first in each of the Union’s states. Would George
W. Bush be able to claim sufficient legitimacy
to be able to act as president? The US constitu-
tional process and Gore’s graceful concession
triumphed. All doubts were dispelled that what-
ever reservations people had about the function-
ing of the electoral laws, which differed from state
to state, the imperfect machines and other flaws,
the nation had to rally behind President George
W. Bush on his inauguration in January 2001.
During the Reagan–Bush era the US’s northern
neighbour Canada faced serious constitutional
problems. The Liberal Party, in power since 1963
except for a period of nine months, was swept out
of office in the general election of 1984 by the
Progressive Conservative Party led by Brian
Mulroney. It was the end of the Trudeau era;
Pierre Trudeau himself gave up the leadership of
the Liberal Party. Canada thus followed the sea
change of Western politics, adopting policies
to roll back the frontiers of the state, cut gov-
ernment spending and encourage business enter-
prise. Mulroney also promised to solve Canada’s
longstanding constitutional problems, especially
the question of French-speaking Quebec. His
approach was conciliatory, though he was soon
perceived as too irresolute.
Canada benefited from the upswing that lifted
Western economies after 1982, and its gross
national product grew strongly until 1990. A
major plank of Mulroney’s strategy was a drive for
free trade. After fierce debate about the threat to
its independence, Canada in 1988 concluded a
treaty with the US that came into force in January
1989 and provided for the dismantling of all trade
barriers over a ten-year period. Already 70 per
cent of Canada’s trade was with the Americans.
The satisfactory state of the economy enabled
Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative Party in the
federal election of 1988 to retain power with an
overall majority. But the constitutional issue
raised by the passionate desire of French-speaking
Quebec to preserve its identity was becoming the
burning question in Canadian politics. For the
first time Canadians were talking of the unthink-
able, namely that the Canadian federation could
break up.
A new constitution designed to regulate
relations between the provincial and federal gov-
ernments, devised by Trudeau in 1982, had
foundered on the objections put forward by
Quebec. Nonetheless, Mulroney and the prime
ministers of the ten provinces reached an agree-
ment in June 1987 known as the Meech
Lake Accord, which accepted French-speaking
Quebec’s demand to be recognised as a ‘distinct
society’. The agreement next required ratifica-
tion by the parliaments of the provinces. In
December 1988 Quebec’s prime minister Robert
Bourassa insisted that in Quebec only external
signs in French would henceforth be permissible.
That infringed the rights of the 12 per cent of
the province’s population who were English-
speaking. The language issue was symbolic of
deeper intentions and aroused a storm in the
English community. Two English-speaking prov-
inces now put off decisions to approve the
Meech Lake Accord. If it was to come into force,
it required the unanimous approval of all the
provinces by June 1990. In the end only eight,
including Quebec, had approved and Manitoba’s
and Newfoundland’s refusal to ratify meant that
the Accord lapsed.
Negotiations for a solution had to be begun
anew. The pro-independence parties in Quebec
gained in strength. The chances of a successful
outcome had deteriorated since the abortive
Meech Lake Accord. The English-speaking
provinces questioned why Quebec, which had
already benefited disproportionately from federal
economic aid, should be granted special status.
Mulroney was further weakened by his personal
unpopularity, and that of his government, while
Bourassa had to maintain his position in Quebec
against the rising tide of sentiment favouring
independence. Nevertheless, a new agreement
was eventually hammered out and announced in
September 1991 by the federal government and
the provincial prime ministers embodying far-
reaching constitutional changes. These included
the crucial recognition of Quebec as a ‘distinct
society’ and the granting of self-government to
Canada’s indigenous peoples, the Amerindians
and the Inuit. The referendum throughout
Canada in October 1992 saw the rejection of the
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