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The Meech Lake Accord ((フランス語:Accord du lac Meech)) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the 10 provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of Quebec to symbolically endorse the 1982 constitutional amendments by providing for some decentralization of the Canadian federation. The "Accord" refers to an agreement to amend the Constitution that was reached on April 30, 1987, with a final legal text prepared in June of the same year. The proposed amendments were initially popular and backed by most political leaders in the country. Concerns about the lack of citizen involvement in the Accord's drafting and its future impact on Canadian federalism were raised by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, feminist activists, and Aboriginal groups, leading to a slow slide in popularity in English Canada. Changes in government in New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Newfoundland brought to power Premiers that declined to accept the Accord, leading to further negotiations and tension between Quebec and the predominantly English-speaking provinces. In the months leading up to the agreement's three-year deadline for ratification, a second accord was drafted to be passed simultaneously to address the broader constitutional concerns raised in the intervening debates. A dramatic final meeting a month before the deadline seemed to have a renewed unanimous agreement, however, procedural hurdles and impolitic comments by Mulroney ensured that the Accord ultimately was not approved by Manitoba and Newfoundland in time for ratification. The Accord's ultimate failure had the effect of energizing support for Quebec sovereignty. The general aims of the Accord would be addressed in the Charlottetown Accord, which failed in a referendum. ==Prelude== In 1981, negotiations led by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to patriate the constitution reached an agreement that formed the basis of the Constitution Act, 1982. Quebec Premier René Lévesque and the Quebec National Assembly refused to approve of the amendments and announced it would use a constitutional veto. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the ''Quebec Veto Reference'' that Quebec did not have a veto and the ''Constitution Act, 1982'' was operative in Quebec. In the 1984 election, Progressive Conservatives led by Brian Mulroney committed to eventually allowing the National Assembly to accept the amendments "with honour and enthusiasm" and won a majority government. The apparent lessening of tension prompted Lévesque to attempt the "''beau risque''" of federal cooperation, which split his government and led to his resignation and the ultimate defeat of the Parti Québécois by the federalist Liberal Party of Quebec led by Robert Bourassa. Bourassa, in his 1985 election platform, outlined five conditions that would have to be met for Quebec to "sign on" to the constitution. They were recognition of Quebec's distinct character, a veto for Quebec in Constitutional matters, input by Quebec into the appointment of Supreme Court justices, entrenchment of Quebec's role in immigration, and a limit on the Federal spending power. Bourassa considered the demands practical, as all elements of the conditions had previously been offered by the Federal government on different occasions. Bourassa and Mulroney, both pragmatic pro-business figures, had a far more congenial relationship than Trudeau and Lévesque. Mulroney tasked Senator Lowell Murray with coordinating a possible agreement with the provinces. Bourassa would announce that talks could proceed based on the five conditions, only adding the provision that recognition of Quebec's distinct character had to be an interpretive clause rather than a symbolic note in a revised preamble.〔The distinction is that an interpretive clause must influence any interpretation of the constitution when being judicially considered, as opposed to simply being a statement of values.〕 At a meeting of the "First Ministers" in Edmonton in August 1986, the Premiers and Mulroney agreed to the "Edmonton Declaration," which stated that a "Quebec Round" of constitutional talks based on the five conditions would occur before further reforms would be undertaken. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Meech Lake Accord」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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