The Allaire Report was a report written by the constitutional reform committee of the

Liberal Party of Quebec The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; ...

, chaired by lawyer and politician

Jean Allaire Jean Allaire (born 1930) was the author of the Allaire Report, and subsequently in 1994 the first leader of the fiscally conservative, autonomist provincial level political party in Quebec, the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ). Allaire re ...

, recommending a significant transfer of powers from

Canada's Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...

federal government to the Government of Quebec. Entitled "''A Quebec Free to Choose''", the report was published on January 29, 1991, and adopted as party policy by the Liberal Party at their 25th convention on March 9, 1991.

Report recommendations

The report recommended that the

Canadian constitution The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents ar ...

be amended so that 22 areas of

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

jurisdiction or jurisdictions shared between the federal and provincial governments become exclusive areas of provincial jurisdiction. These areas included social affairs,

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, health, family policy, manpower training, communications, the environment, agriculture and public security. The report recommended that the federal government no longer be allowed to spend money in these 22 areas. Because of Quebec's new proposed responsibilities, taxing powers would need to be adjusted so that the federal government collect less and the Quebec government collect more, according to the report. As a result of its proposed changes, few areas would remain the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government, including

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

tariffs A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and po ...

post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

equalization payments Equalization payments are cash payments made in some federal systems of government from the federal government to subnational governments with the objective of offsetting differences in available revenue or in the cost of providing services. Many fe ...

and the

federal debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...

. The report also made other recommendations on constitutional changes, including abolition of the Senate of Canada. The Liberal Party convention amended this proposal to call for reform of the Senate instead. The convention also approved some constitutional positions not included in the report, such as support for the

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part ...

, guaranteeing

anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

rights and recognizing aboriginals as "distinct nations".

Political significance

The Allaire report was adopted by the Liberal Party after the failure of the

Meech Lake Accord The Meech Lake Accord (french: Accord du lac Meech) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the gov ...

, a proposal to make much more modest changes to the Canadian constitution. The Meech Lake Accord would have amended the constitution of Canada to recognize Quebec as a "

distinct society Distinct society (in french: la société distincte) is a political term especially used during constitutional debate in Canada, in the second half of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, and present in the two failed constitutional amendments, the M ...

". When the Meech Lake Accord was not ratified by the legislatures of

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

and Newfoundland, Quebec, sovereigntists portrayed it as a rejection of French-speaking Quebec by the rest of Canada, which was English-speaking. Support for

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

increased significantly in Quebec in the months after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord. The adoption of the Allaire Report as official policy by the governing Liberals was seen as the party's response to the failure of the Meech Lake Accord. It signalled a much tougher and more

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

negotiating position for future constitutional amendment talks, which Liberal leader and Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa felt was needed to take momentum away from the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

, the pro-sovereignty opposition party. The French title of the report, "Un Québec libre de ses choix," was evocative of "

Vive le Québec libre " (, 'Long live free Quebec!') was a phrase in a speech delivered by French President Charles de Gaulle in Montreal, Quebec on July 24, 1967, during an official visit to Canada for the Expo 67 world's fair. While giving an address to a large cro ...

", a rallying slogan of supporters of Quebec independence from Canada. The next round of constitutional amendment talks with Bourassa, the other Canadian premiers, federal Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and aboriginal leaders in 1992 resulted in the

Charlottetown Accord The Charlottetown Accord (french: Accord de Charlottetown) was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October ...

proposals. The Charlottetown Accord did not propose any transfers of power from the federal government to the provincial governments (although it did confirm that certain powers already exercised by the provinces would be recognized as their exclusive powers). The Liberal Party then held a convention which approved the Charlottetown Accord, over the objections of

and the Liberal Party Youth Commission president, Mario Dumont. Both Allaire and Dumont quit the Liberal Party over this issue and subsequently formed a new political party, Action Democratique du Quebec. Its main issue in the

1994 Quebec election The 1994 Quebec general election was held on September 12, 1994, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec. The Parti Québécois, led by Jacques Parizeau, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Premier Daniel Johnson Jr. ...

was support for the principles of the Allaire Report. Mario Dumont won the ADQ's first seat in the Quebec National Assembly in 1994.Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, ''Dumont bids farewell to political life,'' (24 February 2009)
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References

Political history of Quebec

Report recommendations

Political significance

See also

References