Stereo Morning
La prochaine fois: coming soon?
Broadcast Date: May 13, 1990
A decade after the historic Quebec referendum on sovereignty-association, the desire for independence is alive and well. As the Meech Lake Accord stumbles towards its imminent demise, many of those who opposed independence in 1980 are disappointed that Canada has not lived up to its promise of reform. Among them are the economic naysayers who doubted the province's ability to survive on its own. As we hear in this clip, Quebec's captains of industry have become champions of independence.La prochaine fois: coming soon?
• Pierre Trudeau used the desire for change generated by the referendum to achieve his lifelong goal: amending and patriating the British North America Act. He was determined to bring home a revised constitution so Canadians no longer needed Great Britain's approval in order to change it. His vision of the Constitution included a charter of rights and freedoms, which would protect citizens against arbitrary actions by their governments.
• Trudeau was opposed by most of the provincial premiers, including Lévesque. "Trudeau represents the centralizing of Canada," Lévesque observed, "literally crushing provinces into a federal mode. That cannot go for Quebec."
• Trudeau outmanoeuvred Lévesque on the "Night of the Long Knives" and succeeded in patriation in 1982. Lévesque saw the agreement as a betrayal, one in which English politicians had conspired against Quebec. It was the only province not to sign the Constitution, but was still bound by it.
• You can learn more about the patriation of the Constitution in the CBC Archives topic Charting the Future: Canada's New Constitution.
• After the referendum defeat and the patriation of the Constitution, sovereignty became a backburner issue in Quebec. Robert Bourassa's Liberals retook the province in 1985. In Ottawa, the Mulroney government sought to bring Quebec into the Constitution through a new round of negotiations.
• Quebec showed willingness to sign the Constitution if its provincial powers were increased, and if it was recognized as a distinct society. The new agreement lead to the Meech Lake accord, which died 10 days after this clip was broadcast in 1990. See the CBC Archives topic Constitutional Discord: Meech Lake.
• Quebec's desire to better control its destiny would dramatically resurface several times in the following decade. It played a key role in the defeat of the 1992 Charlottetown accord, and culminated in another — and much closer — referendum in 1995.
• For more on that dramatic event, see Separation Anxiety: The 1995 Quebec Referendum.
La prochaine fois: coming soon?
Medium: Radio
Program: Stereo Morning
Broadcast Date: May 13, 1990
Guest(s): Claude Béland, Claude Castonguay, Jean Chrétien, Bernard Lemaire
Reporter: Michel Cormier, Mary Lou Finlay, Luana Parker
Duration: 8:04
Last updated:
Sept. 14, 2009
La prochaine fois: coming soon?.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Sept. 14, 2009.
[Page consulted on Feb. 13, 2012.]