In their quest for prosperity through more autonomy and control of spending decisions on taxes, Western Canadians do have friends in Eastern Canada. It has never been clearer that the West needs a new arrangement with the Canadian federation, or it needs to seek independence. There is no other way..To achieve success in either objective, provincial infrastructure is required to manage the areas of governance that are provincial jurisdiction under the British North America Act of 1867. Most of these areas have been usurped by a series of intrusive federal governments and stacked Supreme Courts. When that functioning infrastructure is established, the West will have increased leverage in negotiations with the federal government to get a “fair deal” from Ottawa..Here in the East, many are aware of the issues that concern Western Canadians (Equalization, control of industry and resources, access to tidewater, etc.). However, it is important to note that many Western Canadian are not fully aware of the impact that the Official Languages Act, 1969 has had on creating a political environment that has allowed Western alienation to thrive. .Many angry Westerners point the blame directly at the “Laurentian elite,” a group who care little about prosperity in the West. The Official Languages Act has allowed this group to dominate the federal government bureaucracy and further entrench the dominance of the Eastern provinces in federal affairs..The consequences are quite clear. Politicians come and go, but the federal bureaucracy remains in place through changes in government. Over the years, it has continuously acquired more power and influence as the federal government has ballooned in size. It is vital to understand that for decades this bureaucratic growth has been dominated by individuals hired on their ability to speak French, disqualifying millions of Canadians from consideration before they even apply. .Consequently, the senior and lower management levels are either Francophones from Quebec or Anglophones who were fortunate to grow up in a French-speaking milieu or else are linguistically gifted. They comprise an elite, many of whom would not be there if 83 per cent of the Canadian population had not been disqualified at the outset because they do not speak French. This leaves little if any opportunity for qualified Westerners to participate in the management of our federal government..We at Canadians for Language Fairness and Freedom strongly recommend that the West insist that the conditions for remaining within confederation include qualification for any position in the federal government to be based on merit alone. Moreover, you should also require that language be deleted as a qualification for all government hiring except those positions that serve the public face-to-face in a community where numbers warrant..Should Western Canadians fail to recognize the extent of damage they have endured from a non-merit based, officially bilingual federal bureaucracy, there is little chance of the goal of a “fair deal” being realized..Gordon Miller is the spokesperson for Canadians for Language Fairness
In their quest for prosperity through more autonomy and control of spending decisions on taxes, Western Canadians do have friends in Eastern Canada. It has never been clearer that the West needs a new arrangement with the Canadian federation, or it needs to seek independence. There is no other way..To achieve success in either objective, provincial infrastructure is required to manage the areas of governance that are provincial jurisdiction under the British North America Act of 1867. Most of these areas have been usurped by a series of intrusive federal governments and stacked Supreme Courts. When that functioning infrastructure is established, the West will have increased leverage in negotiations with the federal government to get a “fair deal” from Ottawa..Here in the East, many are aware of the issues that concern Western Canadians (Equalization, control of industry and resources, access to tidewater, etc.). However, it is important to note that many Western Canadian are not fully aware of the impact that the Official Languages Act, 1969 has had on creating a political environment that has allowed Western alienation to thrive. .Many angry Westerners point the blame directly at the “Laurentian elite,” a group who care little about prosperity in the West. The Official Languages Act has allowed this group to dominate the federal government bureaucracy and further entrench the dominance of the Eastern provinces in federal affairs..The consequences are quite clear. Politicians come and go, but the federal bureaucracy remains in place through changes in government. Over the years, it has continuously acquired more power and influence as the federal government has ballooned in size. It is vital to understand that for decades this bureaucratic growth has been dominated by individuals hired on their ability to speak French, disqualifying millions of Canadians from consideration before they even apply. .Consequently, the senior and lower management levels are either Francophones from Quebec or Anglophones who were fortunate to grow up in a French-speaking milieu or else are linguistically gifted. They comprise an elite, many of whom would not be there if 83 per cent of the Canadian population had not been disqualified at the outset because they do not speak French. This leaves little if any opportunity for qualified Westerners to participate in the management of our federal government..We at Canadians for Language Fairness and Freedom strongly recommend that the West insist that the conditions for remaining within confederation include qualification for any position in the federal government to be based on merit alone. Moreover, you should also require that language be deleted as a qualification for all government hiring except those positions that serve the public face-to-face in a community where numbers warrant..Should Western Canadians fail to recognize the extent of damage they have endured from a non-merit based, officially bilingual federal bureaucracy, there is little chance of the goal of a “fair deal” being realized..Gordon Miller is the spokesperson for Canadians for Language Fairness
