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-Orono WeekiyTimes, Wednesday,. F'ebruaiy 25, 1998 Pictured above: Seated accompanist Mary-Clare MacKinnon, mezzo-soprano Nancy Chisling left, and guest speaker Joan Skelton. Monr-thlly evening service at Kîrby focused on child poverty Mary-Clare MacKinnon accompanied Mezzo-Soprano Nancy Chisling in a variety of songs before and after Joan Skelton's talk oni child poverty within the Duirham Region. A recent survey by the Social Development Council,' found Clarington to be the fastest growing area in the Durham Region. Young fami- lies and children account for the highest percentage of that growth. The survey showed that 4.5% of Clarington fami- lies are living below the pover- ty line. Many of these familles are femnale led single parent fa iIi es . Skelton quoted David Ross, Executive Director of the Caniadiani Couincil on Social Developmient when hie states, "Living in a state of poverty is more than just starving slowly, or freezing in the cold..some- one is poor when they have 50 few resources that they stand out in relation to the suirround- ing community as being deprived." After the talk, Nancy Chisling sang threenumbers from the new "Voices United" hymnal. The second number entitled "When 1 needed a neiglibour, were you there?" tied in nicely with the evenings topie. The Durham Child Poverty Committee will be presenting a "Symposium on Child Poverty" on Tuesday, April 21, at the Whitby Mental Health Centre. For more information cal (905) 686-2661, or the Rev. Mer-vynilRussell. Treasurer needed at BIA The Orono Business Improvement Association's. (BIA) monthly meeting on ,Wednesday night took care of some basic housekeeping mat- ters. Due to Bob Pollard's trans- fer from the Orono CIBC lasi month, the BIA is lefi without a treasurer. Since the Association has not yet received its annual operating budget from the- Municipality, there is no immediate pressure to replace Mr. Pollard. Sandra Topper has volun- teered t0 organize the Halloween Dance that the BIA have committed themselves f0 for the Town Hal's Centennial Celebration.1 Johin Thomson has agreed to write a Murder Mystery for November, and get plans underway for a New Years Dance. These events are also planned for the Town Hall's 1 Oth year celebration. FROM PARLIAMEN' HILL Alex Shepherd sitting at the back of the courtroom beside Chief Coon Come, of the Northern Quebec Cree, I watched as the legai framework of how we became a nation unfoided before the nine Justices of the Supreme court of Canada. Last week the Supreme, Court heard the questions posed to them by the Federal Government concemiîng the- legality of a unilateral decla- ration of independence of Quebec. Remember, a unilateral deciaration of independence was part of parlzeau's game plan if the Parti Qiuebecois had won the last referendum. And despite the musings of Mr. Bouchard the case the federal government brought before the Supreme Court is not about denying the people (that's ail of the people) in Quebec the right to decide their future. What it's about is the legal framework as to how this right could be expressed. Bouchard, and bis band of separatists, are shocking in their proclamations and total- itarian in their aims. To sim- ply suspend the constitution of a country would mean sue- pending the mile of law. It wouid aiso mean a denial of the courte, aiong with the Charter of Righte and Freedoms, not only for peo- pie in Quebec but for people in ail of Canada. These are not smail issues for smali-minded politicians to be cast away at wili, but rather, the protection of rights buiit up within a legal framework over centuries, To deny the mile of iaw, that is a process by wbich we determine how we treat each other, le iike hurling society into a state of anarchy. It is clear to me that the position of the govemnment of Quebec is a march toward revolution. Then, what other iaws can be suspended at the wiil of poiiticians? How about the pesky idea of elections for one? And what about the threshold 50-per-cent-plus- one to decide who wins the referendum. There is no such low-minlimum requirement ia any country inciuding this one. .An amendment to the gen- erai terins of the constitution requires seven provinces encompassing at ieast 50 per cent of the population. Other democratic countries are no différent. And why is it so difficuit to change a_ constitution? Very simply you don't change fun- damental laws by measuring the public mood on one day with a 50-plus-one threshold. What wiil the 50 per cent be measurin n x wek? numerous occasions the con- duct of mob mile. And that is where Mr. Bouchard is head- ed. How pitiful it is to bear that Mike Harris says the Supreme Court reference is flot an important process. Why can't he grasp the con- cept? It shows just how iow the politicai talent in our sys- tem is and why you don't want to abandon the funda- mental iaws of democracy on a whim. 1 took the time to discuss these issues with Guy Bertrand, the lawyer from Quebec who s0 eioquentiy defended hie rights as a Quebecer, and those of a group of Montreaiers and Western Quebecers, who sees bis future as part of Canada. I must say discussing these matters with hlm on the floor of the Supreme Court of Canada made me feel like I was very much a part of a historical draina that le stili unfolding. And 1 found myseif asklng why Quebecers. both sepa- ratist and federaiist, are pre- pared to let thiÊs unfold with- out a mile book? Maybe lt's because they have neyer experienced the other side of revolution. It's one tblng to talk about belng victims ofbhistory. France saw thousands killed during their revolution and the U.S. saw 650,000. Why? Because some southern states slmply want- ed to dismiss the mile of iaw and due process. You lçnow what the Supreme, Court heard are not the kind of arguments that make for good 30-second sound bites on television and radio. But they are the under- pinnings, not only of a nation but of a peaceful people. Canada has not been a country of physical conflict but rather one that bas found ways to build a nation through complex relation- ships ainongst ourselves. We must continue to fight the brutes within our society that mile from Quebec City. 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