When the Meech Lake Accord quietly collapsed two summers ago, many Americans expected to hear a louder sound almost immediately, that of Canada falling apart.

Residents of Quebec, who had hoped Meech would ratify their wish for a distinct society and culture, were outraged.

The political integrity of the country, after New Foundland pulled against Meech in one direction, and aboriginal people from Manitoba pulled it in another, seemed to be in danger of shredding.

The Canadian confederation didn’t have a chance. At least that’s how it appeared.

Today, things look different. After a long weekend of intense political maneuvering, the Canadian government revealed a plan to resolve simultaneously both the chronic constitutional crisis and the imminent secession of Quebec:

Residents of that province will vote in referendum Oct. 26, but probably not on independence, as originally planned, but on a new constitutional agreement that looks remarkably like Meech II. A favorable vote on the package will defuse indefinitely the nationhood issue in Quebec and provide impetus to a ratification process that will have to play out in nine other provinces.

It also buys time for the process to hold together Canada’s fragile union, a key ingredient in the underestimated capacity of America’s northern neighbor to accommodate potentially destructive differences.