Disruptions Constitutional Struggles From The Charter To Meech Lake

This collection of Alan Cairns' essays on the Canadian constitution, written between the 1976 victory of the Parti Quebecois and July 1990, just following the June 23 failure of "Meech", will provide valuable insight into the current and historical arrangements that have made Canada. Particular attention is devoted to the far reaching effect of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and, of course, the implications of the Meech Lake Accord. Several essays highlight the emergence of new constitutional actors: women, aboriginal peoples, visible minorities and "third force" Canadians and the simultaneous decline in the Britishness of our Constitution. Special emphasis is given to the contradiction between competing views a citizens' view and a government's view and the argument is advanced that a more participatory, democratic process of constitutional reform is necessary to overcome the threatening consequences of that contradiction. Several of these essays, including the introductions, and chapters 8 and 9 had never before been published.