Lawmakers from Canada highlight referendum pitfalls

Referendums are complicated and may not necessarily be the best thing for Taiwan, Canadian lawmakers cautioned this week.

"Referendum is a very difficult issue," said John Duncan, a member of the Canadian House of Commons. "I personally would not recommend it [to Taiwan]."

Duncan made the remarks this week during an event hosted by the Asian Pacific League for Freedom and Democracy.

Duncan, of the Canadian Alliance, was in town with fellow lawmakers John McKay and Larry Bagnell of the Liberal Party and Richard Marceau of Bloc Quebecois. They were here to attend the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Asian-Pacific Security held last weekend at the Grand Hotel in Taipei.

Pro-independence groups have been pressing for a referendum law, arguing that the future of Taiwan should be decided by its 23 million people.

Last week, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) added to the debate, suggesting that Taiwan write a new Constitution, drawn up by the country's 23 million people in order to strengthen the people's recognition of their country.

"The Executive Yuan and the legislature should restore to the people the right to exercise initiative and referendums so that direct democracy can materialize in our country," Lee said in his opening speech at a press conference held to introduce the launch of a book by Taiwan Advocates (群策會), a private think tank, called Taiwan's Agenda in the 21st Century (台灣二十一世紀國家總目標).

Asked to comment on the calls for a referendum law in Taiwan, Duncan said, "Canada has some experience in holding referendums."

Duncan was referring to the referendum held by the government of Quebec in 1995 on Quebec's position within the Canadian federation.

In the referendum, 50.56 percent rejected Quebec's secession from Canada, with 49.44 percent voting yes.

"It is a very difficult issue because it encompasses a wide scope of complexity," Duncan said.

Duncan said that there are many issues involved in holding a referendum. Aside from the drafting a referendum law, the design of the questions and what constitutes a majority need to be considered.

"Sometimes not holding a referendum at all maybe, after all, better than having one but to get a result which that is 51 percent versus 49 percent," Duncan said.

Marceau said that while Quebec's independence remained a controversial issue in Canada, "One thing is clear and certain, which is that, regardless of whether one is Quebecois or non-Quebecois, everyone agrees that issues related to Quebec's position should be solved through democratic means."

The group left yesterday.