Proposal for Canadian Unity OKd : Constitution: Hoping to satisfy Quebec, leaders of nine English-speaking provinces endorse changes.

Leaders of Canada’s nine English-speaking provinces have completed a package of constitutional amendments aimed at keeping this country intact, sending what they hoped would be an olive branch to French-speaking Quebec and closing a chapter in an arduous, months-long negotiation that has left most Canadians jaded, cynical and discouraged about their country’s future.

“For the first time in years, we (French-speakers) know what the Anglo Canadians are disposed to offer to Quebec,” Denis Angers, managing editor of Le Soleil, a leading newspaper in Quebec City, said Wednesday. “I think it’s the first time in my life.”

The package must now be accepted by Quebec’s premier, Robert Bourassa, if it is to go forward. It includes proposals to restructure Canada’s outmoded Senate, to change the way Canada amends its constitution, to reduce the trade barriers between the provinces and to grant native Canadians the right to govern themselves.

The package is an attempt to keep Quebec from holding a referendum on sovereignty in the fall. Quebec has said it will hold such a vote by Oct. 26 unless English-speaking Canada demonstrates a willingness to reform the country’s political institutions and redistribute power between the federal government and the provinces.

English-speaking political leaders struggled for months trying to agree on what sort of reform package to offer Quebec. They missed a number of self-imposed deadlines and appeared irreconcilably divided until this week.

The politicians apparently decided to overcome their differences during late-night sessions Tuesday, when it became clear that if they didn’t come up with an accord, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney would step in and write one for them.

If Bourassa greets English-speaking Canada’s proposals as a good-faith offer, he will be able to direct Quebec to hold a referendum not on sovereignty, but on the much less divisive question of whether to accept the package.

Bourassa, a famously cagey and noncommittal politician, has yet to comment on the proposals.

“The ball is in Mr. Bourassa’s court,” said Angers. “He has the responsibility to answer Canada’s offer (to Quebec). It doesn’t look like a bad deal, but is it enough to answer Quebec’s longstanding aspirations?”

From Quebec’s point of view, it would seem that there is at least one unacceptable element in the package: the proposed Senate reform.

At the moment, Canada’s Senate--the appointed upper house of Parliament, the other being the elected House of Commons--is a widely discredited body consisting of elderly party loyalists appointed by onetime prime ministers. Many Canadians consider the body so ineffectual and disreputable that they favor simply abolishing it. But the more populous provinces--Quebec and Ontario--have favored keeping it intact, because as the Senate is currently set up, they hold the lion’s share of the seats.

English-speaking Canada’s new offer to Quebec would radically change the Senate, modeling it more closely after the American Senate. If the proposals go through, the new Senate will be an elected body, with greater powers and an equal number of seats for each province.

That, of course, means fewer seats for Quebec. Not surprisingly, even before Bourassa had revealed his thoughts on English-speaking Canada’s offer, some Quebec opinion leaders were grumbling.

“Quebec is a loser on the Senate,” said Lucien Bouchard, a Francophone nationalist lawmaker much admired in Quebec.

And Mulroney told reporters in Munich, where he was attending the Group of Seven summit, that the drafters need to return to their home provinces and give the package more “reflection.”

Highlights of Canada Reform Accord

Here are highlights of the package endorsed by premiers from nine English-speaking provinces and the federal government:

Quebec--The sole French-speaking province would be recognized as a “distinct society” with special culture, laws and traditions that deserve special protection. Provision would not give Quebec special legal rights. Along with other provinces, it would get a veto on changes in federal institutions.

Trade--Most trade barriers would be removed, allowing freer movement of goods and services between provinces. Proposal also would establish a tribunal to referee disputes.

Natives--Package endorses self-government for Inuit and other native people and would establish five-year delay before disputes over self-government could be taken to court.

Senate--Senators would be elected on basis of proportional representation, eight senators from each province, two from each of two territories. The number from Inuit lands to be determined later.

Commons--House would be expanded to 312 seats from 295, with distribution based more closely on population than in the past.

Source: Times Wire Services