The Supreme Court had concluded that, with eight provinces dissenting and only two supporting the federal government, the reasonable measure of consent needed to authorize the patriation of the Constitution and the amendments it contained had not been reached. It was in the second attempt, when Quebec found itself alone, that it tried to block patriation and exercised its right to veto.
La preuve en est que, en 1982 en particulier, lors du deuxième référé, le gouvernement du Québec tentait de bloquer le rapatriement unilatéral, lui qui était maintenant isolé, tentait de bloquer le rapatriement unilatéral en invoquant son droit de veto.