Ever since the Statute of Westminster 1931, the British government had been willing to give up control of Canada, but Canadian federal and provincial governments were unable to agree on a new formula to allow amendments. Various unsuccessful attempts were made to change the constitution, including the Victoria Charter of 1971.

On March 25, 1982 the British Parliament passed the Canada Act, also called the Constitutional Act of 1982, which made Canada a fully sovereign state. It was proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II on April 17, 1982. Residents of Quebec had voted in May

The Meech Lake Accords would have constitutionally established the Supreme Court as the highest court of appeal for Canada, and would also have set the size of the court at nine judges, three of whom would have been from Quebec. This would merely have continued the status quo. The Accords also required the Governor General to appoint judges from lists of candidates provided by the provinces, however no provision was made for the possibility that the Governor General might find none of the suggested candidates qualified.

In 1984 Brian Mulroney became Prime Minister partly on a platform of reintegrating Quebec into mainstream Canadian life. On a personal level, he was determined to succeed where Trudeau had failed, and accepted the idea of continuing negotiations with Quebec. On several occasions, the new Quebec government of Robert Bourassa outlined its constitutional demands: constitutional veto, limitation on the spending power of the Federal government, a role in the appointment of Supreme Court judges, recognition of the distinctive character of Quebec, and improved powers over immigration. The new Mulroney government was receptive to these demands and eventually the other provinces agreed to constitutional discussions. As he said in his announcement of the Accords to the Canadian House on May 1, 1987, "Our task, simply put, was to settle a constitutional impasse which was incompletely resolved in 1981. Our task was to attempt to reconcile Quebec's distinct needs with the interests of all other provinces and the good of the country as a whole."1

Because these were amendments to the existing constitution, they required ratification by all of the ten provinces and the federal government within a three year period. Mulroney was enthusiastic in his support of these accords saying, "Mr. Speaker, the Meech Lake Agreement is good for Canada, and good for Canadians. It will unblock the Constitutional reform process and enable Canadians to turn their attention to other issues."3

Another issue involved economics. In light of the other significant accord negotiated in 1987, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), there were discussions concerning whether the Meech Lake Accords would help or hurt Canada in the post-NAFTA environment. "Any one province, for example, could balk at ratifying a constitutional amendment until its particular economic demands are met; or it could dicker over the design of a new social program, exacting a guarantee of further subsidies for local industry as the price of its conformity to federal preferences."7

We are also entrenching in the Constitution the annual First Ministers' Conference on the economy.2

Until Senate reform is achieved, appointments to the Senate will be made by the Federal Government from lists of candidates furnished by the provinces.

We agreed that reasonable compensation be granted to provinces that do not participate in future national shared-cost programs in areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction, if they undertake their own initiatives or programs compatible with national objectives.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Supreme Court, Parti Quebecois, Lake Accords, Minister Mulroney, Prime Minister, Rights Freedoms, Court Canada, Frum Accords, Charlestown Accord, Government Quebec, federal government, meech lake, prime minister, supreme court, lake accords, meech lake accords, federal provincial, court canada, supreme court canada, distinct society, prime minister mulroney, british parliament, government canada, ratification ten provinces, provinces federal government,
Approximate Word count = 3001
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)