Meech Lake

The Meech Lake Accord was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of Quebec to symbolically endorse the 1982 constitutional amendments by providing for some decentralization of the Canadian federation. The proposed amendments were initially popular and backed by nearly all political leaders. Concerns about the lack of citizen involvement in the Accord's drafting and its future effects on Canadian federalism were raised by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, feminist activists, and Aboriginal groups. Support for the Accord began to decline. Changes in government in New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Newfoundland brought to power governments that declined to accept the Accord. Further negotiations were conducted but tension increased between Quebec and the predominantly English-speaking provinces. A dramatic final meeting among first ministers a month before the Accord's constitutionally mandated deadline seemed to show renewed agreement on a second series of amendments that would address the concerns raised in the intervening debates. Despite this, the original accord would not gain acceptance in the Manitoba or Newfoundland legislatures in time for ratification. Failure to pass the Accord greatly increased tensions between Quebec and the remainder of the country. The Quebec sovereignty movement gained renewed support for a time. The general aims of the Accord would be addressed in the Charlottetown Accord, which failed to gain passage in a referendum.
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