* Eugene Forsey; Scholar on Canadian Constitution

Eugene Forsey, 86, a former Canadian senator and highly regarded constitutional expert who harshly criticized an accord that would have recognized French-speaking Quebec as a “distinct society.” The so-called Meech Lake constitutional accord failed to gain approval by all 10 provincial legislatures by the June, 1990, deadline. The accord, named after the resort outside Ottawa where it was drawn up in 1987, was the culmination of efforts to get Quebec to sign the 1982 Canadian Constitution. Forsey was named to the Senate in 1970; he retired from it in 1979. On Wednesday in Victoria, British Columbia.