Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A good part of the reason was that it failed to recognise the First Nations. I was against Meech Lake at that time for that reason. And Elijah Harper, a Native leader and Manitoba MLA, stood up with an eagle feather and voted against it. He passed away very recently.
A good part of the reason was that it failed to recognise the First Nations. I was against Meech Lake at that time for that reason. And Elijah Harper, a Native leader and Manitoba MLA, stood up with an eagle feather and voted against it. He passed away very recently.
Except that the goal of Meech was to get Quebec to sign the Constitution, not to address aboriginal issues.
I fully agree that aboriginal issues deserve/deserved attention, but Meech was used as a pretext to bring them to the fore.
But Meech did not fail because it did not recognize First Nations - this was not the objective of the agreement - it was about getting a recognized and major level of government (Quebec) representing close to a quarter of the country's population to sign onto the country's fundamental law.
Aboriginal groups don't constitute a recognized level of government in Canada - maybe they should and I guess that's part of the problem. But once again, this was not the point of Meech.
Anyway, what's sad is that nothing has really changed for aboriginals since Meech. Many of the people who opposed accommodations for Quebec in Meech are the same people who would opposed accommodation for aboriginals - so once they used Elijah Harper to kill Meech, they simply shoved the aboriginal question aside since it had already served its purpose - to block any concessions to Quebec.
The last time it was changed (1981-82) Quebec had a separatist government but since then successive federalist governments have opted not to sign because they have demands that have not been agreed to, mostly related to Quebec having more autonomy to manage some of its own affairs in key areas.
Why did the Meech Lake Accord fail? I guess there were several reasons. And what did "distinct society" mean?
The distinct society clause said that a French-speaking majority with an English-speaking minority within the boundaries of Quebec was a fundamental characteristic of Canada and that the government of Quebec's role was to preserve this. (It also said that an English-speaking majority with a francophone minority outside Quebec was another fundamental characteristic of Canada.)
The fear was that Quebec would use this clause to adopt more stringent language legislation and that it could not be contested in the Supreme Court of Canada because the clause would buttress it against any challenges.
The debate was a bit surreal, and some women's groups outside Quebec even said that the Quebec government could use it to force women to become baby-making machines to maintain the francophone majority. They were promptly told to take a hike and MYOB by Quebec feminist groups, arguably the hardest-nosed in Canada.
Strangely, if this was America, the federal government would have sent in the army to enforce any federal law a state tried to ignore but Quebec jusst seems to be able to ignore all federal law and supreme court rulings against it like the gun registry
Strangely, if this was America, the federal government would have sent in the army to enforce any federal law a state tried to ignore but Quebec jusst seems to be able to ignore all federal law and supreme court rulings against it like the gun registry
Ummm... the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the gun registry and when it does Quebec will abide by the ruling of course.
And of course, sending in the army always yields positive results, doesn't it?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
