Page Four The Supreme Court of Canada has done Canada a great disservice. In delivering their very am- bigous ruling on the constitution earlier this week Chief Justice Bora Laskin and his cohorts have again given encouragement to those petty provincial pote ntates who seek to enlarge their own powers at Canadians’ expense. .Itis unfortunate that the members of the highest courtin the land made the ruling as they did, for it will do nothing but increase the tensions accOmpanying this latest attempt to finalize the development of Canada’s independence. The Supreme Court asserted that while the federal government had a legal right to repatriate our constitution (which we already knew), a convention existed for provincial approval. Succinctly put, it means that because in the past the provinces were consulted and agreed to support federal requests, the method should be continued in this, our most important constitutional question. istingui i d is that for What these distinguished bureaucrats ignore t 54 years Canadians have attempted to obtain unanimous approval in this task and the British North America Act stillresides in that imperialist relic of a city - London, —- 1.4 l’ For the British to still have control over this nation’s most valuable document is an embarassment that any modern, industrialized , independent nation should find unacceptable and even totally repugnant. But tell that to our selfish, regional empire building premiers. It is obvious that finally posessing the right to chart out future political progress without recourse to a foreign nation does not make the least impression on these provincial leaders. What does impress them id the Charter of Rights that would be placed in our newly arrived constitution. It would enact such terrible things - like guaranteeing Canadians the right to free speech and freedom from unlawful seizure, and also would deny discrimination based on racial origin and virtually everything else. Why does this bother our supposedly patriotic. preiniers? eta I a IE A OU Aes LE GS A I ET Ti ET TTT a TE TT TT .It interferes with what many of these leaders consider their raison d’etre: to rule their domains with only minimal representations from the federal government. No longer will the provinces run roughshod over the rights of citizens (as in the past they have with the imprisonment of Japanese -Canadians during World War Two; the denial of Franco Manitoban rights since the 1880’s; the near forcible extraction of Newfoundland outport residents in this century; amd on numerous other, occasions). Now they will have recourse to a charter of rights that seriously attempts to protect Canadians from { excesses of the state. . But the tragedy is not that the premiers oppose ; something as sensible as a charter of rights and Canadian ownership of our founding document, it is that the verdict delivered last Monday will reopen the debate. ; . The Provincial Potentates have been very sucessful in t convincing the Canadian public thatTrudeau’s repatriation plans are destructive for Canada, and given the prime minister’s present level of popularity most ““Canucks’’ readily accept the provincial tone over the federal position. It is unfortunate that citizens of this nation will be denied the right to formulate an objective view on the matter simply because of the deep mistrust held by many people for the man who has been its most feverent proponent. . Yes, the Supreme Court has evaded its responsibility by handing down a ruling so lacking in clarity. The provinces will claim victory in the verdict, but if those same governments continue to obstruct the rightful transfer of our Constitution, Canadians will be the losers. ; eo ulian The Other Press Dear Editor I think Ican be sure, that most of you reading this article, can relate to the gut wrenching feeling you get, when you suddenly realize that your once nearby wallet or purse, is no longer near- by. Gut wrenching feeling Well for those of you who haven't had the opportunity toexperience this wonderful feeling, in more than one way you're not missing much. Believe me, I can think of much more pleasant feel- ings, and they have nothing to do with losing money ! So if you should happen to be one of these people who come across an un- occupied purse, or wallet, don’t be as naive as to think its desertion is due to lack of interest. Turn it in (money and all) just to see, if maybe you’re not as naive as a lot of others. Susan Percy :00DS... Editor The Other Press As a student advocate (counsellor) and member of the College Committee, I wish to express my extreme dislike for your, posters ad- vertising The Other Press. Phrases like ‘Do you want to get laid’ and ‘Free Sex Advise’ are blatantly sexual, crude, and totally irrelevant to working on a newspaper team. Such advertisements show lack of maturity on your part. Since you are receiving $5.00 from every student to publish news-_ papers (and advertisements) that are respectful, inter- esting, and worthwhile. I hope that you prove worthy of the fee levied to all students. Sincerely Gladys Klassen Ms. Klassen, I appreciate your concern and can only say we will not be using blatantly sexual October 2,1981 Statements to draw new staff to the paper again. .Not only does it not work but it detracts from the Other Press’s function as a fair, non-sexist, non-racist reflection of the Douglas College student community. We at The Other Press want feedback from everything we do and your letter was the only feedback we got from our poster campaign. .Is there anyone out there? Does anybody really care? Does anyone know enough about The Other Press and student activities to care? .As a student advocate you know the role the student press can fulfill in alerting students to what is going on and alerting the public and politicians that something is going on with students. .We don’t takw that role lightly. But in order to be effective in this role we need staff. It is with this weighty responsibility on our shoulders that we sank to use sex to sell our paper. I can sincerely say that we will not sink to that level again. Sincerely, lan Hunter, 3 Other Press Editor us