid to finally secure Quebec's signature on the Constitution.

Politicians have avoided constitutional issues like the plague since the demise of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown constitutional accords in 1990 and 1992.

Those agreements, aimed at meeting Quebec's constitutional conditions, ended up bitterly dividing the country. Their failures were followed by a spike in separatist sentiment in the province.

The telephone poll of just over 1,000 Canadians was conducted May 12-15 and is considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.

The poll was released on the same day NDP Leader Jack Layton restated his belief that a straight majority of 50 per cent plus one would be enough for Quebec to legally secede from Canada if a third referendum on sovereignty was held, The Globe and Mail reports.

With a file from The Huffington Post Canada

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04:12 PM on 06/08/2011
The POLLSTERS are corrupted playthings of the world government elite and their multinational corporations. They sample 2000 Canadians, they SLANT the questions to avoid a TRUE opinion ("which of the following TWO replies is CLOSEST to your own view?) and the questions are posed in a vacuum which DELIBERATELY DENIES pertinent information required to make an enlightened and relevant reply.

The pollsters are more appropriately BRAIN WASHERS, designing so-called "surveys" to SHIFT opinion, not sample it. I know, because I conducted telephone surveys for years, and I have studied literature and psychology.

A case in point of professional pollsters working to SHIFT OPINION to support the unconstitutional annexation of Canada is EKOS RESEARCH and their 2006 survey with its hypnotic statements that respondents are asked to IDENTIFY with before they REPLY: "I wouldn't be too concerned if Canada joined the U.S.":

"EKOS THE ANNEXATION SURVEY"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8CDsIFKyuc
04:13 PM on 05/28/2011
Canada has to stop buying into the myth that Quebec is not part of the Constitution because they did not sign onto the addenda and ammendments in 1982. The Liberal government of the day repatriated the constitution; they did not create a new constitution from scartch. They added the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Not Withstanding Clause (which Quebec has used many times) along with ammendments relating to relations between the Federal government and the provinces. That's what Quebec declined to sign. Quebec has been part of the constitution since 1867 and remains a part of it which is why they utilize every constitutional tool available to advance their cause.
04:40 PM on 06/08/2011
[1] "repatriate­d" -- "re" means do again; the Constitution was not "patriated AGAIN" in 1982. It purported to be patriated for the first time.

[2] The Charter was 100% illegal, there was no constitutional power in the Crown of Canada or that of the UK to assent to "amending" the Constitution by adding this thing that alters the federal and provincial POWERS that are PROTECTED from amendment by s. 7 of the Statute of Westminster, 1931 which is part of Canada's constitution. The main purposes of the Charter were (a) to harmonize Canada with COMMUNITARIAN LAW as used in the European Union to ELIMINATE long-held "individual rights" by subjecting them to review under a "balancing clause" in the superior interests of a COLLECTIVE -- a "community" that has never been legally defined for purposes of Canadian Charter review, thus the Judges have for decades "ruled" as they please, with unfettered discretion in the absence of a LEGAL definition of the "free and democratic society" in whose "interests" individual rights are to be limited and re-drawn by the autocratic judges; and this (b) pending Canada's ultimate assimilation into a Marxist world government system, the basis of which is the UN, as announced in 1946 by Canada's future Prime Minister, Louis Stephen Saint-Laurent;
04:46 PM on 06/08/2011
[3] Constitutional AMENDMENT under the written Constitution of Canada is not the same as LEGISLATIVE amendment of a Bill before a Legislature; the term "major constitutional change" is an oxymoron; constitutional amendment is incremental, gradual and minimal. It does not change the form of government or the powers; it does not transfer sovereignty from those responsible for its maintenance into the hands of others with intent to dispose of it, as the Charter does. Major "reform" is a cover for a constitutional coup d'état and is totalitarian, i.e., Meech and Charlottetown.
11:41 PM on 05/27/2011
Its the Layton way, create chaos and get his name in print and his picture in the paper. He never met a camera he didnt love.

Is this good for Canada, no way, is it good for Jack, yes of course.
canuckjen
A life that is lived is a life of evolution.
12:09 AM on 05/28/2011
No politician ever met a camera he or she didn't love or a baby that wasn't kissed.
chinchilla
They say I need to write something here.
06:09 PM on 05/27/2011
Not this Canadian. At least not under this government.

I don't trust Harper an inch.
canuckjen
A life that is lived is a life of evolution.
11:32 PM on 05/27/2011
Me neither.
12:22 AM on 05/28/2011
a centimeter chinchilla. Inches are American-style.
chinchilla
They say I need to write something here.
12:36 AM on 05/28/2011
I'm showing my age again, right? (On a hockey thread I mentioned driving my mom to watch Canuck training camp in Duncan.)
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cwebster
predominantly exasperated
12:37 AM on 05/28/2011
Depends on how old the Canadian is:)
I learned feet and inches...my daughter learned centimetres and metres.
03:03 PM on 05/27/2011
I am 100% for opening the Constitution, trimming the Senate and getting Quebec onboard (even if it takes a few tokens of cultural protection). For the love of Pete, get the freakin' Queen and the Governor General out of the equation for good! We are our own country! We do not need this ridiculous, meaningless tribute to the completely impotent British "Crown". If Iggy had made that his platform I would have voted for him despite his douchiness.
01:34 PM on 05/27/2011
I am all for abolishing the Senate but Harper won't do this as its benefits him. Reopening the Constitution? Won't happen either.

I am more worried about the Supreme replacements. This is Harper's opportunity to replace progressive voices with a right-winged mouthpieces who will advocate putting prayer back into schools, revisit the meaning of marriage and look at closing the door on abortion.

I want Proportional Representation!
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laymancanuck
Left of centre, because it works for everyone.
11:54 AM on 05/27/2011
What a waste of time, Quebec will never be happy. They have learned that whining and complaining is reinforced with Federal dollars. From where? The west.Your welcome. We have learned to accept that in the west. Let's avoid the senseless babble, aggravation and move on.
07:34 AM on 05/27/2011
There's a difference between "cool to" and "cool with" in Canada.
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opprobrious
More speech. Less Flagging.
04:40 AM on 05/27/2011
There's no frickin' way, of course, that most Canadians want to revisit the constitutional debates. Sure, abolishing the Senate sounds like a good idea (I like it) but does anyone really think it would be a simple matter of changing a few words and having a quick vote? Nope. It would take a decade, a painfully long decade.
01:46 AM on 05/27/2011
There is nothing wrong with Canada's constitution. Tinkering with something that isn't broken is dangerous. Harper is evil and has plans to ruin all the progressive and good things Canada has achieved and traditionally stood for.
02:32 AM on 05/27/2011
There is everything wrong with the Constitution. Despite my equal hatred for Harper, and my fears of him meddling and messing it up, it must go. Only stupid people want to keep it.
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06:45 AM on 05/27/2011
There is nothing wrong with it and saying that there is without fact or argument seems a waste of time. Oh, and saying that there is without fact while than going for an ad hominem attack is an even worse waste of time.
01:29 PM on 05/27/2011
I too think there is nothing wrong with the constitution. Even harbouring the idea that we could one day change it, is dangerous.
01:43 AM on 05/27/2011
The polls never ask me anything: not cool with re-opening the constitution.
01:47 AM on 05/27/2011
Exactly, who do these "pollsters" actually work for and who do they "poll." Bad times ahead for our great country.
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CmdrTomalak
I am... and proud of it.
08:21 AM on 05/27/2011
Perhaps but remember, this is just a poll. It doesn't mean it's going to happen.
03:10 AM on 05/27/2011
The polls never asked me anything, either, and I think the constitution should be reopened!
09:41 AM on 05/27/2011
You're probably an American poster.
canuckjen
A life that is lived is a life of evolution.
11:47 PM on 05/27/2011
Why?
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Mattjoe3
Once snowmobiled over open water
01:16 AM on 05/27/2011
Open it for a sovereign Quebec? Not holding my breath for that horse to come back from the dead for another beating.
01:08 AM on 05/27/2011
A good idea for the constitution would be requiring more than 50% 1 of the vote for a province to secede. But Layton would never go for that.
01:09 AM on 05/27/2011
That was supposed to read 50% plus one. I guess HP doesn't like the plus sign.
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FearlessFreep
I'm actually a radical leftist
01:36 AM on 05/27/2011
Didn't Chretien already do that with the Clarity Act?

I'm not so sure it was a good idea. In the next referendum, people in Quebec may think that it's safe to vote yes to separation because Ottawa will still prevent it somehow.
01:42 AM on 05/27/2011
I think Layton will do what ever he can to pander to his new constituents.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/05/26/quebec-can-leave-with-50-plus-one-layton/
12:57 AM on 05/27/2011
Ha!

Just wait til the negotiations start, and wait for the impasse.

The constitution was a bad idea from the start, and it will continue to be a bad idea.
02:27 AM on 05/27/2011
1867 or 1982, or just the premise of a constitution in general?
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06:49 AM on 05/27/2011
Wow, that just sounds ignorant.
Our Constitution is one of the best and most progressive in the world which requires change every once in a while.
Though now is not the time and Quebec and the Senate are not good progressive reasons to do so, a Constitution is 100% necessary for a modern state.
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Daniel Kilgallon
Calgary Heavy Oil
12:48 AM on 05/27/2011
I think we need to rethink the way we distribute seats in both the senate and house of commons. The current formula is nothing but a set up for taxation without representation.
01:07 AM on 05/27/2011
How so. Every citizen is represented by an MP. If you want a representative that does exactly what you want then seek office.

A long standing tradition in our political system is that a representative is their to exercise their best judgement, not to simply do what they think the majority of their constituents want. If you want the later type of representation we could save a lot of money and hire a polling company to run the country.
01:20 AM on 05/27/2011
Rober, that is not the problem. The big problem is that we do not have an equitable distribution of people in the riding. So the Conservatives take 55% of the seats with 46% of the votes. That is flawed. Most people voted against Conservatives and yet they wind up with a majority. And the NDs had only 10% less seats than Cons and yet wound up with 30% fewer seats. That is flawed. The biggest change in the last election was that the country swung to the left and yet a right wing party got the majority of seats. That is flawed.
01:22 AM on 05/27/2011
Sorry, I meant the Nds had only 10% less VOTES and wound up with 30% fewer seats
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FearlessFreep
I'm actually a radical leftist
01:29 AM on 05/27/2011
If I had my druthers, I'd have the House of Commons elected this way:

A: Have about 70% of the seats elected the way they are now, through a "first past the post" system. (The single-seat territories would elect MPs in the same way.)

B: Assign about 25% to each party, province by province, so that A and B together will be distributed in a proportion as close as possible to the overall popular vote. (You could have a second party-oriented ballot to determine this, or just use the popular vote from the A ballot.) The distribution wouldn't be perfectly proportional, but as close as possible to that.

C: Assign the remaining 5% so that they will normally go to the party with the highest popular vote, providing a counterbalance to proportionality and improving the chances of a majority government. But in provinces where one party achieves a landslide so that its A seats alone are greater than its proportional share of A B--such as Tory Alberta--they'll go to the opposition parties to make the A B result closer to proportional. (If the leading party still has a share greater than its popular-vote proportion, the other parties would each be deducted an equal number to compensate for this.)