IV.

Second Premiership

During Bourassa’s second period in office, he was more successful in managing his party and the province as a whole. He had gained political maturity. Still, he experienced great frustration in conducting Québec’s relations with the rest of Canada although he now had an ally in Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

In 1982 Canada patriated its constitution, bringing it under Canadian, rather than British, control and adding a charter of individual rights. But Québec refused to sign the new constitution. Bourassa proposed that Québec would sign the constitution if certain changes, including increased provincial powers and recognition of Québec’s special status as a “distinct society,” were adopted. In June 1987 Bourassa entered into an agreement with the other premiers and Mulroney for a package of reforms called the Meech Lake Accord, which incorporated Bourassa’s proposals. The accord failed to secure the required approval of all ten provincial legislatures and, in the wake of its collapse, support for independence in Québec soared. Had Bourassa wanted to lead Québec out of Canada, he probably would have been successful, but this was not his intention. Instead he continued to fight for constitutional reform and was instrumental in negotiating the 1992 Charlottetown Accord, which was rejected by Canadians in a federal referendum. Battling skin cancer since 1990, Bourassa resigned in January 1994 and died in October 1996.