The
Canada Act 1982 (1982 c. 11) is an
Act of Parliament passed by the
British Parliament that ended all remaining dependence of
Canada on the
United Kingdom, by a process known as "
patriation". It includes the text of the
Constitution Act, 1982, in both of Canada's official languages, in Schedule B, and a translation of the main body into French in Schedule A, making it the first
British Act of Parliament since the Middle Ages to be passed in the
French language.
History
Canada's political self government began with the
British North America Act of 1867 (currently officially called the
Constitution Act). This act created the modern state of Canada by combining
Upper and Lower 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 of Canada.
A
Governor General fulfilled the constitutional duties of the British
Sovereign on Canadian soil.
Despite this, the United Kingdom still had the power to legislate for Canada. The
Statute of Westminster 1931 removed this power of the British Parliament for Canada, as well as the other
British Dominions (
Australia (adopted 1942), the
Irish Free State,
New Zealand (adopted 1947), the
Union of South Africa, and the
Dominion of Newfoundland (never ratified, joined Canada in 1949)), except where the Dominion consented to Imperial legislation. Also, the
British North America (No. 2) Act 1949 was passed by the British Parliament, giving the
Parliament of Canada significant constitutional amending powers. However, an Act of the
British Parliament was still required to make some amendments in the Canadian constitution.
This delay in the patriation of the Canadian constitution was due in large part to the lack of agreement concerning a method for amending the constitution that would be acceptable to all of the provinces, particularly Quebec.
Enactment of the Act
The 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 began to hope that the federal Parliament could unilaterally patriate the constitution. The
Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the
Patriation Reference, that provincial consent was not technically needed, but that substantial consent from the provinces was needed according to constitutional convention. 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 with further amendments to the Canadian constitution.
Proclamation by the Queen of Canada
While the Canada Act 1982 received
Royal Assent on March 29, 1982 in
London, it was not until the Queen came to Canada that the
Constitution Act, 1982, its Canadian equivalent, was proclaimed by
letters patent as a
statutory instrument by the Queen during her presence in
Canada.
The Constitution Act, 1982 was signed into law by Elizabeth II as
Queen of Canada on April 17, 1982 on
Parliament Hill in
Ottawa. Queen Elizabeth's constitutional powers over Canada were not affected by the Act, and she remains Queen and
Head of State of Canada. Canada has complete
sovereignty as an independent country and the Queen's role as monarch of Canada is separate from her role as the British monarch or the monarch of any of the other
Commonwealth realms.
See also
