PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14. 1981. WHITBY FREE PRESS MICHAEL J. KNELL MICHAEL J.KNELL Community Editor w h irt b y Published every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 669-6111 The Free Press Buildin Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher Managing Editor 131 Brock StrIet North, nIe only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated bY Whitby residents for Whitby residents. PA). Box 206, Whitby. MARJORIE A. BURGESS Advertising Manager I Mailing Permit No 480 Member cmf the Whitby Chambef Of Commerce Reader/historian gives a lesson in "constitution making" Dear Sir: Since the Consti- Jton discussion is , gain upon us, I crave your time, space and patience for a comparison in "constitution" mak- Report from Queen's Park By THE HON. GEORGE ASHE, MPP (PC - Durham West) Ontario Minister of Revenue Food Day With the Thanksgiving weekend come and gone, I think that this is an appropriate opportunity to let you know that the Province of Ontario will be joining with the United Nations in observing the fir- st annual World Food Day, on Friday, October 16, 1981. My colleague, the Honorable Lorne Henderson, Minister of Agriculture and Food, expresses the hope that "all Ontario residents, and all Canadians, will pause of World Food Day and, remembering their Thanksgiving dinners and the good fortune which befalls most Canadians on that occasion, give some thought to the one billion people in the world who are still confronted with hunger and malnutri- tion". World Food Day, held for the first time on October 16, 1981, will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organiza- tion (FAO) of the United Nations. One of the objec- tives of World Food Day observances is to draw world attention to the issues of food production, supply and demand. The purpose of observing World Food Day in Canada is to increase Canadians' knowledge of world food needs. Both federal and provincial World Food Day committees are seeking to: - stimulate Canada's involvement in world food production and distribution problems; - increase every Canadian's knowledge of, and readiness to contribute towards, the cost of relieving global hunger; and, - promote active participation from organizations within the private sector and industry in the World Food Day program. But World Food Day can not be left to government agencies alone. Action within the community - schools, colleges, churches, clubs and civic organi- zations - is even more important. World Food Day should represent a global outpouring of concern and compassion for those whose lives are needlessly crippled by hunger. The 147 member nations of the Food and Agri- culture Organization have established World Food Day because there was a need to alert the public to the gravity of the present world food situation and the dangers in the years to come. Take a few minutes to consider these facts: - More than 500 million people in the world today suffer from severe malnutrition - hunge. - Children are the worst afflicted as millions die each year from hunger-related illnesses and disease. - More than 100 countries are in a "food deficit" position - which means that these countries con- sume more food than they produce. The observance of World Food Day should have special significance to people living in Canada and the United States. These two countries alone hold more than 40 per cent of the world's grain reserves and account for approximately two-thirds of the world's grain exports and two-thirds of all food aid. The abundance of North American agriculture in the world's last line of defense against famine. As we entered this decade, the world food situation was deteriorating. Global grain reserves had fallen for the second straight year. Large areas of Africa were parched by drought. - Hunger problems of refugees continued. The first World Food Day on October 16 comes at a time of deep- ening crisis. Even if harvests this year are boun- tiful, huge numbers of people will still go hungry. World Food Day is an important way for us al to show humanitarian concern but to consider new steps which we all can take in the war against hunger. delegates could possibly make it, fearing that it might become oppress- Ive. The Canadians started theirs from a position of unlimited strength as a bulwark again- st weakness. Let us observe the unfold- Ing of each. Ing, which may be of value to the readers. In a federal coun- try, (Le. one having two levels of government), the central, (general/ federal), govern- ment must needs be very strong in order to cope with the responsibility of governing the whole area. The general government won't have many ardent sponsors; these are to be found in the camps of the various states or provinces; everybody is prone to take the central government for granted. It doesn't occur to many, even provincial premiers, that a central government must have certain speci- fic powers in order to function. To many it seems that the lack of generosity at the federal level is the sole reason for the provinces not get- ting everything that they ask, including control over their external affairs. The Americans started their general government off as weak as the Only a small group of people, the federalists, (e.g. Washington, Adam- s, Jay and Hamil- ton), were con- cerned that the federal government would have adequate power. These federalists used every device: Elastic Clause, Key- stone Clause, and the "Three Com- promises", to beg, borrow, con or steal enough powers to get the central government on the rails. The fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall (1801 - 1835) an obvious federalist, sided with the Washington gover- nment in its disputes with the states: several of his decisions because of their federal bias were barely believable. Even after the effor- ts of the federalists, and the forceful presidency of An- drew Jackson (1826- 1836), a civil war broke out in 1861 between north and south due to lack of strength and decisiveness in Washington. We in Canada We in Canada would do well to observe carefully this phase of our neighbour's history; how diplomacy, good will, and com- promise, in an ef- fort to reach ac- commodation bet- ween north and south re slavery, resulted in a far more savage civil war in 1861 than would have been possible had the army been called out In 1820, when the Missouri Com- promise was agreed upon. Though the Union forces won the civil war, it still took the Great Depression of the 1930's coupled with the presidency of Franklin D. Roose- velt to provide the federal government with sufficient clout. This represented a struggle of about 150 years duration, including a four- year civil war with its legacy of waste and bitterness. The by-products of this struggle were three in number: the country achieved a federal authority that is able to cope with the task of government; their country remains undivided and, as a strong, united, generous, prosper- ous nation, they have played a major role in rescuing the world twice in this century and ,they have set an exam- pie for other federal and would-be federal countries. We in Canada began to plan our union In 1864 just as the American Civil War was win- ding down. When our plan reached fruition in 1867 it was just 80 years after the Philadel- phia Convention. It is correct to say that the main cause of Canadian Con- federation was the victorious northern army south of the Lakes. Sir John A. Macdonald and others believing that weakness in the Washington government had been an Important contributing cause of their civil war, decided that not under any circum- stances would Canaa set up a system with such a CONT'D ON PG. i1 g. >nt. i -~-~ ~- ~- ~§1o9y~ ,/Z~~vîo ~B/ùffr'6a'94 ~qM~4'oa/ 7~V~y'~'ffAK 1~1EZ~f/ qu In 1787, our American neigh- bours were engaged with their Constitutional Con- vention in Philadel- phia. They felt compelled to create a new constitution because under the "Articles of Confed- eration" their cen- tral authority was the *mere agent of the 13 new states. In each of these 13 states the people knew but one loyalty: viz to their own state govern- ment. They felt lit- tle more loyalty to a government in Washington than to the one in London. We can understand, then why the Con- vention delegates granted the new central governmnet a puny list of powers, with all the remaining powers left with the indivi- dual states. 1 j a - el