Artifact #3: Brian Mulroney and Meech Lake

Artifact Citation: 

Rodewalt, Vance. Eh... what's hatchin' Doc? Cartoon. Calgary: Calgary Herald, April 15, 1990. From Library and Archives Canada, Archives / Collections and Fonds. http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=3803293&lang=eng (accessed November 6, 2024).

Artifact Label:

This political cartoon depicts Prime Minister Brian Mulroney sitting on the Meech Lake Accord hoping, with his fingers crossed, that it will pass, or in this case grow into the new constitutional amendments. Brian Mulroney’s career was at risk of ending if the Meech Lake Accord were to fail, as he ran on it as a campaign promise in order to become Prime Minister. Unfortunately for him and the Progressive Conservatives, the Meech Lake Accord failed, which caused the PC’s to lose most of their support in Quebec, and ultimately caused Brian Mulroney to lose his spot in the Prime Minister’s office. While this political cartoon pokes fun at Mulroney and his hopes for the Meech Lake Accord to pass it importantly highlights that Mulroney must’ve known that the Accord was on shaky ground while it was nearing its 3-year death date. 

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.