Changing Canadian Identity

Positive Features

Canadian Flag and the New Constitution

To address the complaint in Quebec in terms of the too-British Canadian flag, Pearson suggested a new flag that would represent all Canadians. It was raised on Parliament Hill on February 15, 1965, and many Canadians were proud of what they were seeing. In addition, to further amend the relationship between Quebec and Canada, Trudeau’s government acted on the suggestion of “Bi and Bi Commission” and passed the Official Languages Act, making Canada a country with two official languages: French and English. Both languages were taught in schools and with the encouragement of Trudeau to young Canadians learning about both cultures, the relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada was slowly improving. However, more effort was required to gain the trust of the Quebeckers. On April 17, 1982, the Canadian Constitution was revised, with the new Constitution recognizing Quebec as an equal partner in Canada. This brought many Canadians with joy and pride and signified a new forward stride toward peace.

Negative Features

The Charlottetown Accord and the Meech Lake Accord

During the 1980s, the Charlottetown Accord and the Meech Lake Accord both involved Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The Meech Lake Accord had many changes to the constitution. They wish to recognize Quebec as a distinct society and wanted to give more power to the province. Many people protested that making Quebec a distinct society would separate Canada, making Canada into two distinct parts. This would not create unity in the country. Also, Aboriginal groups were concerned about their rights not being addressed. Meech Lake failed in June and created a stronger feeling of separation from Quebec. In October 1992, the Charlottetown Accord put out a national referendum to give Quebec more power. They also wished to reform the Senate and give more power to Aboriginal groups. The vote came and the rest of Canada decided the idea was bad, with most of the support coming from the east. Quebec also had no faith in the accord, because it felt it was not given enough power to them. The Aboriginal groups in Quebec caused voters to fear that they would have too much control over the provincial politics.