TheConstitution

Patriated

What is a Constitution?• the rules of how a gvt

should operate

• system of laws which formally states people's rights and duties

• being able to change the constitution is a crucial part but nations make it very difficult to do so

The Canadian Constitution• was passed in 1867 by the British Parliament

and called the British North America Act (BNA Act)

• much of Canada’s Constitution deals with the specific powers held by the federal and provincial levels of gvt (e.g. defence to federal and education to provincial)

The Amendment Problem• the BNA did not have an amending formula

(what to do if you want to change something) so the federal gvt and ALL provinces had to agree on a way to change it

• Canada was the ONLY independent nation in the world whose Constitution was an act of another nation’s Parliament

• Trudeau wanted to patriate (bring home) the Constitution for Canadians

• the Constitution package would have two main features:– a defined amending formula– a Charter of Rights and Freedoms

• having every province agree to an amendment would never happen; every province had veto power

• having only 6 or 7 provinces agree plus the federal gvt made sense but not fair to Ontario and Quebec if they voted no (over 2/3 of the population)

• After failing yet again, Trudeau decided to take the package straight to Britain without the consent of the provinces

• Only NB and ON supported Trudeau and he and the Liberals decided to take the case to the highest court in Canada: The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court Decision• the judges declared that there was no law

stopping the federal gvt but that they needed a “substantial number” of provinces to agree before a change was made

• after late night meetings, all provinces agreed on a compromise bill except Quebec

• the bill to patriate the Canadian Constitution finally passed in December, 1981

Finally!

• on April 17, 1982, Queen Elizabeth officially handed Canada back its Constitution

• amendments can be made by agreement between the federal gvt and 2/3 of the provinces representing at least 50% of Canada’s population