Ottawa’s efforts still did not lessen from Québec’s stubborn refusal. In 1987, PM Brian Mulroney attempted to accomplish Trudeau’s career-long wish: get Québec to sign the Constitution. These efforts took the name of the Meech Lake Accord. When Québec refused to sign the Constitution in 1981, it estranged itself from the Canadian “constitutional family”. During constitutional discussions, Québec made many proposals whose acceptance would have led to its addition to the Constitution. The accord recognized Québec as a distinct society within Canada. In order to become a law, the accord had to be ratified and Québec was one of the first to pass the resolution of approval. Saskatchewan and Alberta also ratified the Accord. Manitoba and New Brunswick created problems for the government by stating that they would need time to evaluate the agreement before passing it in their governments.
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Delays like this led to the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, but this did not end Mulroney’s determined fight to bring Québec into the Canadian constitutional family and still please all the other provinces. In 1992, he tried again. This time, it was the Charlottetown Accord through which the Prime Minister of Canada tried to get support for a new constitutional package. After several conferences, the English-speaking premiers, territorial leaders, Aboriginal leaders, and the Prime Minister agreed to the accord. The points of the accord were as follows: • “The Senate was to be reformed; senators were to be elected by proportional representation, and each province would have six seats. • Right to Aboriginal self-government was recognized. • Québec…would be recognized as a ‘distinct society’. • Provinces would gain power over tourism, forestry, housing, and culture. • Anglophones in Québec and Francophone communities outside of Québec would have their minority language rights protected. Canadians were asked to vote on the accord in a referendum. On October 26th, 1992, the majority of Canadians voted “NO”. It was doomed to the same fate as the one before it. Québec was given two chances to sign the Constitution and both of these efforts failed. The Charlottetown Accord was dead. On 15 June, 1991, a new federal political party was born with the name of Bloc Québecois. Initially, it started as a parliamentary movement after failure of the Meech Lake Accord. It consisted mainly of Québec MP’s who left the Conservatives and Liberals upon the failure of the Accord. Their objectives are to promote sovereignty and Québec interests in the House of Commons. In the 1995 referendum, to be discussed shortly, the Bloc Québecois played a significant role. They convinced Jacques Parizeau’s Parti Québecois to specify in the referendum question that a partnership offer would be made to the rest of Canada. The founder of Bloc Québecois, Lucien Bouchard, replaced Parizeau in the leadership of the “yes” campaign when it started facing difficulties. Bouchard was considered to be charismatic and reasonable, thus, …show more content…
It reappeared in 1995, but this time with more promising results. The ballot question was: “Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign, after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership, within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Québec and the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?” There were many advantages to a “YES” vote. For instance, French language and culture would be maintained and money would be saved on maintaining two official languages (product labels, education, translations in parliament discussions, etc.). On the other hand, the disadvantages were that Québec would have to financially support itself and there would be many hardships for the people living in Québec who did not speak French. Premier Jacques Parizeau of the Parti Québecois led the referendum, fulfilling the promise he made when he was elected. Even though he worked very hard to promote his separatist views, the “NO” side was victorious by a narrow majority of 50.58%. Following the referendum, there was controversy relating to the counting of the ballots. There were complaints of spoiled ballots and the eligibility of voters along with other concerns. There seemed to be no end to Canada’s constitutional uncertainty. The day after the referendum, Jacques Parizeau resigned and was replaced by Bloc Québecois leader, Lucien Bouchard. Recently, when Bouchard was asked about
Delays like this led to the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, but this did not end Mulroney’s determined fight to bring Québec into the Canadian constitutional family and still please all the other provinces. In 1992, he tried again. This time, it was the Charlottetown Accord through which the Prime Minister of Canada tried to get support for a new constitutional package. After several conferences, the English-speaking premiers, territorial leaders, Aboriginal leaders, and the Prime Minister agreed to the accord. The points of the accord were as follows: • “The Senate was to be reformed; senators were to be elected by proportional representation, and each province would have six seats. • Right to Aboriginal self-government was recognized. • Québec…would be recognized as a ‘distinct society’. • Provinces would gain power over tourism, forestry, housing, and culture. • Anglophones in Québec and Francophone communities outside of Québec would have their minority language rights protected. Canadians were asked to vote on the accord in a referendum. On October 26th, 1992, the majority of Canadians voted “NO”. It was doomed to the same fate as the one before it. Québec was given two chances to sign the Constitution and both of these efforts failed. The Charlottetown Accord was dead. On 15 June, 1991, a new federal political party was born with the name of Bloc Québecois. Initially, it started as a parliamentary movement after failure of the Meech Lake Accord. It consisted mainly of Québec MP’s who left the Conservatives and Liberals upon the failure of the Accord. Their objectives are to promote sovereignty and Québec interests in the House of Commons. In the 1995 referendum, to be discussed shortly, the Bloc Québecois played a significant role. They convinced Jacques Parizeau’s Parti Québecois to specify in the referendum question that a partnership offer would be made to the rest of Canada. The founder of Bloc Québecois, Lucien Bouchard, replaced Parizeau in the leadership of the “yes” campaign when it started facing difficulties. Bouchard was considered to be charismatic and reasonable, thus, …show more content…
It reappeared in 1995, but this time with more promising results. The ballot question was: “Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign, after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership, within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Québec and the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?” There were many advantages to a “YES” vote. For instance, French language and culture would be maintained and money would be saved on maintaining two official languages (product labels, education, translations in parliament discussions, etc.). On the other hand, the disadvantages were that Québec would have to financially support itself and there would be many hardships for the people living in Québec who did not speak French. Premier Jacques Parizeau of the Parti Québecois led the referendum, fulfilling the promise he made when he was elected. Even though he worked very hard to promote his separatist views, the “NO” side was victorious by a narrow majority of 50.58%. Following the referendum, there was controversy relating to the counting of the ballots. There were complaints of spoiled ballots and the eligibility of voters along with other concerns. There seemed to be no end to Canada’s constitutional uncertainty. The day after the referendum, Jacques Parizeau resigned and was replaced by Bloc Québecois leader, Lucien Bouchard. Recently, when Bouchard was asked about