As a former Minister of Federal and Intergovernmental Affairs, Getty had strong views about constitutional matters, and about Senate reform in particular. He made the cause the centrepiece of Alberta's constitutional policy going into the Meech Lake Accord discussions. The Accord's final version included a provision whereby the Prime Minister would continue to recommend senatorial appointments to the Governor-General, but would have to make their recommendations from lists provided by the provincial governments. Once it became apparent that the Meech Lake Accord would fail, Getty's government introduced the "Senatorial Selection Act", which provided for an election process whenever there was a vacant Senate seat for Alberta. However, Getty's favoured candidate, Progressive Conservative Bert Brown, was soundly defeated by Stan Waters of the upstart Reform Party of Canada, which opposed Meech Lake and favoured aggressive senate reform. Though Prime Minister Brian Mulroney opposed the legislation, he eventually recommended Waters for appointment to the Senate. Getty was still more successful at pursuing senate reform during the negotiations for the Charlottetown Accord, when he won the addition of a Triple-E Senate to the package, against Mulroney's opposition. However, the Charlottetown Accord failed after a national referendum in which a majority of Canadians, including 60.2% of Albertans, rejected it.