|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
HistoryCanada's road to political self government began with the British North America Act, 1867 (now called in Canada the "Constitution Act, 1867," although it is still often referred to by its British name, or simply the "BNA Act"). This act created the modern state of Canada by combining the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a dominion within the British Empire. From this Canada adopted a Westminster style government with a Parliament. A Governor General fulfilled the constitutional duties of the British Sovereign on Canadian soil.
This delay in repatriating the Canadian constitution was due in large part to the lack of agreement over a mechanism for amending the constitution that would be acceptable to all of the provinces, particularly Quebec. Enactment of the ActThe Canada Act was the last request of the Canadian government to amend the country's constitution. After unpromising negotiations with the provincial governments, Pierre Trudeau eventually came to hope that the federal Parliament could unilaterally patriate the constitution, but the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Patriation Reference that a substantial level of consent from the provinces was needed according to constitutional conventions (though not in law). Trudeau succeeded in convincing nine provinces out of ten by adding the Notwithstanding Clause to limit the application of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Aside from some objections from British MPs who protested Canada's past mistreatment of Quebec and Aboriginal peoples (as recalled with frustration by Jean Chrétien in his memoirs Straight from the Heart), there was little opposition from the British government to passing the Act. Through section 2 of the Canada Act 1982, the United Kingdom ended its involvement in further amendments to the Canadian constitution. Proclamation by the Queen of CanadaWikisource has original text related to this article:
The Canada Act 1982 was signed into law by Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada on a rainy April 17, 1982 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Queen Elizabeth remains Queen and Head of State of Canada to this day. Her constitutional powers over Canada were not affected by the Act. Canada has full sovereignty over its realm and the Queen's role is separate from her role as the British monarch. See also
|
Sites |
Searched sites for "Canada Act 1982" |
|
No sites found. |
Sorry, no matching site records were found. |
Want your site listed here?
|
||||||||||||||
|
Submit
your site |
|
Relevant quality search results and fast easy navigation throughout the
different sections of the site, make Americola.com |