Charlottetown Accord - The Referendum

The Referendum

Unlike the Meech Lake Accord, the Charlottetown Accord's ratification process provided for a national referendum. Three provinces — British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec — had recently passed legislation requiring that constitutional amendments be submitted to a public referendum. As well, Quebec premier Robert Bourassa had pledged, contingent on the results of the Charlottetown negotiations, to hold a referendum that year on either Quebec independence or a new constitutional agreement.

The impetus for a federal referendum came from the many complaints about the Meech Lake process, and how many claimed it was a backdoor negotiation for the future of the country. Prime Minister Mulroney decided to go with the referendum, against Joe Clark's advice. British Columbia and Alberta agreed to participate in the federal referendum, but Quebec opted to conduct its own separate vote. (For that reason, Quebecers "temporarily" living outside the province could have two votes, since they were enumerated to the voters' list based on federal rules, but people relatively new to Quebec could not vote at all because they had not established residency.)

The referendum's measure of success was an open question. Because all of the premiers had agreed to the deal, it could conceivably have passed without a referendum — however, Robert Bourassa's promise of a referendum in 1992 on a constitutional agreement or sovereignty, as well as British Columbia and Alberta's referendum legislation, meant one would be held in some provinces regardless.

It is debated what measure of voter approval would have been necessary for the accord to pass, as the Mulroney government itself left the answer ambiguous. The minimum standard would probably have been a majority "Yes" vote in Quebec and a majority of voters in favour of "Yes" amongst the other nine provinces collectively.