The proposed constitution of President Gabriel Boric sought to implement environmental regulations that may have affected Canadian mining operations in the region.
The constitution was rejected by 62 per cent of the people and 38 per cent voted to accept it.
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The previous proposal was written during Augusto Pinochet's rule and focused on the market. The document could have put Canadian mining interests in the region at risk.
The Department of Natural Resources says that 11 per cent of Canada's international mining assets are located in Chile. Canada is the second most important mining market after the US.
The proposed constitution would have established the state's domain over mines and deposits, and regulated their use based on their finite, non-renewable nature.
Canadian mining companies were included in the list of bad actors that the constitution wanted to hold accountable. Boric told Trudeau during his visit to Canada in June that mining companies used to destroy our territory and that they didn't give enough to the countries where they worked. Some of those companies were based in Canada.
Canadian mining companies were not sure if the constitution would pass.
The Pinochet years, in which the country was characterized by torture, executions and the internment of left-wingers, were a reminder of the constitution that ushered in the world of international trade.
The vote came after three years of negotiations, which started when protests broke out in 2019. The referendum in October 2020 where 78 percent of the population voted to rewrite the constitution was met with jubilation.
Carlo Dade, who studies trade policy at the Canada West Foundation, said that the left pushed too far and too fast when it came to trade policy.
He said that he thought there was support for change, but that everyone had a different idea of what it really meant.
Voting against the status quo is one thing, but agreeing on what change should look like is another, according to a researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
She said that the rejection of the constitution was not a rejection of the idea of a new one. Provisions to ensure more inclusivity and more attention for the environment are likely to be included in a more moderate document.
Boric said that the efforts to rewrite the constitution were worthwhile.
When necessary, countries will turn back on their tracks to find a new path forward.
The left is in a better position to make the changes they want. The bar of compromise has been moved. They will be making concessions from a strong position.
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