Brian Mulroney is no more, and many people mourn him. The man was charismatic. You could even say that he was eminently likeable.
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But it is not only for this that he left a positive imprint in the memory of Quebecers: Brian Mulroney was the last Canadian Prime Minister to truly extend his hand to them.
We remember the context.
- Listen to Mathieu Bock-Côté’s editorial via QUB :
Meech
In 1980, Quebecers voted No to independence. But they didn’t do it foolishly.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau had promised them, in exchange, that he would reform the Constitution according to their aspirations for national recognition and greater autonomy. He lied. And seriously lied. In 1982, he imposed on them a constitution based on the negation of their existence and considerably reducing their autonomy.
It is in this context that Brian Mulroney was able to assert himself politically, by promising Quebec to correct the situation and reinstate the Constitution “with honor and enthusiasm”. This is the episode of the Meech Lake agreement, proposed in 1987.
It was a minimalist proposal, certainly, fundamentally insufficient. Above all, there was symbolic recognition.
But it still recognized the fact that Quebec was not just a province like any other but the national state of the Quebec people – what was called at the time the distinct society. But as we know, this agreement was rejected by English Canada – two English provinces, Manitoba and Newfoundland then embodied this refusal. Our recognition revolted him.
Quebec
Meech foundered in 1990. It was the last time Canada sought to formally recognize Quebec.
As early as 1992, with the Charlottetown Accord, which was rejected by referendum, Canada shifted for good to multiculturalist ideology. In this context, I repeat, Brian Mulroney remains the man who extended his hand to Quebec.
It was the last. There will be no others.