Rolling the Dice:
Who is to Blame for the Failure of the Meech Lake Accord

On June 3, 1987, the Meech Lake Accord was signed by the federal and ten provincial governments. It was a constitutional amendment intended to obtain Quebec's approval of the constitution constructed in 1982 which the French majority speaking province did not sign. The Accord had to be ratified by June 23, 1990--three years to the day after the first province, Quebec, had approved it--by every provincial legislature and the federal government. However, when this day passed and the Accord had not been ratified by each and every province (only Manitoba and Newfoundland failed to pass it) fingers started pointing to who is to blame.

Elijah Harper

Represented and supported by all Canadian Aboriginals, Manitoba MLA Elijah Harper opposed the Meech Lake Accord because he believed it was badly flawed. He opposed the Accord because it (1) denied Aboriginals the status of a founding nation and (2) failed to make Aboriginals full-fledged participants to federal-provincial conferences where the constitution, economy, and national policies are being discussed and decided.

Harper's strategy was to delay a vote in the Manitoba legislature as much as possible and the first was he did this was by reminding the legislature of the law that constitutional changes go to public hearings before being passed. With almost 2000 people wanting to appear at public meetings, Premier Gary Filmon asked the legislature to waive rules requiring 48 hours to put motions before the house. This was the only chance of introducing the Accord, getting the public hearings in, and a vote in the legislature before June 23. Harper voted against Filmon's request and two days later the Meech Lake Accord was introduced but with such little time remaining, it would be impossible to hold the required public hearings before the legislature could vote. The House adjourned on June 23 without ratifying Accord. Meech was dead.

Clyde Wells

Besides Manitoba, Newfoundland was the other province that did not ratify the Meech Lake Accord. For various reasons, Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells opposed the Accord but stated that no one province should be able to stop a constitutional amendment if the remaining provinces and the majority of the country supported it. However, by June 23 Wells had not even held a vote on the amendment in the Newfoundland legislature. There were three reasons why he did this.

First, he was upset that Senator Lowell Murray pressured Newfoundland into ratifying the Accord so the federal government could ask for an extension for Manitoba. Wells had earlier asked for an extension on the deadline but had his request refused by the federal government and other provinces. Secondly, Wells said the amendment was already dead because of Manitoba. Thirdly, he believed that a 'no' vote in Newfoundland would only add insult to injury to Quebec if it vote occurred. Thus, there was no need to vote on the Accord in Newfoundland.

Brian Mulroney

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney admitted that he waited until close to the deadline before he applied pressure on the two provinces that had not ratified the Accord, Newfoundland and Manitoba. Mulroney's plan of waiting did apply pressure on the holdout provinces. However, it backfired. He had not planned on encountering Native Manitoba MLA Elijah Harper. He had not realized that Clyde Wells would be so tough.

What Mulroney should have done was apply pressure sooner. Had he done this, Manitoba would have had plenty of time to hold its public hearings and had time for a vote on the Accord. A possible Manitoba 'yes' vote would have made Newfoundland the only province opposing a constitutional amendment the rest of the country supported. Wells had said that not one province should be able to fail an amendment if the rest of Canada supported it. If Mulroney had applied pressure sooner and Manitoba had then ratified the Accord, Wells would have to swallow his own words and push for ratification of the Accord in Newfoundland.

Because Mulroney waited so long, he is to blame for the Meech Lake Accord's failure. He gambled and lost.