CANADA CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM OF 1992 - A GREAT BIG NO

It was perhaps Pierre Trudeau who first signalled the coming defeat of the package of constitutional proposals known as the 'Charlottetown Accord' in the referendum held on 26 October 1992. Speaking in Montreal about midway through the campaign, the former prime minister pronounced the agreement a 'mess' that deserved 'a great big NO'. Shortly afterwards, support for the agreement declined in most polls, and the momentum of the campaign began to shift strongly towards the 'no' side. As Canadians in six of the ten provinces voted to reject this delicately balanced package of compromises, they also brought to a sudden end Canada's seemingly endless search for a resolution to its constitutional impasse. © 1993.