the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and thus limit the legality of abortion, was introduced in the House of Commons on November 21, 1986 by Gus Mitges, the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Grey—Simcoe. The motion called on the government to consider the advisability of amending Section 7 of the Charter to include a reference to human fetuses and the unborn, and called on the Governor General to issue a proclamation amending Section 7. The passing of the motion would not have resulted in an amendment to Section 7, as the Constitution's amending formula requires the approval of the House of Commons, the Senate and two-thirds or more of the provincial legislative assemblies representing at least 50 per cent of the national population. The debate and vote on the motion occurred on June 2, 1987. Doug Lewis, as Parliamentary secretary to Erik Nielsen (the then Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Privy Council), spoke on behalf of the government, stating that the motion was not "the proper way" to initiate a constitutional amendment, and that the government felt it "inappropriate" to amend laws dealing with therapeutic abortions at that time. Lewis did add that the debate on the motion provided "an important airing of views". After a number of other members spoke on both sides of the issue, the motion failed on a vote of 62 to 89. Meech Lake Accord, 1987–1990 The Meech Lake Accord was a complex package of proposed amendments designed to address a number of concerns about the Canadian Constitution. Among other things, it proposed granting Quebec "distinct status" within the Canadian federation, and changing the amending formula of the Constitution by requiring unanimous consent of all the provinces for a greater number of amendments. The accord ultimately failed when the Manitoba legislature and the government of Newfoundland refused to assent to it. Charlottetown Accord, 1990–1992 Like the Meech Lake Accord, the Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments designed to address a number of concerns about the Constitution, many of which were similar to those included in Meech Lake. Due to multiple provinces passing legislation requiring constitutional amendments be put to a referendum, the federal government decided to hold a national referendum on the Charlottetown Accord. The referendum was defeated with a majority (54.97%) voting against the Accord. Preamble to the Charter, 1999 In 1999, New Democratic Party MP for Burnaby-Douglas, Svend