Constitutional Act of 1867

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The constitutional law of 1867 ( English Constitution Act, 1867 , often Canada Act , French Loi constitutionnelle de 1867 , formerly until 1982 British North America Act, 1867 or Acte de l'Amérique du Nord britannique de 1867 ) is the law with which the Dominion was created by Canada .

background

The law passed by the British Parliament on March 29, 1867 and entered into force on July 1 of the same year forms a fundamental part of Canada's constitution . It contains the main features of Canadian federalism as well as the law of state organization and was later expanded by other British North America Acts , in particular the constitutional law of 1982 .

The law created the Canadian government , the lower house and the Senate , the judicial system including the Supreme Court and the main features of the tax legislation. It also implicitly stated that Canada would become a bilingual state. Adopted as the British North America Act, it was officially named the Constitution Act by the 1982 Constitutional Act .

The law united the British colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with the province of Canada , consisting of Upper Canada (now Ontario ) and Lower Canada (now Québec ) to form the state of Dominion of Canada . It stipulated that the provinces should be represented in the House of Commons proportionally to the population, while the equality of the regions was codified by the fact that each of them received 24 seats in the Senate. The first Prime Minister of Canada was John Macdonald , who is considered one of the fathers of the Confederation .

Article 133 allowed both the federal and parliament of Québec to negotiate bilingual and pass bilingual laws. According to the common interpretation, this means that both languages ​​must be treated as equivalent. This also applies to courts at the federal level and in the province of Québec.

The historical background to the founding of Canada was the tensions between British North America and the USA , which had already led to the British-American War of 1812 and the rebellions of 1837 . The unification of the provinces should strengthen their position and make them more resistant to possible US claims.

Remarks

  1. ^ Attorney General of Quebec v. Blaikie (No. 1)

literature

  • Peter W. Hogg : Constitutional Law of Canada. 2003 Student Edition. Thomson Canada Limited, Scarborough 2003, ISBN 0-459-24085-4 .
  • Rand Dyck: Canadian Politics. Critical Approaches. 3rd edition. Nelson Thomson Learning, Scarborough et al. 2000, ISBN 0-17-616792-7 .

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