Jewish Leaders Urge Adoption of New Canadian Constitution

As Canadians prepare to go to the polls to decide the political future of a nation, the Jewish community appears united on the question of a new constitution.

Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney set Oct. 26 as the date for a national referendum to validate a new constitutional deal struck recently by all ten provincial premiers.

The vote will coincide with a similar one to be held in Quebec on the same date on independence for the predominantly French-speaking province.

Irving Abella, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called the revised constitution important” and recommended it be adopted.

“If we don’t vote for it,” Abella told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “there are two possible scenarios. Either the country falls apart, or we will get into another round of constitution-making. They (the premiers) hunkered down for six years, and this is the best they’ve come up with.”

He called the proposal “by far the least divisive.”

Abella stressed that a negative vote in the Quebec referendum would be particularly distressing due to its negative impact on the Montreal Jewish community.

“This community has somewhere between 80,000 to 90,000 Jews and many family relationships throughout Canada,” he said. “It has been the ‘creative hive’ of Canadian Jewry and is the headquarters of most national Jewish organizations. A ‘no’ vote in Quebec could result in large numbers of Jews leaving Montreal.”

The government has taken out full-page ads in major newspapers, laying out the full text of the agreement, in order that Canadians be as well informed as possible prior to the vote.

Quebec separatists are portraying the vote as one for independence, saying that a no vote would mean a nod for sovereignty. Federalists deny that presumption. But there is no doubt that the referendum will affect Canada’s future.

A 1980 referendum on sovereignty in Quebec was defeated by a slim margin.