Meech Lake Accord essays

Meech Lake Accord essays 1982 was the year that the federal parliament and nine out of ten provincial legislatures agreed on the Constitution Act, which would bring the constitution home from Britain to Canada on April 17, 1982. The only legislature that did not agree was Quebec. Quebec refused to participate in this constitutional process of patriation because the province believed it did not address their political concerns and issues. People constantly talked of the need to bring Quebec into the constitution. They hoped that this would finally end the constitutional problem that had plagued Canada for more than a generation. On April 30th 1987, Mulroney met with ten premiers in an attempt to win their final approval for constitutional changes designed to overcome Quebecs objections to the 1982 pact. Mulroney and the ten premiers reached a constitutional agreement that was acceptable to Premier Robert Bourassa of Quebec. This was known as The Meech Lake Accord of 1987. This Accord, named after the location where the conference was held, recognized Quebec as a distinct society. All the provinces shared with Quebec the other articles included in the Accord, namely greater provincial control over immigration, the power to nominate Quebec judges to the Supreme Court of Canada from which the federal government would choose, the right to remain outside new cost-sharing agreements without financial penalty, and a veto over constitutional change. A three-year deadline for public hearing, feedback, and approval was launched when Quebecs National Assembly approved Meech on June 23rd 1987. However, before they could sign the constitution with honour and enthusiasm1, Quebec had five conditions that needed to be fulfilled. The following will discuss these five conditions that were proposed as well as its consequences. The first and probably most important condition that would accommodate Quebec is the constitutional recognition tha...