Constitutional Events

The 1982 Constitution

Three sections of the 1982 Constitution directly address Aboriginal peoples:

• Section 25 - The guarantee of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights
• Section 35 - The recognition and affirmation of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights; Aboriginal people are defined as Indian, Métis, and Inuit
• Section 37 - Outlines a process for successive constitutional talks on Aboriginal Rights.

First Ministers Conferences were held in 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1987 dealing primarily with self-government. They concluded without any agreement on Aboriginal issues.

The Meech Lake Accord

The First Ministers of Canada reached tentative agreement, in the Meech Lake Accord, for bringing Quebec into the Constitution.

The Accord had to be passed by all of the provincial legislatures and Parliament by June 23, 1990. On June 23, 1990 Elijah Harper, the lone Indian MLA in Manitoba, refused to extend the hours of sitting to enable the Manitoba legislature to debate the Accord. The Meech Lake Accord died.

Mr. Harper's actions focused national attention on Aboriginal concerns in a way that had never occurred before.

Unlike a majority of First Nations people who did not support the Accord, the Métis Nation were supportive of the 1990 Accord as it included a Métis Nation Accord with a definition for Métis people. As a result of the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, the Métis Nation did not get recognized as coming under federal jurisdiction.

The Charlottetown Accord

Another agreement was reached on constitutional reform in 1992 -- The Charlottetown Accord.

The Accord included a number of features for Aboriginal peoples:

• the inherent right of self-government;
• the recognition of Aboriginal governments as a third order of government in Canada;
• a definition of self-government in relation to land, environment, language, and culture;
• representation in the Senate.

The Charlottetown Accord was rejected by national referendum on October 26, 1992.

Representatives for Aboriginal womens' groups, specifically status Indian women, rejected the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords due to the uncertainties of self-government and the concern of collective rights over-riding individual rights. They questioned whether the Charter of Rights and Freedoms would be maintained within self-government legislation.