Which plan is the first major attempt to reform Canada's constitution in the late 1980s but ultimately failed?

• A. Meech Lake Accord
• B. Charlottetown Accord
• C. Patriated
• D. 1980 Referendum

Answer: (A)

The plan being described is Meech Lake Accord. This was the first major effort in the late 1980s to reform Canada's constitution. It aimed to address Quebec’s status within the federation by recognizing Quebec as a distinct society and by expanding provincial powers, while also making changes to the Constitution that required the consent of all ten provinces. Because the amendments needed unanimous provincial approval, the Accord failed when not all provinces endorsed it by the deadline in 1990. The failure showed how difficult it was to secure broad consensus on constitutional change and it paved the way for the later, similarly unsuccessful Charlottetown Accord. The Patriation of the Constitution in 1982 and the 1980 Quebec referendum occurred earlier or in a different context, so they aren’t the late-1980s first major reform attempt in question.