Quebec's need for cultural and linguistic protection, the notwithstanding clause, and the demise of the Meech Lake Accord.

• Author: Normey, Rob

For careful observers of Canadian culture and politics, there was an obvious irony attached to the House of Commons motion that was approved in November of 2006, recognizing Quebec's special place in Confederation. The motion garnered 265 years and a mere 16 nays and stated:

"Que cette Chambre reconnaisse que les Quebecoises et les Quebecois torment une nation au sein d'un Canada uni."

"That this House recognize that the Quebecois form a nation within a united Canada."

Many of us will recall the highly polarized debate surrounding the 1987 Meech Lake Accord, signed by Prime Minister Mulroney and all of Canada's premiers. It generated a great deal of confident talk about how the province of Quebec, whose government had not signed on to the Constitution Act, 1982, had now been brought into the constitutional fold with "honour and enthusiasm." Seasoned Canada watchers would have known at that point to cue the scary movie music, and indeed a veritable firestorm occurred over the next few years, leaving the Prime Minister, Premier Bourassa and a great many other political figures to contemplate the ashes and rubble of Meech Lake with despair. This agreement recognizing that Quebec constitutes a distinct society within Canada and that our Constitution should be interpreted with that in mind, attracted vehement denunciation and scathing criticism from a number of quarters. The three years between the signing of the Meech Lake Accord and its demise were a momentous time for Canada, arguably involving the development of fault lines that split Canada and led to a gradual reconfiguration of our land. A painful odyssey took place over the next three years until the time limits expired with two provinces having failed to enact the required resolutions and constitutional shouting matches becoming the favorite blood sport in Canada.

The House of Commons Resolution of 2006 represents a shift in the willingness of political representatives from English-speaking Canada, or Canada Beyond Quebec, to recognize the distinctiveness of Quebec as a predominantly French-speaking province, with its own unique culture, within our nation-state. This inevitably leads one to ask whether or not the furore over the Meech Lake Accord might have been a lot of sound and fury signifying, perhaps, a failure of imagination and tolerance.

The three years between the signing of the Meech Lake Accord and its demise were a momentous time for Canada, arguably involving the development of fault lines that split Canada and led to a gradual reconfiguration of our land. To better understand its significance in our historical development, we need to focus on the heated topic of language and cultural protection policy engaged in by the Quebec government and how these were perceived by citizens and the courts. In particular, I would maintain that the Ford and Devine decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1988 and the reaction to them by Premier Bourassa and the National Assembly of Quebec continue to reverberate to this day.

The government of Quebec spends more on various cultural initiatives by a considerable margin than does any other province. At the heart of its culture is undeniably the French language itself.

As someone who has been...