¶ … Meech Lake Accords
In order to properly examine the Meech Lake Accords and their significance, we must look first at why the Accords were necessary and what led up to them. Until 1982, Canada had been governed by the British North America Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1867. This act provided for the unification of the Canadian provinces into the Dominion of Canada, and set out the powers of the provincial legislatures. All powers not designated to the provinces were given to the Dominion. Later interpretations by the British Privy Council extended property rights in the provinces and developed the doctrine of emergency powers to aid the Dominion in time of war.
Ever since the Statute of Westminster 1931, the British government had been willing to give up control of Canada, but Canadian federal and provincial governments were unable to agree on a new formula to allow amendments. Various unsuccessful attempts were made to change the constitution, including the Victoria Charter of 1971.
On March 25, 1982 the British Parliament passed the Canada Act, also called the Constitutional Act of 1982, which made Canada a fully sovereign state. It was proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II on April 17, 1982. Residents of Quebec had voted in May 1980 not to seek sovereignty and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was pushing for the constitution, which was finally agreed to by every province, except Quebec, in November 1981. This constitution combined the British North America Act of 1867 with subsequent amendments to that act by the British Parliament, and new material resulting from eighteen months of intense negotiations between federal and provincial powers. It contained a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guaranteed thirty-four rights including religious freedom, minority language education, and cultural tolerance. The Charter contained a clause which allowed many rights to be overridden in the federal or provincial legislatures by a "notwithstanding clause." The Act also recognized native treaty rights, increased the power provinces have over their natural resources, and provided an amendment formula, which required approval of two-thirds (seven) of the provinces and 50% of the country's population. Quebec opposed ratification of this constitution claiming the right to a constitutional veto. These efforts ended in December 1982 when the Supreme Court of Canada rejected its claim, opening the way to further negotiations.
In 1984 Brian Mulroney became Prime Minister partly on a platform of reintegrating Quebec into mainstream Canadian life. On a personal level, he was determined to succeed where Trudeau had failed, and accepted the idea of continuing negotiations with Quebec. On several occasions, the new Quebec government of Robert Bourassa outlined its constitutional demands: constitutional veto, limitation on the spending power of the Federal government, a role in the appointment of Supreme Court judges, recognition of the distinctive character of Quebec, and improved powers over immigration. The new Mulroney government was receptive to these demands and eventually the other provinces agreed to constitutional discussions. As he said in his announcement of the Accords to the Canadian House on May 1, 1987, "Our task, simply put, was to settle a constitutional impasse which was incompletely resolved in 1981. Our task was to attempt to reconcile Quebec's distinct needs with the interests of all other provinces and the good of the country as a whole."
On April 30, 1987, the provincial ministers, referred to as the First Ministers, and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney meeting at Meech Lake in the Gatineau Hills near Ottawa, agreed on a draft document which would provide the basis for Quebec to ratify the Canada Act. This agreement contained several modifications to the Canadian constitution. Reporting to the Canadian House, Prime Minister Mulroney outlined the agreement as follows:
We agreed to recognize the distinctiveness Quebec brings to Canada, which includes within it two principal language communities within the Federation.
We agreed to give constitutional protection to an expanded immigration agreement with Quebec and to enter into accords with other provinces, appropriate to their circumstances.
We agreed to entrench the Supreme Court of Canada and the requirement that at least three of the nine Justices appointed be from Quebec, and to provide for provincial involvement in Supreme Court appointments.
We agreed that reasonable compensation be granted to provinces that do not participate in future national shared-cost programs in areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction, if they undertake their own initiatives or programs compatible with national objectives.
We agreed that all provinces must approve changes to national institutions under section 42 of the 1982 Constitution Act, and...
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