Constitutional Showdown in Canada

...Public opinion polls, though, show that only a small minority of Quebecers desire that path at the moment...

...Bourassa overrode the Court's decision by invoking the "notwithstanding clause" of the Constitution, a provision that lets provincial legislatures enact laws "notwithstanding" their possible infringement of individual rights...

...In addition, the Liberals' attempt to show they can be just as vigorous in pursuit of Quebec's interests as the opposition is an open invitation to the PQ to keep upping the ante...

...The one holdout was the late Quebec Prime Minister Rene Levesque...

...Hence Mulroney made it an urgent priority of his government to convene another Federal-provincial conference...

...Now the Meech Lake Accord must be ratified by the provincial legislatures...

...Canada's original statement of fundamental governing principles, the British North American Act of 1867, was drawnupbytheBritish Parliament...

...How did Canada end up in this predicament less than 10 years after Quebec voters decisively rejected the PQ's referendum on "sovereignty-association" (i.e...

...In 1982 Trudeau overcame what seemed like intractable differences among most of the provinces...

...The implicit threat of secession—a prominent feature of Quebec-Canada relations for two decades—is still present, even if Bourassa's allusions to it mostly consist of what the province's other politicians might do should Meech Lake fail to be adopted...

...He and his Parti Québécois (PQ) were committed to the cause of Quebec's independence and not anxious to participate in a positive national development...

...introduce provincial nomination of Senators and Supreme Court justices (currently appointed by the Prime Minister...

...By June, following much hard bargaining, an agreement that seemed to please all the participants emerged, known as the Meech Lake Accord...

...Because Parliament's disciplined party system prevents these interests from achieving adequate representation, such conferences have become a well-established practice, and the resultant decisions are taken to the appropriate legislative bodies for action...

...Supporters and critics of Meech Lake alike are engaged in a sophisticated game of chicken...

...About half would prefer to continue negotiations, adding to the belief that an intermediate solution ought to be achievable...

...Efforts made since, especially during this century, to enact an indigenous constitution were unsuccessful until 1982...

...Although the Constitution was promulgated, it was generally recognized that Quebec—the second largest province, with over one-quarter of the country's population—could not simply be left outside the constitutional circle indefinitely...

...Quebec, however, insists that the Accord be passed with no changes whatsoever...

...Harold M. Waller, who writes frequently for the NL on Canadian affairs, is chairman of the Department of Political Science at McGill University...

...Obviously, the dynamics of the arrangement make it fraught with danger for the Federal position...

...Similarly, his adversaries are hoping he will make some concessions rather than see his victory go down the drain...

...and give provinces the option to exclude themselves from national spending programs with compensation from the Federal government...

...As decision makers in Quebec address that choice, the virtues of pragmatic accommodations in the time-honored Canadian tradition might come to seem increasingly attractive...

...To date, Parliament plus eight legislatures have voted in favor...

...Thus the average Canadian's reaction to Meech Lake depends for the most part on what he or she thinks about Quebec's aspirations...

...Bourassa is holding firm in the expectation that the recalcitrant provinces will come around in time to avert what he maintains would be the greater evil—the failure of the Accord...

...require unanimity for future changes in Federal institutions —seen by Quebec as a veto power...

...The format Trudeau used for those negotiations was the Federal-provincial conference, an extra-legal institution that has no constitutional authority but is a reflection of Canada's diversity and strong provincial interests...

...Such nationalist feeling persists regardless of the party in office, although its form and intensity will vary...

...And the opportunity for rapprochement seemed to arrive when Robert Bourassa's Liberal Party defeated the PQ at the end of l985...

...There is always the possibility, too, that the constitutional issue would simply be placed on the back burner for a while...

...They contend that implementation might in fact facilitate, rather than prevent, the country's disintegration...

...allow greater provincial control over immigration—particularly important to francophone Quebec...

...When that began in April '87, Bourassa's government presented five key demands...

...With free trade in place a dismembered Canada could be drawn into closer ties with the United States, leaving Quebec with the cruel choice formulated by economist Kimon Valaskakis: "Stay out of the new continental union and risk economic oblivion, or come in and face cultural oblivion...

...Ironically, independence for Quebec might not be the panacea its advocates are touting, anyway...

...Defenders of the Accord argue that it merely acknowledges the highly decentralized nature of Canadian federalism, and the provincial governments' need of more flexibility to satisfy their constituents...

...It is evident now that one effect of the PQ's nine years in power was to heighten the nationalism of many Quebecers...

...That year Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau managed to put together a document—including a Charter of Rights and Freedoms—that met the requirements of all the country's provinces except Quebec...

...As the homeland of most French Canadians, the province considers itself the primary vehicle for the expression of Québécois sentiments...

...A prime example of this trend came at the end of 1988, when the Supreme Court held that Quebec's law proscribing English-language commercial signs was unconstitutional...

...Opponents maintain that it is clearly a setback for the concept of a strong federal government capable of formulating and implementing national policies...

...Those who are not sympathetic to Quebec's special demands look upon the Accord as a significant step toward eventual de facto independence for Quebec...

...For the Meech Lake Accord to become law, the Federal Parliament and the 10 provincial legislatures have to approve it no later than June 23...

...The stage is therefore set for a dramatic five months, with pundits claiming the fate of the country hangs in the balance...

...In the event that the Accord does not go through after all, what the nationalists would surely denounce as Canada's rejection of Quebec might be effectively exploited to push the province farther along the route to independence...

...independence...

...Since both the Liberals and the PQ have made it apparent that they perceive the collective rights of the Québécois people as superseding those of Canadian citizens, the provincial government's capacity to deal with the rest of the country has been sharply reduced...

...But despite the seemingly impossible situation the country is facing, despair is not in order...

...The name may sound idyllic, but the Canadian government retreat in the woods outside Ottawa has become a symbol of the latest chapter in this country's continuing constitutional imbroglio...

...As a result, the Liberals, in principle federalists, have found themselves increasingly pulled toward nationalist positions...

...As for Mulroney, given his commitment to keeping Quebec in the constitutional fold, he will be pressuring all sides to make the necessary compromises...

...But Newfoundland's new Prime Minister, Clyde Wells, has threatened to rescind the predecessor government's approval, while the Manitoba and New Brunswick legislatures have declined to go along because they have reservations about some of the terms...

...For it was there in 1987 that Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the 10 provincial prime ministers hammered out an agreement designed to gain Quebec's adherence to the Constitution patriated five years earlier, without the French-speaking province's concurrence...

...As a federalist party it could be expected to set reasonable conditions for approving the Constitution...

...At the heart of the controversy, though, is the burning question of Quebec's status...

...That may not necessarily be the case, yet it is not an implausible assertion...

...If one believes Quebec is entitled to protect its French character and control its destiny, one will agree with Bourassa's Liberals and most francophones that the Accord is the minimum Quebec must be granted if it is to remain within the Canadian federation...

...Its major provisions would designate Quebec as a "distinct society...