Charlottetown Accord
Encyclopedia
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada
, proposed by the Canadian
federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum
on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.
and later amendments served as the basis of Canada's constitution. As an act of the British Parliament, however, this left Canada in the anomalous position of having to petition another country's government to amend its own constitution. Since the Statute of Westminster 1931
, the British government was willing to relinquish this role, but Canadian federal and provincial governments were unable to agree on a new amending formula. Various unsuccessful attempts were made to patriate the constitution. Notable among these was the Victoria Charter
of 1971.
In 1981, a round of negotiations led by Prime Minister
Pierre Elliott Trudeau reached a patriation
agreement that formed the basis of the Constitution Act of 1982. Although this agreement passed into law, augmenting the British North America Acts as the constitution of the land, it was reached over the objections of Quebec
Premier
René Lévesque
, the liberals under the leadership of Claude Ryan, and the Quebec National Assembly refused to approve the amendment. However, the judges of the Supreme Court of Canada
, the majority of them (7 out of 9) appointed by Trudeau (Bora Laskin, Robert Dickson, Jean Beetz, Willard Estey, William McIntyre, Bertha Wilson, Antonio Lamer), ruled in the Patriation Reference
and the Quebec Veto Reference
that neither Quebec nor any other province had a veto to prevent the federal government from petitioning the British Parliament to pass the Canada Act 1982
, and that the new constitution applied to all provinces notwithstanding their disagreement.
Brian Mulroney
defeated Trudeau's successor, John Turner
, in the 1984 federal election
and was determined to succeed where Trudeau had failed, by reaching an agreement that would allow Quebec to sanction the Constitution. Led by Mulroney, the federal and provincial governments signed the Meech Lake Accord
in 1987. However, when the 1990 deadline for ratification was reached, two provincial legislatures, Manitoba
and Newfoundland
, had not ratified the agreement, and thus it was defeated. This defeat, in turn, led to a resurgence in the Quebec sovereignty movement
.
In the next two years, the future of Quebec dominated the national agenda. The Quebec government set up the Allaire Committee and the Bélanger-Campeau Committee to discuss Quebec's future inside or outside of Canada. The federal government struck the Beaudoin-Edwards Committee and the Spicer commission to find ways to resolve English Canada's concerns. Former Prime Minister Joe Clark
was appointed Minister of Constitutional Affairs
, and was responsible for pulling all of this together to forge a new constitutional agreement.
On August 28, 1992, after intensive negotiations in Charlottetown
, Prince Edward Island
, the federal, provincial and territorial governments, and representatives from the Assembly of First Nations
, the Native Council of Canada, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada
and the Métis National Council
, came to the agreement known as the "Charlottetown Accord".
and the National Film Board
. The accord also required the federal and provincial governments to harmonize policy in areas such as telecommunications, labour development and training, regional development, and immigration.
The federal power of reservation
, under which the provincial lieutenant governor
could refer a bill passed by a provincial legislature to the federal government for assent or refusal, would have been abolished, and the federal power of disallowance
, under which the federal government could overrule a provincial law that had already been signed into law, would have been severely limited.
Federal spending authority would also have been subject to stricter controls. Canadian governments have often struck agreements under which the federal government would partially or fully fund programs (Medicare, social programs, etc.) that otherwise would fall within areas of provincial jurisdiction. The federal government has typically attached conditions on this financing arrangement to ensure minimum national standards. The Charlottetown Accord would have guaranteed federal funding for such programs, severely limiting the federal government's authority in these departments.
The accord proposed a social charter to promote such objectives as health care
, welfare, education
, environment
al protection, and collective bargaining
. It also proposed the elimination of barriers to the free flow of goods, services, labour and capital, and other provisions related to employment
, standard of living
, and development among the provinces.
The accord also contained the "Canada Clause", which sought to codify the values that define the nature of the Canadian character. These values included egalitarianism
, diversity, and the recognition of Quebec as a distinct society
within Canada. Aboriginal self-government was approved in principle, but to permit further negotiations on the form it would take, there would have been a hiatus of three years before the concept was recognized in the courts.
Perhaps most important, however, the accord also proposed a number of institutional changes that would radically reshape the face of Canadian politics. For example, the composition and the appointment process for the Supreme Court of Canada
were to be constitutionally entrenched. Although the Supreme Court's constituting statute requires that three of its justices be from Quebec, due to Quebec's use of codified civil law
rather than English common law
, this has never been constitutionally mandated.
The Canadian Senate
would have been reformed, although the proposed reform fell short of the "triple-E" (equal, elected and effective) Senate
demanded by the western provinces. The accord allowed senators to be elected either in a general election, or by the provincial legislatures. Six would be assigned for every province and one for each territory, and provisions would be in place to permit the future creation of special seats for First Nations voters. However, the powers of the Senate were reduced, and on matters relating to francophone culture and language, passage of a bill would require a "double majority" — a majority in the Senate as a whole and a majority of francophone senators.
Changes were also proposed for the House of Commons. Following a redistribution, the number of seats in the House would have always increased, and it would have codified that a province could not have fewer seats than any other province with a smaller population. Following the "equalization" of the Senate, the House's seat distribution would also be based more so on population than previously. However, Quebec would have never been allotted less than one-quarter of all the seats in the House.
The accord formally institutionalized the federal-provincial-territorial consultative process
, and allowed for Aboriginal inclusion in certain circumstances. It also increased the number of matters in the existing constitutional amending formula that required unanimous consent.
, Alberta
, and Quebec
— had recently passed legislation requiring that constitutional amendments be submitted to a public referendum. As well, Quebec premier Robert Bourassa
had pledged, contingent on the results of the Charlottetown negotiations, to hold a referendum that year on either Quebec independence or a new constitutional agreement.
The impetus for a federal referendum came from the many complaints about the Meech Lake process, and how many claimed it was a backdoor negotiation for the future of the country. Mulroney decided to go with the referendum, against Joe Clark
's advice. British Columbia and Alberta agreed to participate in the federal referendum, but Quebec opted to conduct its own separate vote. (For that reason, Quebecers "temporarily" living outside the province could have two votes, since they were enumerated to the voters' list based on federal rules, but people relatively new to Quebec could not vote at all because they had not established residency.)
The referendum's measure of success was an open question. Because all of the premiers had agreed to the deal, it could conceivably have passed without a referendum — however, Robert Bourassa's promise of a referendum in 1992 on a constitutional agreement or sovereignty meant one would be held in Quebec regardless. It is debated what measure of voter approval would have been necessary, as the Mulroney government itself left the question open to debate. The minimum standard would probably have been a majority in Quebec and a majority in the other provinces.
, the Liberals
, and the New Democratic Party
supported the accord. First Nations
groups endorsed it as did some women's groups and business leaders. All ten provincial premiers supported it. In the English media, almost all opinion pieces were in favour. The campaign began with the accord popular across English Canada, with a statistical dead heat in Quebec. All three major party leaders travelled the country supporting the accord while large amounts of money were spent on pro-accord advertising. While many advocates of the accord acknowledged that it was a compromise and had many flaws, they also felt that without it the country would break apart.
. In a piece first published in Maclean's
, he argued that the accord meant the end of Canada and was the disintegration of the federal government. He would later grant an interview at a Montreal
Chinese restaurant, "La Maison du Egg Roll", where he would deliver a powerful speech, arguing that "This mess deserves a 'no'." One of Trudeau's chief allies, Deborah Coyne
, would lead a feminist crusade against the accord.
The No side was a smaller collection of groups. Preston Manning
's fledgling, western-based Reform Party
battled the accord in the West with the slogan, "KNOw More", opposing "distinct society" and arguing that Senate reform did not go far enough. Quebec sovereignists, Lucien Bouchard
's Bloc Québécois
and the provincial Parti Québécois
led by Jacques Parizeau
, were strongly opposed, as they believed it did not give Quebec enough powers (although Parizeau has admitted that for him nothing short of full independence would be acceptable.)
Mulroney was already deeply unpopular with Canadian voters, who perceived him as arrogant, and he made a number of mistakes in the referendum campaign. Most famously, he referred to persons against the Accord as "enemies of Canada", and while speaking about the dangers of voting against the agreement in Sherbrooke, he ripped a piece of paper in half with a dramatic flourish to represent the historic gains for Quebec that would be threatened if the accord failed. This came to be regarded as one of the defining images of his tenure as prime minister, with many voters seeing overtones of belligerence and intimidation. Many voters, in fact, misinterpreted the action as a reference to the potential breakup of the country.
Many critics, especially those in the West, argued that the Accord was essentially a document created by the nation's elites to codify their vision of what Canada "should" be. B.C. broadcaster Rafe Mair
gained national fame and notoriety by arguing that the accord represented an attempt to permanently cement Canada's power base in the Quebec-Ontario bloc at the expense of fast-growing, wealthy provinces like Alberta and British Columbia that were challenging its authority. To proponents of such beliefs, opposing the accord became portrayed as a campaign of grassroots
activism against the interests of the powerful.
In Quebec, a tape featuring two bureaucrats
saying that Bourassa had "caved" in negotiations was played on a radio station. Further undermining the "Yes" vote in Quebec was when British Columbia's Constitutional Affairs minister Moe Sihota
, responding to Mair's comments, said that Bourassa had been "outgunned" in the discussions.
Do you agree that the Constitution of Canada should be renewed on the basis of the agreement reached on August 28, 1992? Acceptez-vous que la Constitution du Canada soit renouvelée sur la base de l'entente conclue le 28 août 1992?
CBC Television
news reported the result with the words "The Charlottetown Accord is DOA: Dead on arrival
."
to label it the Canadian Newsmaker of the Year
, an honour that usually goes to individual people. CBC claimed that this was the first time that the "country's newsrooms have selected a symbol instead of a specific person," which would be done again in 2006.
Many thought, from a perspective favouring national unity, that the result given was probably the next-best result to the Accord passing: since both Quebec and English Canada rejected it, there really was not a fundamental disagreement as there was with the Meech Lake Accord
. A division in the Quebec Liberal Party
over the accord would bring former Liberal youth committee president Mario Dumont
to form the Action démocratique du Québec
in 1994.
Probably the biggest result of the referendum, however, was the effect of most of Canada's population voting against an agreement endorsed by every first minister and most other political groups. This stinging rebuke against the "political class" in Canada was a preview of things to come — in the federal election
on October 25, 1993, a year less a day after the Charlottetown referendum, the Progressive Conservatives under new leader and prime minister Kim Campbell
were reduced to two seats. They were replaced in most Western ridings by the Reform Party and in Quebec by the Bloc Québécois, the parties who had opposed the Accord. The NDP was also decimated, winning just nine seats, as the party's pro-Charlottetown stance alienated many Prairie voters who turned to Reform as the new party of Western protest. The Liberals, despite their support for the accord, had new leader in Jean Chrétien
, who opposed it, and won a large majority in the new Parliament due to their near-sweep of Ontario
. There, only a minority of the voters who had opposed the accord were willing to vote for the Reform Party.
One of the Accord's reforms dealing specifically with New Brunswick was successfully enacted in 1993 as section 16.1 of the Charter of Rights
.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, several matters relating to the status of Quebec have been pursued through Parliament (e.g., the Clarity Act
) or through intergovernmental agreements. In 2006 the House of Commons of Canada passed the Québécois nation motion
, recognizing francophone Quebecers as a nation within a united Canada. As of 2011 there have been no further attempts to resolve the status of Quebec through a formal constitutional process, although former Quebec opposition leader Mario Dumont
has stated his support for reopening the constitutional debate.
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...
, proposed by the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum
Referendums in Canada
National referendums are seldom used in Canada. The first two referendums saw voters in Québec and the rest of Canada take dramatically opposing stands, the third saw most of the voters take a stand dramatically opposed to that of the politicians in power....
on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.
Background
Until 1982, the British North America Act, 1867Constitution Act, 1867
The Constitution Act, 1867 , is a major part of Canada's Constitution. The Act created a federal dominion and defines much of the operation of the Government of Canada, including its federal structure, the House of Commons, the Senate, the justice system, and the taxation system...
and later amendments served as the basis of Canada's constitution. As an act of the British Parliament, however, this left Canada in the anomalous position of having to petition another country's government to amend its own constitution. Since the Statute of Westminster 1931
Statute of Westminster 1931
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Passed on 11 December 1931, the Act established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire with the United Kingdom...
, the British government was willing to relinquish this role, but Canadian federal and provincial governments were unable to agree on a new amending formula. Various unsuccessful attempts were made to patriate the constitution. Notable among these was the Victoria Charter
Victoria Charter
The Victoria Charter was a set of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada in 1971. This document represented a failed attempt on the part of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to patriate the Constitution, add rights and freedoms to it and entrench English and French as Canada's official...
of 1971.
In 1981, a round of negotiations led by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Pierre Elliott Trudeau reached a patriation
Patriation
Patriation is a non-legal term used in Canada to describe a process of constitutional change also known as "homecoming" of the constitution. Up until 1982, Canada was governed by a constitution that was a British law and could be changed only by an Act of the British Parliament...
agreement that formed the basis of the Constitution Act of 1982. Although this agreement passed into law, augmenting the British North America Acts as the constitution of the land, it was reached over the objections of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
Premier
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....
René Lévesque
René Lévesque
René Lévesque was a reporter, a minister of the government of Quebec, , the founder of the Parti Québécois political party and the 23rd Premier of Quebec...
, the liberals under the leadership of Claude Ryan, and the Quebec National Assembly refused to approve the amendment. However, the judges of the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
, the majority of them (7 out of 9) appointed by Trudeau (Bora Laskin, Robert Dickson, Jean Beetz, Willard Estey, William McIntyre, Bertha Wilson, Antonio Lamer), ruled in the Patriation Reference
Patriation Reference
Reference re a Resolution to amend the Constitution, [1981] 1 S.C.R. 753 – also known as the Patriation Reference – is a historic Supreme Court of Canada reference case that occurred during negotiations for the patriation of the Constitution of Canada.The Court affirmed the existence of...
and the Quebec Veto Reference
Quebec Veto Reference
Quebec Veto Reference [1982] 2 S.C.R. 793 is a Supreme Court of Canada opinion on whether there is a constitutional convention giving the province of Quebec a veto over Amendments to the Constitution of Canada...
that neither Quebec nor any other province had a veto to prevent the federal government from petitioning the British Parliament to pass the Canada Act 1982
Canada Act 1982
The Canada Act 1982 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed at the request of the Canadian federal government to "patriate" Canada's constitution, ending the necessity for the country to request certain types of amendment to the Constitution of Canada to be made by the...
, and that the new constitution applied to all provinces notwithstanding their disagreement.
Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
defeated Trudeau's successor, John Turner
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
, in the 1984 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
and was determined to succeed where Trudeau had failed, by reaching an agreement that would allow Quebec to sanction the Constitution. Led by Mulroney, the federal and provincial governments signed the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
in 1987. However, when the 1990 deadline for ratification was reached, two provincial legislatures, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, had not ratified the agreement, and thus it was defeated. This defeat, in turn, led to a resurgence in the Quebec sovereignty movement
Quebec sovereignty movement
The Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...
.
In the next two years, the future of Quebec dominated the national agenda. The Quebec government set up the Allaire Committee and the Bélanger-Campeau Committee to discuss Quebec's future inside or outside of Canada. The federal government struck the Beaudoin-Edwards Committee and the Spicer commission to find ways to resolve English Canada's concerns. Former Prime Minister Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
was appointed Minister of Constitutional Affairs
Minister of Constitutional Affairs (Canada)
The Minister of Constitutional Affairs was the Canadian cabinet minister responsible for constitutional affairs. The position was created in 1991, following the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, and was abolished in 1993 following the failure of the Charlottetown Accord.Joe Clark was the only...
, and was responsible for pulling all of this together to forge a new constitutional agreement.
On August 28, 1992, after intensive negotiations in Charlottetown
Charlottetown
Charlottetown is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885...
, Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
, the federal, provincial and territorial governments, and representatives from the Assembly of First Nations
Assembly of First Nations
The Assembly of First Nations , formerly known as the National Indian Brotherhood, is a body of First Nations leaders in Canada...
, the Native Council of Canada, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is a nonprofit organization in Canada that represents over 50,400 Inuit. It was founded in 1971 by Tagak Curley as the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada...
and the Métis National Council
Métis National Council
The Métis National Council is the representative of the Northwest Métis people within Canada.-History:The National Council was formed in 1983, following the recognition of the Métis as an aboriginal people in Canada, in Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982...
, came to the agreement known as the "Charlottetown Accord".
The Accord
The Charlottetown Accord attempted to resolve long-standing disputes around the division of powers between federal and provincial jurisdiction. It provided for exclusive provincial jurisdiction over forestry, mining, and other natural resources, and cultural policy. The federal government, however, would have retained jurisdiction over national cultural bodies such as the Canadian Broadcasting CorporationCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
and the National Film Board
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
. The accord also required the federal and provincial governments to harmonize policy in areas such as telecommunications, labour development and training, regional development, and immigration.
The federal power of reservation
Disallowance and reservation
Disallowance and reservation are constitutional powers that theoretically exist in certain Commonwealth realms to delay or overrule legislation. Originally created to retain the Crown's authority over colonial authorities across the British Empire, these powers are now generally obsolete, or have...
, under which the provincial lieutenant governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
could refer a bill passed by a provincial legislature to the federal government for assent or refusal, would have been abolished, and the federal power of disallowance
Disallowance and reservation
Disallowance and reservation are constitutional powers that theoretically exist in certain Commonwealth realms to delay or overrule legislation. Originally created to retain the Crown's authority over colonial authorities across the British Empire, these powers are now generally obsolete, or have...
, under which the federal government could overrule a provincial law that had already been signed into law, would have been severely limited.
Federal spending authority would also have been subject to stricter controls. Canadian governments have often struck agreements under which the federal government would partially or fully fund programs (Medicare, social programs, etc.) that otherwise would fall within areas of provincial jurisdiction. The federal government has typically attached conditions on this financing arrangement to ensure minimum national standards. The Charlottetown Accord would have guaranteed federal funding for such programs, severely limiting the federal government's authority in these departments.
The accord proposed a social charter to promote such objectives as health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
, welfare, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
al protection, and collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
. It also proposed the elimination of barriers to the free flow of goods, services, labour and capital, and other provisions related to employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
, standard of living
Standard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
, and development among the provinces.
The accord also contained the "Canada Clause", which sought to codify the values that define the nature of the Canadian character. These values included egalitarianism
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
, diversity, and the recognition of Quebec as a distinct society
Distinct society
Distinct society is a political term especially used during constitutional debate in Canada, in the second half of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, and present in the two failed constitutional amendments, the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord...
within Canada. Aboriginal self-government was approved in principle, but to permit further negotiations on the form it would take, there would have been a hiatus of three years before the concept was recognized in the courts.
Perhaps most important, however, the accord also proposed a number of institutional changes that would radically reshape the face of Canadian politics. For example, the composition and the appointment process for the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
were to be constitutionally entrenched. Although the Supreme Court's constituting statute requires that three of its justices be from Quebec, due to Quebec's use of codified civil law
Civil law (legal system)
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
rather than English common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
, this has never been constitutionally mandated.
The Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
would have been reformed, although the proposed reform fell short of the "triple-E" (equal, elected and effective) Senate
Triple-E Senate
The Triple-E Senate is a proposed variation of reform to the current Canadian Senate, calling for senators to be elected to exercise effective powers in numbers equally representative of each province; this is in contrast to the present arrangement wherein individuals are appointed to the Senate...
demanded by the western provinces. The accord allowed senators to be elected either in a general election, or by the provincial legislatures. Six would be assigned for every province and one for each territory, and provisions would be in place to permit the future creation of special seats for First Nations voters. However, the powers of the Senate were reduced, and on matters relating to francophone culture and language, passage of a bill would require a "double majority" — a majority in the Senate as a whole and a majority of francophone senators.
Changes were also proposed for the House of Commons. Following a redistribution, the number of seats in the House would have always increased, and it would have codified that a province could not have fewer seats than any other province with a smaller population. Following the "equalization" of the Senate, the House's seat distribution would also be based more so on population than previously. However, Quebec would have never been allotted less than one-quarter of all the seats in the House.
The accord formally institutionalized the federal-provincial-territorial consultative process
First Ministers conference
In Canada, a First Ministers' conference is a meeting of the provincial and territorial premiers and the Prime Minister. These events are held at the call of the prime minister and, since 1950, have typically been held annually...
, and allowed for Aboriginal inclusion in certain circumstances. It also increased the number of matters in the existing constitutional amending formula that required unanimous consent.
The referendum
Unlike the Meech Lake Accord, the Charlottetown Accord's ratification process provided for a national referendum. Three provinces — British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
— had recently passed legislation requiring that constitutional amendments be submitted to a public referendum. As well, Quebec premier Robert Bourassa
Robert Bourassa
Jean-Robert Bourassa, was a politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as the 22nd Premier of Quebec in two different mandates, first from May 12, 1970, to November 25, 1976, and then from December 12, 1985, to January 11, 1994, serving a total of just under 15 years as Provincial Premier.-Early...
had pledged, contingent on the results of the Charlottetown negotiations, to hold a referendum that year on either Quebec independence or a new constitutional agreement.
The impetus for a federal referendum came from the many complaints about the Meech Lake process, and how many claimed it was a backdoor negotiation for the future of the country. Mulroney decided to go with the referendum, against Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
's advice. British Columbia and Alberta agreed to participate in the federal referendum, but Quebec opted to conduct its own separate vote. (For that reason, Quebecers "temporarily" living outside the province could have two votes, since they were enumerated to the voters' list based on federal rules, but people relatively new to Quebec could not vote at all because they had not established residency.)
The referendum's measure of success was an open question. Because all of the premiers had agreed to the deal, it could conceivably have passed without a referendum — however, Robert Bourassa's promise of a referendum in 1992 on a constitutional agreement or sovereignty meant one would be held in Quebec regardless. It is debated what measure of voter approval would have been necessary, as the Mulroney government itself left the question open to debate. The minimum standard would probably have been a majority in Quebec and a majority in the other provinces.
Support
The campaign saw an alignment of groups in support of the new amendments. The Progressive ConservativesProgressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
, the Liberals
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, and the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
supported the accord. First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
groups endorsed it as did some women's groups and business leaders. All ten provincial premiers supported it. In the English media, almost all opinion pieces were in favour. The campaign began with the accord popular across English Canada, with a statistical dead heat in Quebec. All three major party leaders travelled the country supporting the accord while large amounts of money were spent on pro-accord advertising. While many advocates of the accord acknowledged that it was a compromise and had many flaws, they also felt that without it the country would break apart.
Opposition
The most important opponent of the accord was likely former Prime Minister Pierre TrudeauPierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
. In a piece first published in Maclean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
, he argued that the accord meant the end of Canada and was the disintegration of the federal government. He would later grant an interview at a Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
Chinese restaurant, "La Maison du Egg Roll", where he would deliver a powerful speech, arguing that "This mess deserves a 'no'." One of Trudeau's chief allies, Deborah Coyne
Deborah Coyne
Deborah Margaret Ryland Coyne, is a Canadian constitutional lawyer, professor and author. Her education includes a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University and a Master of Philosophy from Oxford University in international relations.-Early career:She was a staffer in...
, would lead a feminist crusade against the accord.
The No side was a smaller collection of groups. Preston Manning
Preston Manning
Ernest Preston Manning, CC is a Canadian politician. He was the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance...
's fledgling, western-based Reform Party
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
battled the accord in the West with the slogan, "KNOw More", opposing "distinct society" and arguing that Senate reform did not go far enough. Quebec sovereignists, Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard
Lucien Bouchard, is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat, politician and former Minister of the Environment of the Canadian Federal Government. He was the Leader of Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 1996, and the 27th Premier of Quebec from January 29, 1996 to March 8, 2001...
's Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
and the provincial Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
led by Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau, is an economist and noted Quebec sovereignist who was the 26th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from September 26, 1994 to January 29, 1996.-Early life and career:...
, were strongly opposed, as they believed it did not give Quebec enough powers (although Parizeau has admitted that for him nothing short of full independence would be acceptable.)
Waning popularity
As the campaign progressed, the accord steadily became less and less popular. This is often credited to much of the electorate finding at least some part of the lengthy accord with which they disagreed. It is also closely connected to the extreme unpopularity of Brian Mulroney in 1992, and to the nation's general antipathy towards the constitutional debates.Mulroney was already deeply unpopular with Canadian voters, who perceived him as arrogant, and he made a number of mistakes in the referendum campaign. Most famously, he referred to persons against the Accord as "enemies of Canada", and while speaking about the dangers of voting against the agreement in Sherbrooke, he ripped a piece of paper in half with a dramatic flourish to represent the historic gains for Quebec that would be threatened if the accord failed. This came to be regarded as one of the defining images of his tenure as prime minister, with many voters seeing overtones of belligerence and intimidation. Many voters, in fact, misinterpreted the action as a reference to the potential breakup of the country.
Many critics, especially those in the West, argued that the Accord was essentially a document created by the nation's elites to codify their vision of what Canada "should" be. B.C. broadcaster Rafe Mair
Rafe Mair
Rafe Mair, born , is a lawyer, political commentator and former radio personality and politician in British Columbia, Canada.Mair was born in Vancouver, British Columbia where he worked as a lawyer for many years....
gained national fame and notoriety by arguing that the accord represented an attempt to permanently cement Canada's power base in the Quebec-Ontario bloc at the expense of fast-growing, wealthy provinces like Alberta and British Columbia that were challenging its authority. To proponents of such beliefs, opposing the accord became portrayed as a campaign of grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
activism against the interests of the powerful.
In Quebec, a tape featuring two bureaucrats
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
saying that Bourassa had "caved" in negotiations was played on a radio station. Further undermining the "Yes" vote in Quebec was when British Columbia's Constitutional Affairs minister Moe Sihota
Moe Sihota
Munmohan Singh "Moe" Sihota is a former Canadian broadcaster and politician.He was born in Duncan, British Columbia and attended St. George's Boys School, Vancouver, on scholarship...
, responding to Mair's comments, said that Bourassa had been "outgunned" in the discussions.
Results
On October 26, 1992, two referendums, the Quebec government's referendum in Quebec, and the federal government's referendum in all other provinces and territories, were put to the voters.| No: 54.3% | Yes: 45.7% | ||
| ▲ |
Breakdown by province
| Province | Yes | No | Voter turnout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta Alberta Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces... |
39.8 | 60.2 | 72.6 |
| British Columbia British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858... |
31.7 | 68.3 | 76.7 |
| Manitoba Manitoba Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other... |
38.4 | 61.6 | 70.6 |
| New Brunswick New Brunswick New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area... |
61.8 | 38.2 | 72.2 |
| Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400... |
63.2 | 36.8 | 53.3 |
| Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the... |
48.8 | 51.2 | 67.8 |
| Ontario Ontario Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa.... |
50.1 | 49.9 | 71.9 |
| Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population... |
73.9 | 26.2 | 70.5 |
| Quebec Quebec Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level.... 1 |
43.3 | 56.7 | 82.8 |
| Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota.... |
44.7 | 55.3 | 68.7 |
| Northwest Territories Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south... |
61.3 | 38.7 | 70.4 |
| Yukon Yukon Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in.... |
43.7 | 50.4 | 70.0 |
| Nation totals | 49.6 | 50.4 | ' |
CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
news reported the result with the words "The Charlottetown Accord is DOA: Dead on arrival
Dead on arrival
Dead on arrival or D.O.A. is a term used to indicate that a patient was found to be already clinically dead upon the arrival of professional medical assistance, often in the form of first responders such as emergency medical technicians, paramedics, or police...
."
Aftermath
The impact of the referendum caused the Canadian PressCanadian Press
Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. is the entity which "will take over the operations of the Canadian Press" according to a November 26, 2010 article in the Toronto Star...
to label it the Canadian Newsmaker of the Year
Canadian Newsmaker of the Year
The Canadian Newsmaker of the Year is a title awarded by the Canadian Press annually since 1946, reflecting the opinion of CP, and, since its formation in 1954, that of Broadcast News, on which Canadian has had the most influence on the news in a given year...
, an honour that usually goes to individual people. CBC claimed that this was the first time that the "country's newsrooms have selected a symbol instead of a specific person," which would be done again in 2006.
Many thought, from a perspective favouring national unity, that the result given was probably the next-best result to the Accord passing: since both Quebec and English Canada rejected it, there really was not a fundamental disagreement as there was with the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
. A division in the Quebec Liberal Party
Parti libéral du Québec
The Quebec Liberal Party is a centre-right political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955....
over the accord would bring former Liberal youth committee president Mario Dumont
Mario Dumont
Mario Dumont is a television personality and former politician in the province of Quebec. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec , and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec , from 1994 to 2009...
to form the Action démocratique du Québec
Action démocratique du Québec
The Action démocratique du Québec, commonly referred to as the ADQ is a centre-right political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defines itself as autonomist, and has support from both soft nationalists and federalists....
in 1994.
Probably the biggest result of the referendum, however, was the effect of most of Canada's population voting against an agreement endorsed by every first minister and most other political groups. This stinging rebuke against the "political class" in Canada was a preview of things to come — in the federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
on October 25, 1993, a year less a day after the Charlottetown referendum, the Progressive Conservatives under new leader and prime minister Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
were reduced to two seats. They were replaced in most Western ridings by the Reform Party and in Quebec by the Bloc Québécois, the parties who had opposed the Accord. The NDP was also decimated, winning just nine seats, as the party's pro-Charlottetown stance alienated many Prairie voters who turned to Reform as the new party of Western protest. The Liberals, despite their support for the accord, had new leader in Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
, who opposed it, and won a large majority in the new Parliament due to their near-sweep of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. There, only a minority of the voters who had opposed the accord were willing to vote for the Reform Party.
One of the Accord's reforms dealing specifically with New Brunswick was successfully enacted in 1993 as section 16.1 of the Charter of Rights
Section Sixteen One of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Section 16.1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the newest section of the Charter. It was enacted by the Constitution Amendment, 1993 and guarantees equality between English-speaking and French-speaking New Brunswickers.Section 16.1 is not to be confused with subsection 16 , which...
.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, several matters relating to the status of Quebec have been pursued through Parliament (e.g., the Clarity Act
Clarity Act
The Clarity Act is legislation passed by the Parliament of Canada that established the conditions under which the Government of Canada would enter into negotiations that might lead to secession following such a vote by one of the provinces. The Clarity Bill was tabled for first reading in the...
) or through intergovernmental agreements. In 2006 the House of Commons of Canada passed the Québécois nation motion
Québécois nation motion
The Québécois nation motion was a parliamentary motion tabled by Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 and approved by the Canadian House of Commons on Monday, November 27, 2006...
, recognizing francophone Quebecers as a nation within a united Canada. As of 2011 there have been no further attempts to resolve the status of Quebec through a formal constitutional process, although former Quebec opposition leader Mario Dumont
Mario Dumont
Mario Dumont is a television personality and former politician in the province of Quebec. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec , and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec , from 1994 to 2009...
has stated his support for reopening the constitutional debate.
External links
- Full text of the Charlottetown Accord
- History of Quebec and Canada Resource Centre: A clip of Brian Mulroney speaking after the defeat of the Accord