Meech Lake Accord, Charlottetown Accord

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Meech Lake Accord, Charlottetown Accord the
1995 Referendum
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Review QuestionWhy were Quebec people so
unhappy with Canadas 1982 constitution
amendments ?
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Brian Mulroney

• Conservative Prime Minister 1984 1993
• He won the 1984 election
• by promising to bring Quebec
• into the constitution.

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Meech Lake Accord (1987)

• Quebec would be recognized as a Distinct
  Society
• More power to the provinces
• Ex. Immigration control Constitutional veto
• Opting Out Clause
• New Amending Formula
• House/Senate must pass it, plus 2/3 of the
  provinces with 50 of the population

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Read pages 201 202

• Why did the Meech Lake Accord fail?
• What was it missing?

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Why did it fail?

• Pierre Trudeau (retired) was very vocal against
  it. He thought it would isolate Quebec and make
  them different
• Many Canadians thought it was giving too much
  power to Quebec
• First Nations were upset it didnt contain
  anything for them
• Citizens had not been involved in the process
• Manitoba and Newfoundland withheld their support
  and the Meech Lake Accord died in 1990

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Elijah Harper

• A Cree NDP member
• of Manitobas
• Legislature opposed
• Meech Lake and he
• made sure it didnt pass

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Impact of the Failure of the Meech Lake Accord

• Quebec separatism was on the rise
• Two new federal political parties were formed
• Bloc Quebecois (Federal separatist party)
• Reform Party (western right wing party)

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Charlottetown Accord

• Brian Mulroney tried a second time to bring
  Quebec into Canadas constitution
• This time, he promised to include something for
  everyone, and citizens would be involved in the
  process by putting the constitutional amendments
  to a national referendum

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Charlottetown Accord

• Distinct Society for Quebec
• Self-government for First Nations
• More power for the Provinces
• Forestry
• Mining
• Immigration
• Opting Out Clause
• Senate Reform (Triple E Senate)
• House of Commons reform (Quebec gets ¼)

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Read pg. 202-203

• Why did it fail?
• Was the long term impact?

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National Referendum (1992)

• 54.5 of Canadians voted NO to the Charlottetown
  Accord
• 68.3 of BC citizens voted NO (the highest)
• Didnt like Quebec getting ¼ of the House of
  Commons forever, even if BC passed Quebec in
  population
• It had so many clauses, there was something
  everyone liked and something everyone disliked in
  it

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Impact of the Charlottetown Failure

• Changes in politics
• Mulroney quit as Prime Minister in 1993, and he
  was replaced by Kim Campbell (1st female PM), and
  the next election, the Liberal Party won a
  majority government (Jean Chretien)
• Parti Quebecois won the provincial election
  (1994)
• Lucien Bouchard and his Bloc Quebecois become the
  Official Opposition Party in the 1993 Federal
  election
• 1995 Referendum on full sovereignty for Quebec

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1995 Referendum

• Quebec PQ Premier Jacques Parizeau against
  Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien
• 49.4 of Quebeckers voted yes to full
  sovereignty
• 50.6 voted no
• Prime Minister Chretien passed the Clarity Bill
  after the referendum so the Federal Government
  has more power in the future to approve a clear
  referendum question
• This makes future referendums on sovereignty
  harder

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