tion and discussion featuring top scholars on the
history of Quebec’s relationship with the federal
government in Canada.
Clarke, Harold D., et al.A Polity on the Edge: Canada
and the Politics of Fragmentation.Peterborough,
Ont.: Broadview Press, 2000. A comprehensive
examination of contemporary divisive issues in
Canada and their impact on the country’s poli-
tics.
McRoberts, Kenneth.Misconceiving Canada: The
Struggle for National Unity.Toronto: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1997. Overview and analysis of the
Canadian federal government’s efforts to reach a
final agreement with Quebec to keep the prov-
ince within the country.
Monahan, Patrick J.Constitutional Law. 3d ed. To-
ronto: Irwin Law, 2006. Comprehensive study of
Canadian constitutional law and history. Includes
the complete texts of both the Constitution Act,
1867, and the Constitution Act, 1982.
Riendeau, Roger.A Brief Histor y of Canada.New York:
Facts on File, 2000. Despite the title, a lengthy and
detailed coverage of major issues in Canadian his-
tory. Particularly strong discussion of the federal
government’s relationship with Quebec.
Russell, Peter H.Constitutional Odyssey: Can Canadi-
ans Become a Sovereign People?3d ed. Buffalo, N.Y.:
University of Toronto Press, 2004. Thorough dis-
cussion of the history of Canadian constitution-
alism and sovereignty. Bibliographic references
and index.
See, Scott W.The Histor y of Canada.Westport, Conn.:
Greenwood Press, 2001. Another work that ex-
plains the primary issues in Canadian history.
Also includes a list and brief descriptions of note-
worthy people in Canadian history.
Kevin L. Brennan
See also Aboriginal rights in Canada; Bourassa,
Commonwealth Canada and the British
and Freedoms Canadian Charter of Rights
René; Meech Lake Accord; Minorities in Canada;
Quebec referendum of 1980; Trudeau, Pierre.
Canada and the British
Commonwealth
Definition Diplomatic, cultural, educational, and
economic relations among Canada, the United
Kingdom, and the other Commonwealth
countriesCanada achieved full sovereignty in 1982, but it continued
to see its links with the Commonwealth as important to its
histor y and cultural identity. The nation’s Commonwealth
status also helped provide it with a separate identity fromStates China and the United
The British Commonwealth of Nations was formed in
1931 out of the various self-governing former colo-
nies of Great Britain that still owed allegiance to the
British monarch as their head of state. Canada was
one of the Commonwealth’s founding members. Af-
ter World War II, the Commonwealth was expanded
greatly to include the newly independent British colo-
nies of Africa and Asia. Canada remained a senior
member. In the 1970’s and early 1980’s, this seniority
was particularly emphasized by the fact that Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau was one of the longest-serv-
ing Commonwealth heads of state.CHOGMs From the beginning of the Common-
wealth, the heads of state of all the member nations
had met together to discuss matters of mutual con-
cern. For the first four decades, these meetings took
place in London; the British prime minister chaired
the meetings, and the monarch attended them. Be-
ginning in 1971, however, the meetings were held in
other member states, with the host country’s leader
chairing each meeting. The meetings came to be
called Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet-
ings, or CHOGMs. Trudeau chaired a particularly
successful meeting in Ottawa in 1973.
After Trudeau retired in 1984, Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney attended these biennial meetings.
Mulroney was a junior prime minister, and some of
the African presidents, such as Julius Nyerere of Tan-
zania and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, were much
more senior and experienced than he was. More-
over, many of the political battles fought within the
CHOGMs of the 1980’s centered on Africa, espe-
cially the Republic of South Africa, Namibia, and
Rhodesia-Zimbabwe.
In 1987, Mulroney chaired a CHOGM held in
Vancouver and attended by forty-five heads of gov-176 Canada and the British Commonwealth The Eighties in America