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3. The Constitutional Challenge 1979-84
From Canadian History Portal - HCO
| C. New Identities - 1963-1984 → 1. Return of the Liberals: Pearson to Trudeau, 1963-1968 →→ 2. The Trudeau Years 1968-79 → 3. The Constitutional Challenge 1979-84 →→ D. Global Challenges - 1984-Present |
| 3. The Constitutional Challenge 1979-84 - Gallery | Stories & Texts | Web Links | Student Activities | Student Projects |
Contents |
The Joe Clark Interval
In March of 1979, Pierre Trudeau called a federal election.
Canada's 31st general election was held on May 22, 1979. The Progressive Conservatives, led by Joe Clark, won a minority, despite winning a significantly smaller share of the vote than the Liberals. The Progressive Conservatives won the highest vote share in seven provinces, but the Liberals captured an enormous lead in Quebec.
Clark delayed in calling back Parliament, and lost the support of the Créditistes by not taking their demands into account. On December 13, 1979, on a motion by NDP MP Bob Rae, Joe Clark's Conservatives lost a non-confidence vote on John Crosbie's tough budget, forcing their resignation.
The 32nd general election was held on February 18, 1980. Pierre Trudeau led the Liberals to victory over Joe Clark's Progressive Conservatives, and won back his majority. In his victory speech, he quipped, "Welcome to the Eighties.".
The 1980 Quebec Referendum
During his first years in office, Pierre Trudeau helped shape Canada with his vision of a unified, bilingual, multicultural "just society." But his final term was marked by growing Québec separatism, and a provincial referendum on Québec independence, called by Parti Québécois premier René Levesque.
 The 1980 referendum asked a rather complicated and vaguely worded question, that confused many voters. It asked whether Quebec should negotiate for what Levesque called "sovereignty association." |
Québec Liberal leader Claude Ryan supported the "no" side, and Pierre Trudeau entered the contest, promising constitutional reform if the voters rejected the Parti Québécois question. The referendum took place on May 20, 1980, and the "no" side won by a margin of 60% to 40%.  |
Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba July 28, 1958, Fox grew up in Port Coquitlam, BC. In 1977, while studying physical education at Simon Fraser University, he was afflicted with osteogenic sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, and lost his right leg 15 cm above the knee. Fitted with an artificial limb of fiberglass and steel, he learned to walk, drive a car and play golf. Inspired by the suffering of children with cancer in the hospital, he decided to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society by running across Canada. Fox intended to cover the 5373 km at the grueling pace of nearly 40 km per day, and he raised $1.7 million during his run. But on September 1, 1980, near Thunder Bay, Ontario, he was forced to abandon his Marathon of Hope after 135 days. Doctors at Thunder Bay found that the cancer had returned and spread to his lungs. He was immediately flown to Vancouver and hospitalized. On September 7, 1980, a national telethon supporting the Marathon of Hope raised over $10 million for cancer research, and on September 19, 1980, Governor General Ed Schreyer travelled to Port Coquitlam to invest Terry as a Companion of the Order of Canada, the youngest person so honoured.
On June 28, 1981, the one-legged runner of the Marathon of Hope lost his battle to lung cancer in a New Westminster hospital, and flags across Canada were lowered to half mast in his honour. On September 13, 1981, eight hundred Canadian communities participated in the first Terry Fox 10k Run to raise money for cancer research. Today, the Terry Fox Run is held in Canada and around the world to commemorate the Marathon of Hope and fulfil Terry's dream. More than $360 million has been raised for cancer research in Terry's name. In Canada the Terry Fox Run is held in September, usually on the second Sunday after Labour Day. |
Highlights of the Trudeau Ministry 1980-84
- January 28, 1980 - Ken Taylor, Canadian ambassador to Iran, becomes an international celebrity for helping six Americans escape Tehran.
- September 5, 1979 - The Maple Leaf coin goes on sale in Canada, the US and Europe; the first uniquely Canadian gold bullion coin is a runaway success for the Royal Canadian Mint because of its purity.
- December 13, 1979 - The Supreme Court of Canada declares unconstitutional the creation of officially unlilingual legislatures in Manitoba and Québec.
- October 28, 1980 - Pierre Trudeau unveils the National Energy Program (NEP), with an expanded role for Petro-Canada. The program alientated energy-producing regions of Western Canada
- 1980 - Canada boycotts the Moscow Olympic games due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.
- 1980 - The Supreme Court of Canada recognizes the equal distribution of assets in failed common-law relationships.
- March 4, 1982 - Bertha Wilson is the First woman appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
- December 23, 1983 - Jeanne Sauvé is appointed Canada's first female Governor General.
- 1983 - Public outcry opposes the government's approval of U.S. cruise missile testing in the west.
Sidelight: O Canada ProclaimedOn June 27, 1980, Parliament passed a bill adopting O Canada offically as Canada's national anthem.  On July 1, 1980, Governor General Edward Schreyer proclaimed the Act respecting the National Anthem of Canada, thus making "O Canada" the anthem of the country. A public ceremony was held at noon on Parliament Hill in front of thousands of Canadians. Descendants of Robert Stanley Weir and Adolphe-Basile Routhier were on the official platform. O Canada Milestones:
The committee recommended further study of the lyrics. It suggested keeping the original French version and using the Weir English version with minor changes - that is replacing two of the "Stand on guard" phrases with "From far and wide" and "God keep our land". There was no trouble with the music copyright which had by now descended to Gordon V. Thompson, a sheet music company. They were willing to sell for $1, but the heirs of Judge Weir objected to the changes in the original version. Since Judge Weir died in 1926, the Weir version would not come into public domain until 1976. There was some doubt that the Weir family had legal grounds for objection since Thompson's apparently held copyright on both music and English words. However the committee preferred to settle the matter amicably if at all possible. The Government acquired the rights from G.V. Thompson in 1970. The english version recommended by the committee: O Canada! our home and native land! True patriot love in all thy sons command. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide, O Canada, We stand on guard for thee. God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
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Forging The 1981 Accord
On September 28, 1981, the Supreme Court of Canada gave him a green light, ruling 7-2 that his constitutional plan was strictly legal: Parliament could act alone to patriate the BNA Act; but a 'convention' required substantial provincial consent, in that the plan did not follow normal constitutional procedures. The Court suggested that unilateral action might breach the spirit of federalism, and it was the duty of Ottawa to try and forge provincial consent.
Trudeau invited the provincial premiers to a fresh series of constitutional conferences that began in earnest in 1981. His government also started consultations with national interest groups that wished to have their voice heard in devising a new constitution.
Women and the Constitution
Women's groups wanted a stronger equality rights clause and a specific guarantee of equal rights between men and women. To this end the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women (CACSW) organized a National Conference on Women and the Constitution. But government interference helped cancel it.
The council's president, Doris Anderson (left), resigned in protest, and the women went ahead with intense lobbying and their own ad hoc conference on Parliament Hill.
In April 1981, Article 28, which stated that "Not withstanding anything in this Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed equally to male and female persons", was added to the Charter.
in Québec, pressure rose to boost French language rights at the expense of the English language, and on September 23, 1981, the Québec National Assembly voted to ban public signs in English.
Signing the Accord
Trudeau and the nine premiers agreed on a method to repatriate Canada's constitution, with an amending formula and a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Québec premier René Levesque abstained from the accord, and did not sign for Québec, arguing that the proposed Constitution Act did not guarantee Québec's French-only language policy.
The accord also added a controversial Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the Constitution. Such a rights guarantee had also not previously existed in Canada in a true legal sense.
The make the accord acceptable, Trudeau and the premiers include a notwithstanding clause, in Section 33. This allowed the federal or provincial governments to override certain sections if and when they found it necessary to do so.
There is still ongoing debate over the merits of Canada's new constitution, but it ended dependence on the British parliament to make amendments.
On April 7, 1982, the Supreme Court rejected a last minute Québec government demand for a veto over constitutional change.
The Queen Proclaims The Constitution Act
On March 8, 1982, the British Parliament passed the Canada Act (1982 c. 11), replacing the British North America Act and patriating the Constitution of Canada. Previously, Canada's Constitution existed only as an act passed by the British parliament, and was not even physically located in Canada.
A month later, on a rainy April 17, 1982 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Pierre Trudeau invited Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to sign The Constitution Act, 1982 into law, bringing The Canada Act, 1982 (enacted by the British Parliament) into force.
The Royal Proclamation of Canada's Constitution thereby replaced the BNA Act and ended all British authority in Canada.
The Constitution Act was based on the Accord signed in November 1981. In addition to entrenching the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and an amending formula, the Act affirmed the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada, thereby giving constitutional status to these rights.
The right to vote and the right to be a candidate in an election were also enshrined in the Constitution with the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Three years later, on April 17, 1985, Canada’s new constitution officially came into force, and with it the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Further Reading:
The new constitution was Trudeau's last major act as Prime Minister. On February 29, 1984, after taking a "long walk in the snow" he annouced he was stepping down as prime minister, ending his 16 years in power. In fact, polls showed the Liberal Party faced certain defeat in the next election if he stayed in office.
Trudeau returned to the practice of law, but later spoke out forcefully against both the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord. He argued that they would weaken federalism and the Charter of Rights if implemented. Trudeau's opposition was a critical factor leading to the defeat of Meech in the assemblies of Manitoba and Newfoundland, and the defeat of the referendum on the Charlottetown Accord.
The Turner Interlude
On June 30, 1984, John Turner was sworn in as Prime Minister, succeeding Pierre Trudeau. Four days later, although not obligated to call an election until 1985, he went ahead and called an election for September 4, because internal polls told him he was ahead of the Tories.
- Resource: July 9, 1984 - John Turner, Election Call
The 1984 Election
During the leadership debate, Turner attacked Brian Mulroney over the patronage machine that he had set up in Québec, comparing it to the old days of the Union Nationale. But Mulroney pointed to the more than 250 patronage appointments made on the advice of Trudeau and Turner. Mulroney demanded that Turner apologize to the country for what he called "these horrible appointments," but Turner claimed that "I had no option" except to let them stand. Mulroney responded, "You had an option, sir--to say 'no'--and you chose to say 'yes' to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party."
- Video Resource: Mulroney vs. Turner July 25, 1984
Most observers believed that Turner lost the election at this point, as it made him look weak and indecisive. He was to suffer the worst defeat ever for a governing party at the federal level.
On September 4, 1984, in the 33rd general election, Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives swept John Turner's Liberals from power in a landslide. Mulroney won the most seats in Canadian history (an even larger majority than that achieved by John Diefenbaker in 1958). The election is both the best showing ever for the Progressive Conservatives (211 seats), and the worst showing ever for the Liberals (40 seats).
They Liberals were nearly wiped out in Quebec, falling to 17 seats, only four of which were outside Montreal. Eleven members of Turner's Cabinet went down to defeat.
Turner stepped down as prime minister on September 30, 1984, having served for only 2 months and 17 days, the second shortest in Canadian history after Sir Charles Tupper.
Leader of the Opposition
Turner himself won a seat in Vancouver Quadra, serving as the only Liberal MP from British Columbia. As Leader of the Opposition, he faced not just a huge Mulroney cohort, but also a revitalized New Democratic Party, with 30 seats. NDP leader Ed Broadbent was more popular in the polls than either Turner or Mulroney.
Turner was able to use the large Liberal majority in the Senate of Canada to stall Mulroney's legislation. In the Commons, he was aided by a group of young Liberal MPs, known as the "Rat Pack," including Sheila Copps, Brian Tobin, Don Boudria and John Nunziata, who aggressively pestered the Prime Minister.
Turner also had to hold off rivals to his leadership, especially from Jean Chrétien, who resigned his seat in protest against Turner's policies. He supported the Meech Lake Accord but opposed Mulroney's Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
The 1988 Election
Turner campaigned more vigorously in the 1988 election, attacking the Free Trade Agreement, but so did the NDP, which caused vote splitting on election day.
Turner's efforts still doubled Liberal ranks in the Commons with to 83 seats, while Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives won a reduced majority with 169 seats. The NDP also made gains in the popular vote but finished a distant third with 43 seats. The election loss sealed Turner's fate. Two years later he resigned, and the resulting leadership convention chose Jean Chrétien over Paul Martin Jr. as LIberal leader.
| 3. The Constitutional Challenge 1979-84 - Gallery | Stories & Texts | Web Links | Student Activities | Student Projects |
| C. New Identities - 1963-1984 → 1. Return of the Liberals: Pearson to Trudeau, 1963-1968 →→ 2. The Trudeau Years 1968-79 → 3. The Constitutional Challenge 1979-84 →→ D. Global Challenges - 1984-Present |
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