One voice or a cacophony?

I am ambivalent on this issue until I have had a chance to see all sides and arguments. It is definitely something the Martin government will be tempted to trade away just to stay in power during their minority government issues.

It is something that needs to be discussed by Canadians.

Personally I can see why the provinces need to be a part of the process in negotiating trade and commerce deals and pacts on the world stage. Some directly impose on the provinces. NAFTA is one, as is immigration, and even the Great Lakes international group that Canada belongs to. We have seen the issues involved in Manitoba with the river that runs up from the US.

Immigration and having the people resources for Canada and its provinces to continue their growth and prosperity are critical issues that do not seem to be met by Ottawa.

If the oil sands in Alberta, the pipeline out the NWT, B.C's offshore energy industry, Saskatchewan's oil and gas industry, and the Maritimes off shore energy industry all come on line at once, we don't have the people resources to do it all.

Canada just does not have the people we need to make all work.

Since the provinces except for Quebec have no power over immigration, they must rely on Ottawa. Immigration, is one area I think needs to be managed by a Federal Minister with the provinces each having a Immigration/Human Resources Minister that are intimately part of the process as well. Not as an afterthought.

A return to the baby bonus system such as we had in the past, and as Greece is now trying, may need to happen. Yes, pay people to have babies.

Canada is not an easy country to govern. It never was, and I don't think anyone envisioned it would get as hard as it has come.

It might be time for Canada to take another hard look at how it is organized and governed. Not only is it time to bring the level of provincial involvement in international issues to an integrated one with the Federal government, the major cities should also be at the table. The major cities in Canada are the ones that take the brunt of the immigration problems with little access to the tax base of the Federal or Provincial governments.

The civic government needs to be a third level and backed up by the constitution.

Since the cities also live and dye the quality of their water, which can be affected by another province/s or states use of the water in the river that supplies the drinking water, the federal government must also take back the responsibility of the waterways that cross provincial borders.

I know that the C word is a sin to mention right now, but I think we need to take a close look at the Constitution again and see if there aren't areas that can't be improved or changed.