The constitution

Background to the constitution The constitution defines the political structure of Canada It outlines the relationship that exists between the government and the people

Structure of government The constitution outlines the structure of the government Canada is a monarchy (constitutional monarchy) We have a parliament The house of commons is the most important part The constitution establishes 2 levels of government: federal and provincial And three branches of government: Legislative, judicial, and executive

What is the constitution based upon? The constitution is based on the rule of law This guarantees all canadians both justice and Equality before the law The power of the government is then limited by the law of the land

The road to the constitution Royal proclamation 1763 Quebec act 1774 Constitution act 1791 Act of union 1840 British north america act 1867 Constitution act 1867 (originally the BNA act) Constitution act 1982

Royal proclamation The royal proclamation gave British control to the Great lakes and st. lawrence regions This declared that English laws and institutions and the english language would prevail in the politics of quebec The french language and catholocism were tolerated

Quebec act 1774 English criminal law would be emphasized in the colony Restored use of civil code – still used today in quebec This allowed french speaking people to hold positions in public office

Constitution act 1791 This act divided quebec into two parts: upper and lower canada In lower canada they used english criminal law and the french civil code In upper canada they used english criminal law and english civil code All colonies of north america granted representative government At this point only male property owners could vote Frustration grew over the extremely limited power that elected officials had

Act of union 1840 The two canadas (upper and lower) reunited Both were to be equally represented in the senate and elected assembly This was the beginning of responsible government in canada French was widely used in government proceedings

Responsible government The executive branch of government is answerable to and must act on the decisions made by the legislative branch

British north america act 1867 People were extremely dissatisfied with the political structure within the colonies In 1867 confederation happened!!! Between the canada’s, new brunswick, and nova scotia This was known as the british north america act of 1867 (or the constitution act of 1867) Canadas were divided into ontario and quebec Four provinces of confederation Division of federal and provincial powers began creating the idea of federalism

More Bna act 1. terms of union 2. executive power there were 147 sections divided into 3. legislative power these 8 categories 4. Judicial power 5. revenue and taxation 6. provincial institutions 7. distribution of legislative power 8. admission of other colonies into confederation

Amendments to bna act The amending formula This is the method of how the bna act could be changed There were struggles between the responsibilities of federal and provincial governments This process traditionally took place in britain and made canada not really soverign

A time for change There were lots of arguments between the provinces and the federal government throughout the 1960s and 1970s In quebec the quiet revolution sparked a beginning of change to the canadian constitution At this point quebec began to consider separating from canada Something had to be done

Constitution 1982 Prime Minister Trudeau (1.0) He and his government offered a new constitutional arrangement

Details: The constitution has the charter of rights and freedoms entrenched in it in order to protect quebec’s interests The amending formula for the new constitution requires 7 out of 10 provinces representing 50% of the canadian population to agree Trudeau 1.0

The end 