Artifact #2: Bilateral Deals Threaten Canada

Artifact Citation: 

Mackie, Richard and David Roberts. “Bilateral Deals Threaten Canada” The Globe and Mail. Online. Toronto: The Globe and Mail, 1990. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1151164176/20FD82CD778F4180PQ/12?accountid=14474&sourcetype=Historical%20Newspapers Accessed November 2024. 

Artifact Label:

When first presented, the Meech Lake Accord was already a contentious issue. Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau publicly attacked the Accord in the newspapers, while Prime Minister Brian Mulroney struggled to close a deal with all ten other First Ministers. This newspaper artifact sheds light to the political landscape following the Meech Lake Accord, highlighting the fact that the failure of the Meech Lake Accord created a battlefield of political chaos and uncertainty of the future of confederation. The newspaper displays the competing interests of Premiers from across the country, with Ontario’s David Peterson calling for the end of any special deals between the federal government and Quebec, to Saskatchewan’s Grant Devine providing increased pressure for concessions to Western Canada. This new era of constitutional negotiations couldn’t have happened without the failure of the Meech Lake Accord.

Bibliography of Secondary Sources: 

Watts, Ronald L. 1991. “Canadian Federalism in the 1990s: Once More in Question.” Publius 21, no. 3 169–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3330521.