The Honourable Garde B. Gardom
Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia
Government House
Victoria, B.C. V8S 1V9

My dear Lieutenant-Governor:

I wish to bring to your attention a column by Andrew Coyne, "Stop, in the Name of the Law,"on the editorial page of the April 23rd edition of the National Post .

In referring to the Nisga'a Treaty recently passed by the British Columbia legislature and now before you for Royal Assent, Mr. Coyne states:

"Is this not the very situation envisaged by the Fathers of Confederation, when they vested in the Crown, in this case the provincial Lieutenant-Governor, the power of reservation? And is this not the sort of assault on constitutional government that justifies its use?

I believe that Mr. Coyne has caught the essence of the matter before you.

As the representative of the Crown, you have a grave responsibility or as Forsey so aptly states: "The Crown is the embodiment of the interest of the whole people, the indispensable centre of the whole parliamentary order, the guardian of the Constitution, ultimately the sole protector of the people if M.P.s or M.L.A.s or ministers forget their duty and try to become masters, not servants. The Crown's reserve power to refuse the advice of ministers when that advice imperils the Constitution still remains...; and if parliamentary government is to survive, it must remain."

There are constitutional and Charter issues which ought to be addressed by the Courts in British Columbia before this matter goes forward. The only opportunity to cure such defects, if they are found by the courts, is prior to Assent.

Yours sincerely,

John Cummins, M.P.