Word: manitoba
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...weeks ago, Mulroney thought he had secured an agreement on the pact after a 70-hour marathon of closed-door bargaining with provincial premiers in Ottawa. Last week he saw that deal fall apart when the legislatures of Manitoba and Newfoundland adjourned without taking ratification votes. "Today is not the day to launch new constitutional initiatives," a somber Mulroney said afterward. "It is a time to heal wounds and reach out to fellow Canadians...
There was rejoicing, however, among Canadians who objected to the accord's content. The Manitoba standoff was a victory for the legislature's only native member, Elijah Harper, 41, a Cree Indian. Harper had managed to stall debate on the Meech Lake question for almost two weeks. He wanted the accord to fail, on the ground that it did not recognize the unique status of Canada's 700,000 aboriginal people. Thousands of his supporters gathered before the legislature in solidarity, pounding drums and holding prayer vigils...
...stonewalling clutched an eagle feather as a sign of divine guidance. The province's aims "are the same goals we as aboriginal people are seeking to achieve." Ottawa's attempts to mollify Harper with promises of an active role in future constitutional reform were rejected by native leaders. Said Manitoba's Ovide Mercredi: "We aren't interested in horse-trading...
...cliff-hanger finale last week. In the hardscrabble Atlantic province of Newfoundland, 52 provincial legislators hurriedly canvassed their constituents on whether to accept a constitutional agreement hashed out by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the country's ten provincial premiers a week earlier. In the prairie province of Manitoba, Elijah Harper, a Cree Indian and member of the legislative assembly, repeatedly blocked debate on the same ratification issue. The clock was ticking: if either legislature fails to approve the agreement by June 23, a delicate compromise over Quebec's place in Canada could shatter, leading, in the direst of scenarios...
...arrangement, of course, would demand even more wearying constitutional debates. But if Manitoba and Newfoundland (which joined Canada only in 1949) fail to meet the Meech deadline, or reject the agreement, the issue to be debated may be Quebec's separation. Canada, which frets constantly about maintaining a separate identity from the U.S., could then lose the bilingual and bicultural character that is the country's greatest difference from its powerful neighbor...