Acheivement of the constitution act of 1982 and the failure of the Meech Lake accord

Introduction The creation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867 with the British North America Act (now known as the 1867 Constitution Act) produced a government replicating the British parliamentary system and established the British sovereign as Canada monarch. In 1981, the Supreme Court of Canada acknowledged the "anomaly that although Canada has international recognition as an independent, autonomous and self-governing state ... it suffers from an internal deficiency in the absence of legal power to alter or amend …

…ion. On April 17, 1982, the Queen signed the Canada Act, 1982. The legislation added the Constitution Act, 1982 to Canada's constitution and changed the name of the British North American Act to the Constitution Act, 1867. The Constitution Act, 1982 contained the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Vancouver Consensus formula for future constitutional amendments. The 'Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms' is Part 1 of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.), 1982, c.11.