The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

told the Québécois that he would act to alter the Ca-
nadian constitution to recognize Quebec’s distinc-
tive position within Canada. Trudeau held discus-
sions with the premiers of Canada’s other provinces
about how to pursue such constitutional changes,
which were one portion of a comprehensive modifi-
cation of the constitution. The Canadian constitu-
tion was to be patriated, meaning that the United
Kingdom, which still technically controlled the Ca-
nadian constitution, was finally going to grant full
sovereignty to its former colony, as well as granting it
control over its own constitution. In the process, the
constitution would be altered. Lévesque, however,
was dissatisfied with the specific proposed constitu-
tional changes put forth by Trudeau. Lévesque and
other provincial leaders developed an alternative
package of reforms.
In the midst of the constitutional debate, Quebec
held a provincial election in the spring of 1981. The
Parti Québécois was victorious again, and Lévesque
was reelected as premier. As the crisis over constitu-
tional reform continued, however, Quebec’s leader
became more isolated. In November, 1981, the Ca-
nadian government reached an agreement with all
the provincial leaders except for Lévesque, who ar-
gued that the package refused fully to recognize
Quebec’s special rights. In particular, Lévesque op-
posed the constitutional reforms, because they
failed to provide Quebec with veto power in federal
affairs and lacked recognition of the province’s
unique needs and culture. The following year, Cana-
dian parliament passed the Constitution Act, 1982,
and the United Kingdom passed the corresponding
Canada Act of 1982, amending and patriating the
Canadian constitution. The Constitution Act, how-
ever, was adopted without the formal approval of
Quebec. Lévesque even refused to send a delegation
to the official celebration of its passage.
The Quebec leader’s political position became
even tougher as a result of a provincial budget cri-
sis. Lévesque’s government responded by reducing
public salaries in 1982. As a result, he lost his popu-
larity, as important constituencies such as bureau-
crats and teachers disapproved of these cuts. In
1985, following Lévesque’s retirement from politics
and return to journalism, the Parti Québécois was
defeated by the Liberal Party.

Impact Rene Lévesque created a viable political
party in Quebec based almost entirely on support

for the province’s independence. By leading the

Parti Québécois to consecutive electoral victories

and holding a referendum on sovereignty, his efforts

served as a catalyst to Canadian constitutional re-

form and greater attention being paid to federal-

provincial relations.

Further Reading

Bothwell, Robert.Canada and Quebec: One Countr y,

Two Histories.Vancouver: UBC Press, 1995.

Fraser, Graham.René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois

in Power.Toronto: Macmillan, 1984.

Morton, Desmond.A Short Histor y of Canada.2d ed.

Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1984.

Kevin L. Brennan

See also Bourassa, Robert; Canada Act of 1982;

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; Meech

Lake Accord; Minorities in Canada; Quebec English

sign ban; Quebec referendum of 1980; Trudeau,

Pierre.

Lewis, Carl

Identification African American track star

Born July 1, 1961; Birmingham, Alabama

Lewis was the most outstanding male track-and-field star

not only in the 1980’s but perhaps in all of track-and-field

histor y. He equaled Jesse Owens’s 1936 Olympic perfor-

mance, and he won medals in three Olympic Games.

After enrolling at the University of Houston in 1979,

Carl Lewis and his sister Carol qualified for the 1980

Olympics in Moscow, but because of the American

boycott of the games, the eighteen-year-old Carl

did not get the opportunity to compete against

the world’s best athletes in the long jump and the

4 × 100-meter relay. Competing for the University of

Houston in 1981, he won the first of his six National

Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles, ran

the world’s fastest 100-meter race, and received the

James E. Sullivan Award as the top American ama-

teur athlete. In 1983, at the first World Champion-

ships sponsored by the International Association of

Athletic Federations (IAAF), Lewis won the long-

jump competition and was a member of the winning

4 × 100-meter relay team.

The following year, Lewis qualified to compete in

four events at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in

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Lewis, Carl The Eighties in America