The Citizens' Forum on Canada's Future (french: Le Forum des citoyens sur l'avenir du Canada) was a commission established in November 1990 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. It was more commonly known as the Spicer Commission, after its chairman, Keith Spicer.

Background

In the wake of 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 ...

, the federal government attempted to reach out to citizens by means of a public commission of inquiry. In response to a perception that the country's unity was being threatened by linguistic and regional divisions, the purpose of the Citizens' Forum on Canada's Future was to engage Canadians in a discussion about the political and social future of Canada. The Spicer Commission held town hall meetings across the country and solicited input from Canadians on the future of the country.

Report

The commission's reporthttp://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/bcp-pco/CP32-57-1991-eng.pdf was released in June 1991. The Commission noted that many Canadians were willing to recognize Quebec's cultural and linguistic differences but not to grant the province special powers that might weaken the central government; most respondents saw official bilingualism as divisive and costly; the education system and media had not done enough to promote national unity; Canadians regarded cutbacks to federal institutions as insensitive to national symbols; and many Canadians had a lack of faith in government leaders and the political process. Also notable was Spicer's comment that there was "a fury in the land" against Mulroney. Some of the report's contents were subsequently used in the development of 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 ...

Members

Richard Cashin Carole Corcoran

Fil Fraser Felix Blache-Fraser (August 19, 1932 – December 3, 2017) was a Black Canadian broadcaster, non-fiction author, film producer, film festival founder, public servant, and educator in Alberta. Broadcasting and journalism Born in Montreal in 1932, ...

Thomas Kierans Jim Matkin Robert Normand Raymond Sirois Keith Spicer, Chairman Roger Tassé Susan Van De Velde

Elsie Wayne Elsie Eleanore Wayne (née Fairweather; April 20, 1932 – August 23, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Saint John from 1993 to 2004. She was born in Shediac, New Brunswick. Politi ...

Helena Zukowski Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer *Helena, mother of Constantine I Places Greece * Helena (island) Guyana * ...

References

{{reflist *Colombo, John Robert. ''Canadian Global Almanac''. Toronto: Global Press, 1992. *D. Leyton-Brown, ed., ''Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs 1991''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992. Constitution of Canada Canadian commissions and inquiries History of Canada (1982–1992) Constitutional commissions 1990 establishments in Canada 1991 documents