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The Constitutional debate of Canada is an ongoing debate covering various political issues regarding the fundamental law of the country. The debate can be traced back to the Royal Proclamation, issued on October 7, 1763 following the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763) wherein France chose to give the Quebec portion of New France in favour of keeping Guadaloupe. As such, the French who chose to remain became British subjects. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763 by the British government in the name of King George III to prohibit settlement by British colonists beyond the Appalachian Mountains in the lands captured by Britain from France in the French and Indian War/Seven Years War and to...
October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ...
1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
The Treaty of Paris was signed on February 10, 1763, by the Kingdom of Great Britain, France and Spain with Portugal in agreement. ...
Beginning in 1963, a terrorist group that became known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices and at least two murders by FLQ gunfire and three violent deaths by bombings. ...
New France (French: la Nouvelle-France) describes the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 to the cession of New France to the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1763. ...
Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean Sea, is an archipelago with a total area of 1,704 km² located in the Eastern Caribbean. ...
Since the enactment of the British North America Act in 1867, which brought United Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia together as the Dominion of Canada, the debate has focused on these issues: The British North America Acts 1867–1975 are a series of Acts of the British Parliament dealing with the government of Canada. ...
1867 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
Note: for information about Canadas present-day provinces, see Provinces of Canada. ...
Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope was restored) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Lieutenant Governor Herménégilde Chiasson Premier Bernard Lord (PC) Area 72,908 km² (8th) - Land 71,450 km² - Water 1,458 km² (2. ...
Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (One defends and the other conquers) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant Governor Myra A. Freeman Premier John Hamm (PC) Area 55,283 km² (12th) - Land 53,338 km² - Water 1,946 km² (3. ...
Canada is the second largest and the northern-most country in the world, occupying most of the North American land mass. ...
- The interpretation of the British North America Act
- The division of powers between the federal and provincial governments
- The type of federalism to be applied within the union
- The relation with the United Kingdom, particularly Canada's level of autonomy
- The way the constitution should be amended
- The inclusion of specific civil rights in the constitution
Historical overview
Main article: Constitutional history of Canada The Constitutional history of Canada begins with the 1763 Treaty of Paris, in which France ceded most of New France to Great Britain. ...
The initial policy of Great Britain with regards to its newly acquired colony of Quebec was revealed in a Royal Proclamation on October 7, 1763. The proclamation renamed Canada "The Province of Quebec", redefined its borders, and established a British appointed colonial government. The new governor of the colony was given the power and direction to summon and call general assemblies of the people's representatives. October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ...
1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
Documents in constitutional history
Pre-Confederation - Articles of Capitulation of Quebec (September 18, 1759)
- Articles of Capitulation of Montreal (September 8, 1760)
- Treaty of Paris (1763) (February 10, 1763)
- British Royal Proclamation of 1763 (October 7, 1763)
- Quebec Act (June 22, 1774)
- American Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)
- French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (August 26, 1789)
- Constitutional Act of 1791 (June 10, 1791)
- Ninety-Two Resolutions (February 21, 1834)
- Lord John Russell's Ten Resolutions (March 6, 1837)
- Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada (February 22, 1838)
- Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839) (February, 1839)
- Act of Union (1840) (February 10, 1841)
- British North America Act (July 1, 1867)
The Articles of Capitulation of Quebec were agreed upon between Jean-Baptiste-Nicolas-Roch de Ramezay, Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, and General George Townshend on behalf the French and British crowns during the French and Indian War. ...
The Articles of Capitulation of Montreal were agreed upon between the Pierre de Cavagnal, Marquis de Vaudreuil and Major-General Jeffrey Amherst on behalf of the French and British crowns. ...
The Treaty of Paris was signed on February 10, 1763, by the Kingdom of Great Britain, France and Spain with Portugal in agreement. ...
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763 by the British government in the name of King George III to prohibit settlement by British colonists beyond the Appalachian Mountains in the lands captured by Britain from France in the French and Indian War/Seven Years War and to...
The Quebec Act of 1774 was an act by the British Parliament setting out procedures of governance in the area of Quebec. ...
U.S. Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence is a document in which the Thirteen Colonies declared themselves independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain and explained their justifications for doing so. ...
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, (French: La Déclaration des droits de lhomme et du citoyen), is one of the fundamental documents of the French Revolution, defining a set of individual rights (and collective...
The Constitutional Act of 1791 was a British law which changed the government of the province of Quebec to accommodate the many English-speaking settlers, known as the United Empire Loyalists, who had arrived from the United States following the American Revolution. ...
The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the Parti patriote of Lower Canada in 1834. ...
The Declaration of Independence of Lower Canada was written in French by the patriot rebel Robert Nelson on February 22, 1838, while in exile in the United States, after the first rebellion of 1837. ...
The Report on the Affairs of British North America, commonly known as Lord Durhams Report, is an important document in the history of Canada and the British Empire. ...
The Act of Union passed in July 1840 and proclaimed February 10, 1841, abolished the legislatures of Lower Canada and Upper Canada and established a new political entity the Province of Canada to replace them. ...
The British North America Acts 1867–1975 are a series of Acts of the British Parliament dealing with the government of Canada. ...
Confederation Manitoba Act was an Act of the government of Canada given the Royal Assent on May 12, 1870 creating the Province of Manitoba. ...
The Statute of Westminster 1931 was the enactment of the United Kingdom Parliament (December 11, 1931) which established the legislative equal status of the self-governing dominions of the British Empire and United Kingdom. ...
The Rowell-Sirois Commission officially known as the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations was a Canadian Royal Commission looking into the Canadian economy and federal-provincial relations. ...
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was a Canadian royal commission established in 1963 by the government of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson to to inquire into and report upon the existing state of bilingualism and biculturalism in Canada and to recommend what steps should be taken to develop...
Official Languages Act can refer to: the Official Languages Act of Canada or the Official Languages Act of Ireland. ...
The Victoria Charter was a set of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada in 1971. ...
The Charter of the French Language (also known as Bill 101 and Loi 101) is a framework law in the province of Quebec, Canada, defining the linguistic rights of all Quebecers and making French, the language of the majority, the sole official language of Quebec. ...
The Canada Act 1982 is an Act of Parliament passed by the British Parliament that severed virtually all remaining constitutional and legislative ties between the United Kingdom and Canada. ...
The Meech Lake Accord was a set of failed constitutional amendments to the Constitution of Canada proposed by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Robert Bourassa, premier of Quebec. ...
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of constitutional amendments, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. ...
Reference re Secession of Quebec [1998] 2 S.C.R. 217 was an opinion of the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the legality, under both Canadian and international law, of a unilateral secession of Quebec from Canada. ...
Canadian politics is federal legislation that established the conditions under which Ottawa would recognize a vote for secession by one of the provinces. ...
An Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State (R.S.Q., c. ...
The role of the Auditor General of Canada is to aid independent audits of federal government operations. ...
The status quo The current constitution of Canada consists of the 1867 British North America Act (BNA) and subsequent amendments. The BNA Act defined the areas of jurisdiction for the provinces and the Federal government. There are 29 exclusive federal jurisdictions and 16 provincial jurisdictions. The provincial jurisdictions are listed under sections 92, 93 and 95 of the constitution. The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada. ...
The BNA Act granted the federal parliament all "residuary" powers not already defined as provincial. It also gave the federal government a veto power over provincial legislation. The members of the Senate of Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada, judges and the judges of all of the provinces' highest courts are appointed by the federal parliament. The Senate of Canada is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. ...
The Supreme Court Building in Ottawa The Supreme Court of Canada is Canadas highest court and is located in the capital city of Ottawa. ...
The Constitution Act of 1982 did not change the divisions of responsibilities between the provincial and the federal legislatures, except for the provincial jurisdiction over natural resources and energy, which was clarified and slightly expanded.
The 1982 constitutional reform introduced an amendment process (which no longer involved the approval of the Parliament of the United Kingdom) and a Charter of rights and freedoms. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). ...
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a constitutionally entrenched bill of rights which forms part of the Constitution of Canada adopted in 1982. ...
Foundation of the Nation In Canada West (Ontario), the confederation process was promoted as the act of foundation of a new British nation. The project generally received wide support in the press and in the political class. It is primarily the politicians of Canada West that, with the Great Coalition, orchestrated the process which lead to the legislative union of the British North American colonies. Canada West was the western portion of the Province of Canada. ...
The Great Coalition refers to the grand coalition of political parties that formed in the Province of Canada in 1864. ...
The anti-Confederation movement was however quite strong in one of the two maritime provinces that were initially federated by the BNAA. The liberal politicians of the maritime provinces did not support the movement of the Great Coalition before or after the fact.
In Nova Scotia, 36 out of 38 seats of the provincial legislature and 18 out of 19 seats of the new federal legislature went to anti-Confederation candidates at the first election. Premier Bill Annand and federal MP Joseph Howe pushed for the removal of Nova Scotia from the new Dominion. Howe eventually accepted a position in the federal government of McDonald, while Bill Annand kept fighting Confederation up until 1869. Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (One defends and the other conquers) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant Governor Myra A. Freeman Premier John Hamm (PC) Area 55,283 km² (12th) - Land 53,338 km² - Water 1,946 km² (3. ...
William Annand (April 10, 1808 - October 12, 1887) was a Nova Scotia publisher and politician. ...
Joseph Howe (December 13, 1804 - June 1, 1873) was born the son of John Howe and Mary Edes at Halifax, Nova Scotia. ...
The movement died shortly after, when the idea of reversing the process of confederation was abandoned. The point of view that the confederation is the act of foundation of the Canadian nation was and still is today the policy of the federal government.
Pact between two founding peoples In Canada East (Quebec), the confederation project was promoted by the Parti bleu and opposed by the Parti rouge. George-Étienne Cartier supported and promoted the project as a way to regain the political autonomy that Lower Canada had lost with the forced Union of 1840. Reluctant at first, the Catholic clergy eventually supported confederation when it became known that education and "health" were going to be exclusive provincial jurisdictions. Canada East (French, Canada-Est) was the eastern portion of the Province of Canada. ...
The parti bleu was a moderate political group in Quebec, Canada that emerged in 1854. ...
The Parti rouge (alternatively known as the parti democratique) was formed in what is now Quebec, Canada, around 1848 by radical French-Canadians inspired by the ideas of Louis-Joseph Papineau, the Institut canadien de Montréal, and the Patriotes Movement of the 1830s. ...
George-Étienne Cartier The Honourable Sir George-Étienne Cartier, KBE, PC (September 6, 1814 – May 20, 1873) was a French-Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation. ...
Lower Canada was a British colony in North America, at the downstream end of the Saint Lawrence River in the southern portion of the modern-day province of Quebec. ...
1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
After 1867 and up until the 1960s, the idea that the BNAA was a legal document containing garantees as to the equality of the two founding peoples was taken for granted by most members of the intellectual elite of French Canada. Nationalist politicians from Quebec (sometimes liberal, sometimes conservative) were elected on programs which stated how they were to defend the constitutional garantees granted by Great Britain to French Canadians in order to protect their nationality. Federal politicians, such as Henri Bourassa, advocated more autonomy for Canada within the British Empire, while provincial politicians such as Honoré Mercier defended the autonomy of the province of Quebec within the Canadian Dominion. The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...
Henri Bourassa Joseph-Napoléon-Henri Bourassa (September 1, 1868- August 30, 1952) was a French Canadian political leader and publisher. ...
Honoré-Mercier is the name of a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada. ...
Just another British Act The Parti rouge of Canada East opposed the confederation process, just as they had opposed the Union process. Some rouges such as Antoine-Aimé Dorion, demanded that the project be submitted to a vote by the people, convinced it would be rejected. The process which lead to the confederation was considered illegitimate because in their opinion it was undemocratic. The Parti rouge (alternatively known as the parti democratique) was formed in what is now Quebec, Canada, around 1848 by radical French-Canadians inspired by the ideas of Louis-Joseph Papineau, the Institut canadien de Montréal, and the Patriotes Movement of the 1830s. ...
Canada East (French, Canada-Est) was the eastern portion of the Province of Canada. ...
Sir Antoine-Aimé Dorion (January 17, 1818 – May 31, 1891) was a Canadian politician and jurist. ...
Other liberals suggested a highly decentralized confederation that would have given only certain limited powers to the union government. The party lead the anti-confederation campaign and at the first provincial elections, 13 out of 65 anti-confederation candidates were elected, obtaining 45% of the recorded votes.
Much later, in late 1950s, the opinions of the Parti rouge would be supported by the first advocates of the independence of Quebec. The Parti rouge (alternatively known as the parti democratique) was formed in what is now Quebec, Canada, around 1848 by radical French-Canadians inspired by the ideas of Louis-Joseph Papineau, the Institut canadien de Montréal, and the Patriotes Movement of the 1830s. ...
Nature of Canadian federalism
Confederation / federation Since the creation of the federal state, the role of this new level of government has been the object of a debate. As of 1867, some politicians have seen the federal government as the central, national government of Canada whereas others have seen it as a confederal government, the creation of the provinces, responsible for administering things the later had in common.
Symmetrical and Asymmetrical federalism Symmetrical federalism refers to a political organization where all federated states have equal status and autonomy within the greater ensemble. Examples of symmetrical federations are the United States and Canada.
Asymmetrical federalism refers to a political organization where the federated states have variable levels of autonomy within the greater ensemble. Examples are Belgium and Switzerland.
Nationalisms
Binationalism / Bilingualism / Biculturalism Mostly supported by French Canadians, the binational confederation was seen as a way for French Canadians and British Canadians to coexist within the same country and share common institutions. Since French Canadians viewed themselves as a distinct nation and wished for this nation to keep existing, many political leaders from Quebec promoted the official recognition of the French language by the federal government and all provincial governments. This view is today associated with the pre-Quiet Revolution era.
Multicultural Nation State Promoted by the Liberals after the arrival of Pierre E. Trudeau, this view of Canada is at once readily embraced by a great number of Canadians and seen as totally unacceptable by essentially all Quebec provincial politicians because to them it fails at recognizing the national character of Quebec society and the consequences of this for the Quebec state as a member state of the Canadian federadation. Name Pierre Elliott Trudeau Number Fifteenth First term April 20, 1968–June 4,1979 Second term March 3, 1980–June 30, 1984 Predecessor Lester Bowles Pearson Successors Joe Clark John Napier Turner Date of birth October 18, 1919 Place of birth Montreal, Quebec Date of death September 28, 2000 Spouse...
The concept of a pluralistic society is generally perceived positively in Quebec, which is also a land open to immigration. However, Quebec policies speak of civic "interculturalism" rather than multiculturalism, which is associated with ghettoization. The Canadian multiculturalism policy is often perceived negatively, for it depicts the French-speaking majority of Quebec as one of the many ethnic groups of Canada, therefore denying the national character of Quebec, and undermining the efforts of the Quebec state to integrate immigrants into its mainstream French-speaking society. Interculturalism is the philosophy of exchanges between cultural groups within a society. ...
Multiculturalism is a policy that emphasizes the unique characteristics of different cultures, especially as they relate to one another in receiving nations. ...
A ghetto is an area where people from a specific ethnic background or united in a given culture or religion live as a group, voluntarily or involuntarily, in milder or stricter seclusion. ...
Multinational State Many politicians and public figures think that Canada would move forward in the recognition of its own diversity by declaring itself a de jure multinational state. With regards to Quebec, this view would be more in line with the "nation within the nation" of former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson in the pre-Trudeau era. The Right Honourable Lester Bowles Mike Pearson, PC , CC , OM , OBE , MA , BA , LL.D (April 23, 1897 – December 27, 1972) was a Canadian statesman, diplomat and politician who was made a Nobel Laureate in 1957 and served as the fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada from April 22, 1963, to...
One nation, one country Many Canadians outside Quebec think of Canada as a monolithic nation with 10 equal provinces. Since they see only one nation in the country, they are opposed to any kind of asymmetrical relation with Quebec or any other province. Believing that Canada needs a strong federal government to defend and promote national unity, they are by principle reluctant to a decentralization of powers to the provinces.
Two nations, two countries With secession, many Quebec nationalists think they have the answer to Canada's never-ending constitutional debate. Marginalized after the Patriotes rebellion of 1837-38, the secessionist option was resurrected as a credible solution in the wake of the 1960s Quiet Revolution of Quebec. Some politicians see the independence as the normal conclusion of the Quebec struggle for the conservation of its autonomy within the Canadian federal framework. Some see it in a broader perspective of every people's right to self-determination and what they see as the normal evolution of a 400 years-old former French colony that fell victim to the colonial wars between Great Britain and France. Jean Lesage, Daniel Johnson Sr. ...
Positions
Maintain status quo Official position of the federal government of Canada, an overwhelming majority of Canadians outside Quebec and a minority of people (20%) inside Quebec.
Constitutional reforms Position of many federalists from English Canada and Quebec. Seen as the only way to avoid secession. This option seems to gather a solid 40% of support in Quebec.
Secession of Quebec Position of the Quebec sovereignists. Seen as the only way to safeguard Quebec's culture in the long term. This option seems to gather a solid 40% of support in Quebec.
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