FELDSTED – The political stand that governments have this or that power is misleading … governments have responsibilities, not powers
We cannot continue to be
governed by ideologues who draw their inspiration from unaccountable, and
unelected, foreign bureaucracies exercising powers they are not entitled
to.
Governance frameworks
structure and delineate the power and the management roles in an organization.
They set rules, procedures, and other informational guidelines. Governance
frameworks define, guide, and provide for enforcement of these processes. These
frameworks are shaped by the goals, strategic mandates, financial incentives,
power structures and processes of the organization.
We expect our government
to develop a mission statement, establish strategic goals compatible with the
mission, and do regular reviews to ensure that work to achieving goals in on
track. Thousands of public and private organizations do it as a requirement of
responsible governance.
The structure of our
governments, and governance, is set out in our constitution which includes the
responsibilities and rules for both the federal and provincial governments. The
political stand that governments have this or that power is misleading.
Governments have responsibilities, not powers.
In a free and open
democracy, the ultimate power is the individual, the citizen or permanent
resident.
We organize ourselves
into communities and organize those communities into municipalities that are
self-governed under provincial legislation. The Municipal Acts vary a bit from
province to province, but essentially allow a municipality, which includes
villages, towns and cities to provide local services to residents and to tax
property to underwrite the costs of providing those services.
There are practical
limits to the services a municipality can provide. Our constitution creates a
separate level of local responsibilities for provinces. There are numerous
“subjects” where provinces have clear sovereignty over responsibilities within
their borders. Once again there are practical limits to the powers of a
province. A province cannot afford to fund its own navy or fund armed forces.
The constitution sets
out a list of responsibilities for the federal government which cannot override
the separate sovereignty of provinces. Nowhere in our structure, as a
constitutional monarchy, is there room to allow international agreements to
override the responsibilities, structure, duties and powers set out in our
constitution.
The various climate
change agreements and accords concocted by the United Nations cannot extend or
override the powers granted to the federal government under our constitution.
The United Nations is
not a governing body and has no authority in Canada.
The Paris Agreement is a
UN construct that our federal government cannot employ. It has no
constitutional authority to impose the Paris agreement on Canadians. Doing so
violates the principles of a representative democracy.
The development of
natural resources, and regulations respecting environmental concerns in that
development, is a provincial “subject” and jurisdiction the federal government
cannot override.
The idea that the
federal government can seize control over multi-billion-dollar investments in
development of our resources, based on United Nations treaties, is not acceptable.
Of the 194 nation UN
members, there are about 30 democracies. Are we going to willingly allow these
dictatorships, monarchies, theocracies and tyrannies to dictate governance to
us?
We must wake up, smell
the coffee, and tell our federal government that its responsibility to
Canadians overrides its ideological dalliance with the United Nations.
Our government was not
elected to superimpose UN treaties in governance of a democratic nation.
Comments
Post a Comment