The Accord Duality: Underlying Oppression and Continual Colonialism

Since the formation of Canada in 1867 much of the dealings have been based off of two distinct language groups: the Francophone and the Anglophone. Despite the colonization of Canada centuries before and the nation to nation agreements preceding, and proceeding after, the formation of Canada the First Nations people have been a part of the Canadian periphery. The conduction of the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord are examples of the First Nation people’s continual placement in the hinterland of Canadian political and legal action. This conduct of business impeded upon the original agreements of “nation-to-nation” agreements that were created for the, supposed, benefits of both states. Regardless of these previous stipulations the Canadian government, both provincial and federal, left the First Nations people in the dark, unacknowledged, without their own devices of legal and political process. Thus, the Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accords were direct attacks from the Canadian government upon the First Nation People’s treaties and their rights and freedoms as dictated in the Constitution of Canada.

Both accords, Meech Lake and Charlottetown, were direct disregards to the past relationships between Canada and the First Nations people, thus to understand the effects of these accords it is important to understand the pretext preceding the new constitutional arrangement under the Trudeau administration. Canada is a country that is based upon colonialism through the countries of France and England. For centuries there has been a strict recognition of this duality rather than an all-encompassing view of Canada as three separate nations living harmoniously. Just because the First Nations people appeared to be nomadi...

... middle of paper ...

...ights and the Meech Lake Accord. In Competing Constitutional Visions (pp. 11-19). Toronto: Carswell Co. Ltd.

Dickason, D. L. (2011). Visions of the Heart. Don Mills: Oxford University Press.

Johnston, R. (1993). An Inverted Logroll: The Charlottetown Accord and the Referendum. Political Science and Politics, 43-48.

Murphy, M. A. (2008). Representing Indigenous Self-Determination. University of Toronto Law Journal, 58(2), 185-216.

Peach, I. (2011). The Power of a Single Feather. Review of Constitutional Studies, 1-19.

Smith, J. (n.d.). Political Vision and the 1987 Constitutional Accord.

Venne, S. (2011). Treaty Indigenous PEoples and the Charlottetown Accord: The Message in the Breeze. Constitutional Forum, 43-46.

Whyte, J. D. (1988). The 1987 Constitutional Accord and Ethnic Accomodation. In Competing Constitutional Visions (pp. 263-270). Toronto: Carswell Co. Ltd.