COMMENTARY: Constitutional debate not happening any time soon

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard certainly turned a few heads last week when he announced that he wanted the federal government to re-open debate on the Constitution in Canada.

History tells us that the two attempts at attaining a national consensus on constitutional reform did not go well.

READ MORE: Quebec plans to reopen constitutional debate, launch coast to coast discussion

Both the Charlottetown and Meech Lake Accord meetings between the federal government and the provinces created more acrimony than unity and there’s no evidence that things would be any different now.

Those previous failures ultimately led to the 1995 Quebec referendum which resulted in the narrowest of victories for the federalists, and even though the separatist threat has diminished significantly, there is still great risk.

READ MORE: Feds not interested in Quebec’s plan to reopen Constitution: Trudeau

Couillard’s list of conditions for Quebec to sign on to constitutional reform are very similar to the demands of his predecessors, which is problematic for many of his fellow premiers, and to exacerbate the problem, many of those premiers have their own wish lists for their ideas of constitutional reform.

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who still bears the scars from the Meech Lake and Charlottetown meetings, has the ear of the prime minister on some key issues.

I’m sure he has  advised  the prime minister to reject Couillard’s request  and judging from the prime minister’s comments this past  weekend, don’t expect any constitutional debate any time soon

Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News.