III.

The Accord

When Brian Mulroney became prime minister in 1984, he promised to amend the constitution to “bring Québec back to the fold.” Québec’s new premier, Robert Bourassa of the Liberal Party, responded in 1986 by listing the conditions under which Québec would ratify the constitution. Bourassa declared that the constitution must recognize Québec as a distinct society; provide more power to the provinces in immigration matters; limit federal spending power; give Québec veto power over federal constitutional amendments; and allow Québec to participate in appointing justices of the Supreme Court of Canada.

These five points were the basis for the Meech Lake negotiations. A major part of the accord was the following declaration: The Constitution of Canada shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with (a) the recognition that the existence of French-speaking Canadians, centred in Quebec but also present elsewhere in Canada, and English-speaking Canadians, concentrated outside Quebec but also present in Quebec, constitutes a fundamental characteristic of Canada; and (b) the recognition that Quebec constitutes within Canada a distinct society.

Also included were provisions addressing Bourassa’s other points, as well as concerns brought up by other provinces. Québec was to receive a specified minimum percentage of immigrants to Canada. Federal spending power was to be limited by allowing provinces to opt out of new federal programs in fields considered to be under provincial jurisdiction if the provinces provided their own comparable programs. Instead of the veto power that Bourassa had demanded for Québec, which was a sticking point for leaders of other provinces, the unanimous consent of all the provinces would be required for major constitutional amendments. At least three justices on the nine-member Supreme Court were to be appointed from Québec. In addition, vacancies in the federal Senate would be filled from a list of names submitted by the provinces; this last provision was added to meet demands for Senate reform, brought up primarily by Alberta.