Margaret Thatcher told Pierre Trudeau she had no desire to deal with "queues of Indians" knocking on her 10 Downing Street door to voice objections about Canada's plan to patriate the Constitution, newly declassified records show.
Minutes of a pivotal June 25, 1980, meeting in London between the British prime minister and her Canadian counterpart reveal an early reluctance on the part of Thatcher to get caught up in the burgeoning political drama of a former colony.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Trudeau's successful gambit to bring home the Constitution through passage of legislation that included an amending formula and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Though Canada had long been in charge of its own affairs, there was still the matter of securing Westminster's blessing of the plan, with a chorus of competing interests in Canada determined to have a say.
According to the minutes, Thatcher said "[Her Majesty's Government] did not want to be accused of interfering in any way.
HMG could help; and if, for example, queues of Indians knocked on the door of No. 10, the answer would be that it was for Canada to decide her future and not HMG."
The previous year, a delegation of aboriginal chiefs and elders had spent a week in London, seeking British help to get a seat at the constitutional negotiating table.
During the meeting with Trudeau, it was suggested things would be easier for Britain if Canada "was united in its approach."
Trudeau said the British government "would be accused of interfering whichever way things went."
As for unanimity, "that could be forgotten," added Trudeau. "The provinces would want to be heard and one or more of them would say that they were not getting what they wanted."
The Canadian Press obtained copies of the previously confidential records from Britain's National Archives with the assistance of Steve Hewitt, a senior lecturer in the Department of American and Canadian Studies at the University of Birmingham.
Thatcher and her government were obviously concerned "that they would become the lightning rod" for anger in Canada over the plan, said Hewitt, president of the British Association for Canadian Studies.
