Another attempt at constitutional reform is necessary because there are three major group

The unresolved issues left from past attempts at Constitutional reform need to be dealt with. Many groups have been so close to achieving their constitutional aspirations. If constitutional reform is made for one of the claimants, it needs to be made for all, including various charter groups who wish to enhance their own rights. This would lead to an inclusive set of constitutional negotiations, and inevitably, megaconstitutional reform (Brock:1998:113).

The Aboriginal rights issue is still yet to be resolved. Part 2 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognized the need for further identification and definition of the rights of all Aboriginal peoples including the Indian, Inuit and Metis peoples of Canada (Dyck:1996:43 - Constitution Act 1982:II:37). This required a constitutional conference to be held within a year to deal with this matter. A conference did take place in March 1983, but the changes made fell short of the growing constitutional aspirations of the Aboriginal people. The 1983 amendment expanded the 1982 recognition of Aboriginal rights in two ways: it gave constitutional recognition to rights including land claims, the second change stipulated that these rights must be equally guaranteed despite gender (Constitution Act 1982:I-IX:37 -Cairns:1996:1930). The reason for the second part of the amendment was to ensure the discrimination that Aboriginal women had experienced under the Indian Act which was upheld by the Supreme Court would not occur in the future (Cairns:1996:131). However their goal of self-government was never achieved and this is not acceptable.

Megaconstitutional reform is desirable. As Peter Russell argues, Canada, now more than ever needs to reconstruct its Constitutional framework. One of the greatest constitutional achievements was the Charlottetown Accord because it was an inclusive process in most aspects. Yet it failed to reach a Canada-wide consensus. This experience should not be taken as a sign that megaconstitutional reform is impossible (Russell:1993:226). The Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accord constitutional processes are undesirable. We need to look at the flaws of these constitutional processes and learn from our mistakes.

The Meech Lake accord was condemned not only because of its contents, but also because of the process in which it was created. The Accord was attacked by charter groups who had been successful in the struggle for the Charter of Freedom and Rights. These groups, especially women's organizations in English Canada, had much to do with the failures of the Meech Lake Accord (Russell:1993:142). They felt the Meech Lake Accord did not represent the interest of Canadian citizens. I do not see how eleven white men could represent all the various interests of our very diverse society. The process of the Accord was illegitimate because it was an attempt by governments to further their own agenda at the expense of many groups within society (Brock:1998:114).

Westerners deserve more economic and political power. This lack of power is partially caused by labeling and treating four very different provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as one all encompassing region. With the current decision-making structure in the Senate, the West has little influence in the Senate, at least not enough to overcome the dominance of Ontario (Dyck:1996:297). The West not only lacks representation in the Senate, but also in the House of Commons. In the past, the Reform Party, whose main support comes from the West, has received fewer seats that it deserved in terms of the popular vote. This was most evident in 1993 when the Bloc Quebecois was named the official opposition party, despite the fact that the Reform Party received more votes than the Bloc because the system is based on a province-by-province basis (Dyck:1996:350).

The West's demand for power was withdrawn from the 1982 constitutional agenda and has still not been dealt w

Some common words found in the essay are:
Charlottetown Accord, Constitution Act, Finally Accord, Meech Lake, West Aboriginal, Brock1998118 Throughout, Lake Accord, Constitution Aboriginal, Program NEP, Western Alienation, meech lake, megaconstitutional reform, constitutional reform, aboriginal peoples, meech lake accord, charlottetown accord, lake accord, constitution act, federal government, distinct society, aboriginal self-government, consensus issues divide, past attempts constitutional, attempts constitutional reform, senate house commons,
Approximate Word count = 3115
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)