What Caused The Meech Lake Accord?

The Meech Lake Accord occurred in 1987 when Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney proposed an agreement in which a series of multiple changes to the Constitution Act was to be made between the federal and provincial government. However, Parti Québécois (a political party in Quebec) and the premier of Quebec, René Lévesque, refused to sign the Constitution Act. Quebec refused as the province would no longer have a future say in changes towards the constitution and Bill 101 in Quebec would have been repealed which supported minority language rights. 

 How The Meech Lake Accord Affected Quebec?

Quebec’s refusal to sign resulted in being cut off from the rest of Canada's "constitutional family”and becoming more distant with Canada. However, this situation had changed politically in the middle of the 1980s when a new premier of Quebec was elected. As Mulroney led the Progressive Conservative government, he initiated discussions with each province and Quebec suggested many proposals and as some were to be approved, the province would have its official support for the Constitution. These proposals discussed how Quebec stood apart inside the Canadian federation, how it has the potential to strengthen its position in their interactions with the federal government, address Quebec’s concerns, and recognize the province as its own nation. As a result, an agreement was made in which the federal and provincial government would acknowledge Quebec as a "distinct society” in the constitution. This meant the anglophone and the francophones would be noticed as important parts of Canada. This proposal became known as the Meech Lake Constitutional Accord of 1987.

 How The Meech Lake Accord Affected Indigenous Individuals ?

The Meech Lake Accord, eventually failed after the Indigenous individual, Elijah Harper was not in support of the changes towards the Constitutional Act. Harper was a Cree member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly who refused to give consent eight times as these changes did not include First Nations consultation. As the federal government was making changes for Quebec and adjusting to their conditions, they couldn’t do so for First Nation's, making him refuse by stalling on signing. He was deemed an important figure during this event as he fought for Indigenous rights. Nonetheless, this failure of the Meech Lake Accord resulted in the Charlottetown Accord in 1992 which was another package of amendments made by federal, provincial and territorial governments, and many Indigenous groups.