In wake of Meech Lake > Poll shows most feel Canada seriously harmed by dispute

Most Canadians now believe the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, which would have recognized Quebec as a “distinct society,” will cause lasting harm to the country.

But Quebecers and the rest of Canada are sharply divided over who is to blame and what the future holds, a new national poll by CBC-TV and a major Toronto newspaper shows.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they believed the failure of Meech Lake had done lasting harm to French-English relations. In Quebec alone, 70 percent said the damage was done.

The death of the accord had cast a shadow over most of those who haggled over the pact last month behind closed doors, particularly Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, a staunch supporter of the accord.

Meech Lake, a botched three-year attempt to amend Canada’s constitution, has soured the national mood, suggests a poll released this week and co-sponsored by the Toronto Globe and CBC-TV.

Nationwide dissatisfaction with the general direction of the country has increased to 69 percent, compared with 53 percent of those surveyed last October, the poll added.

The survey found a clear majority of Quebecers, 62 percent, wanted some form of separation from Canada.

Only 34 percent of Quebec respondents said the province should remain as it is. In the rest of Canada, 81 percent favored the status quo.

Twelve percent in Quebec said the French-speaking province should become totally independent, while 50 percent said the province should move toward separation, but retain some links to Canada.

A 30-member provincial commission soon will begin to chart Quebec’s future. Quebec may end up drafting its own constitution, a move toward some form of independence, government observers said last week.

Premier Robert Bourassa was expected to select commission members in consultation with Jacques Parizeau, leader of Quebec’s separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ).

Bourassa announced creation of the strategy commission on June 29 after meeting with Parizeau.

The commission is to include Quebec politicians from all levels, plus representatives of all sectors of Quebec life.

The new poll interviewed 1,595 adults between June 26 and July 4. The national results were considered accurate within plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Even in Quebec, where the special commission will plot the political future, there was division and uncertainty. Liberal and separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ) leaders met with their caucuses last week to put the finishing touches on the composition and function of the commission.

But so far, only one commission member, Lucien Bouchard, has been named. He is Mulroney’s former Quebec aide, a former cabinet minister and a one-time Canadian ambassador to France who bolted to the separatist cause last May.

Bourassa and Parizeau have been unable to agree on who should serve as the commission’s president. They met for 2 1/2 hours in Quebec City last Tuesday and came away at loggerheads.

Leading contenders for the presidency appeared to be: Claude Castonguay, chairman of the Laurentian Bank who campaigned across Canada for the failed Meech Lake Accord; Michel Belanger, chairman of Quebec’s prestigious National Bank of Canada; and Jean Campeau, a businessman and former head of Quebec’s $37 billion pension fund.

Bourassa said Quebec’s National Assembly will be called in early August to receive a bill that would create the commission.

The new poll most frequently named Mulroney as the leader responsible for failure of Meech Lake. One-third of Canadians outside Quebec blamed Mulroney, but only 12 percent of Quebecers did so.

In an editorial supporting more autonomy for Quebec, New Brunswick’s only French language daily, L’Acadie Nouvelle, said, “It’s easy for an anglophone or for the queen of England to say we must focus on things we have in common. But more often than not that means becoming part of the majority — their majority. And that’s where we can no longer play … .

“The recent (June 29) meeting between Premier Bourassa and Parizeau significantly shows the new sentiment for Quebec. The path toward more autonomy is irreversible. It’s too late to cry crocodile tears for the anti-Quebec faction.”