but what was said that leads to constitutional discussion?
It's a very fair question, and I think events will unfold over the course to the next federal election...and as critical I've been on the Libs with the SNC-Lavalin affair, very badly handled, and polls concur, someone in the PM's office just might have laid a brilliant trap that the OntCons are falling into completely on cue.
Instead of the "Who Does What?" question that permeated the Constitutional debate some years back, it's now down to the "Who Pays for What?" question.
The OntCons came to the polka table claiming they had some "$28B?" for Ontario Transit, complete with incessant bragging as per "We'll build it all ourselves if we have to" "the largest amount for Transit in Canada ever" "Torontonians are tired of late subways" etc, etc.
The Fed-Libs have been riding the Ont-Cons on a number of matters for the last year, from Civic governance and funding, to transit and funding, to Health and funding...you name it. And the Libs have the paper trail to present to make their case. The Ont-Cons have virtually nothing, if that. And they've been called on it at the polka table.
Now the Ont-Cons are demanding the "Feds pay their share"...and no-one's buying it, pun unavoidable. I'm glad I forced myself to on the third attempt to watch the vid. The press went ballistic on Yurek and McNaughton. It's an insult to think that everyone is as stupid and gullible as they are, and they got called on it...big time. It's worth watching, still up on Youtube. Just click the link a page or so back.
So let's flip this over: If you were the Feds, how could you let an opportunity like this go by without making hay out of it? It's like a drunken punk swinging at you, all it takes is taking their swing, and 'assisting' them to follow through to hit the wall, or the floor.
The Feds have the funding in escrow, and made clear that it's there for the taking if a business case is made. And the Cons can't even get their story straight on that. "Have business case end of June"...lol...after stating that the Feds haven't come through with the money. Implication being that the Feds should just supply cash on their say-so.
I and most others wouldn't even buy a used Valium from Yurek, let alone his little sidekick, Unkempt Kid.
So the Feds have an excellent opportunity to say (behind the scenes) "Fff them. Put the funds into the InfraBank and present a business case there that QP can then match if they actually do have the cash. The Feds then aren't caught in endless argument with petulant little wannabes, the Feds are seen as funding transit, and with the powers of the Parliament of Canada to push it through regulatory hurdles, and be done with a provincial regime that can't abide with what it preaches.
In effect, the *balance* of the Constitution is altered without having to actually alter the legislation. "For the Advantage of Canada" is already existent in the Constitution for the Feds to snatch this away from the idiot Ont-Cons. And the Section 92 can be instituted by the InfraBank and ratified by Parliament. It might be possible to assign Section 92 just by Order in Council, I'll check later.
Morally wrong? Tell that to Toronto City Council, and the Mayors of Ontario. The Ont-Cons have brought this on themselves, and it's time for the Infra-Bank to become *really useful*.
To understand the importance in Constitutional Law for "The General Advantage of Canada":
[...]
Section 92(10) powers are an extremely important and often used part of the Canadian Constitution. In the first five decades of Canadian history, the declaratory power was invoked more than 400 times, mostly to ensure that Canada's burgeoning railway system grew to national advantage. By the First World War, virtually every inch of rail track in Canada was under federal jurisdiction. More recently, the declaratory power was used to make Canada's nuclear industry a federal matter.
[...]
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/to-connect-the-pipeline-connect-the-dots/article4461040/
And take very close note of the author of this piece:
Tom Flanagan is professor of political science at the University of Calgary and a campaign manager for conservative parties.
Yup, the very one and same Harper right hand man.
Section 92(10) of the Constitution Act, 1867 - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_92(10)_of_the_Constitution_Act,_1867
Declaratory power under section 92(10)(c) In general terms, works declared by the Parliament of Canada to be "for the general Advantage of Canada" or "for the Advantage of Two or more of the Provinces" tend to be part of the national infrastructure.
And there's a massive 'advantage' that one of our friends would dearly love about this: VIA Rail. It would be Nationally owned tracks for them to run on once again.
Think of the possibilities. With *our* money.
Edit to Add: Large part of the story here:
Ottawa rejects Ontario’s demands for federal transit-line funding, citing lack of information
