Canadian duality : three decades of conflicts over the Constitution between Quebec and the federal government of Canada

The processes surrounding the ratification of the Constitution, which have been taking place for three decades in Canada, are not the results of only recently emerging challenges, but have their roots in history. Quebec's desire to guarantee itself in the Canadian constitution a unique position within the federation is a part of a long process of consistent struggles for the recognition of Quebeckers' distinctive rights. Quebec invariably demands that a two-century old tradition of Canadian political, social, and cultural duality, which is based on the recognition of the existence of the two founding Canadian communities, be continued and developed. At the end of the 20th century, such expectations were expressed during the Quebec's constitutional debates preceding the ratification of the Constitutional Act of 1982.

La domestication de la constitution canadienne devait marquer l'achèvement de la longue gouvernance du Premier ministre canadien Trudeau. La signature de la constitution par la Reine Elisabeth II à coïncidé avec la nouvelle stratégie de fédération de la province de Québec, après le référendum perdu par l'option séparatiste en 1980. René Lévesque et le Parti Québécois, rejoins dans les années suivantes par les libéraux québécois, ont adopté une stratégie de "pression" afin d'établir les privilèges de la société québécoise et de la province de Québec, lesquels – en échange de la ratification de la constitution – seraient inscrits dans the Constitutional Act en1982.