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Patriation

Patriation is the political process that led to full Canadian sovereignty, culminating with the Constitution Act, 1982. The process was necessary because, at the time, under the Statute of Westminster, 1931, and with Canada's agreement, the British Parliament retained the power to amend Canada's British North America Acts and to enact, more generally, for Canada at the request and with the consent of the Dominion. That authority was removed from the UK by the enactment of the Canada Act, 1982, on March 29, 1982, by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as requested by the Parliament of Canada.[4]

A proclamation bringing the Constitution Act, 1982, into effect was signed by Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and Minister of Justice Jean Chrétien on April 17, 1982, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.[5] The patriation process saw the provinces granted influence in constitutional matters and resulted in the constitution being amendable by Canada only and according to its amending formula, with no role for the United Kingdom.

The monarch's constitutional powers over Canada were not affected by the act. Canada has complete sovereignty as an independent country; the role of the monarch of Canada is distinct from that of the monarch of the UK or any other Commonwealth realm.[9]

Etymology edit

The word patriation was coined in Canada as a back-formation from repatriation (returning to one's country). Prior to 1982, power to amend the Canadian constitution was held by the Parliament of the United Kingdom (subject in some respects to request and consent from Canada); hence some have felt that the term patriation was more suitable than the term repatriation (returning something).[10][11] The term was first used in 1966 by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson in response to a question in Parliament: "We intend to do everything we can to have the constitution of Canada repatriated, or patriated."[12]

Early attempts edit

From 1867, the constitution of Canada was primarily contained in the British North America Act, 1867 and other British North America Acts, which were passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Several Canadian prime ministers, starting with William Lyon Mackenzie King in 1927, had made attempts to domesticize the amending formula, but could not obtain agreement with the provincial governments as to how such a formula would work.[13] Thus, even after the Statute of Westminster granted Canada and other Commonwealth nations full legislative independence in 1931, Canada requested that the British North America Act, 1867, be excluded from the laws that were now within Canada's complete control to amend; until 1949, the constitution could only be changed by a further act at Westminster. The British North America (No.2) Act, 1949, granted the Parliament of Canada limited power to amend the constitution in many areas of its own jurisdiction, without involvement of the United Kingdom. The constitution was amended in this manner five times: in 1952, 1965, 1974, and twice in 1975.

Negotiations continued sporadically between federal and provincial governments on the development of a new amending formula in which the United Kingdom would have no part. In the 1960s, efforts by the governments of Prime Ministers John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson, including the Confederation of Tomorrow conference in Canada's centennial year,[n 1][17] culminated in the Fulton–Favreau formula, but without Quebec's endorsement, the patriation attempt failed.

 
Pierre Trudeau (far left) with Elizabeth II (centre) at Buckingham Palace, 1977

In 1968, Pearson was succeeded by Pierre Trudeau, who also advocated patriation. He made several attempts, including the Victoria Charter in 1971 and more proposed amendments in 1978. At the 1978–1979 conference, Trudeau prepared for the first time to provide some federal concessions with regard to the division of powers, including family law, fisheries, and resources.[18] However, the other premiers balked, which led to speculation they were waiting to see if the more province-friendly Progressive Conservatives would win the coming federal election.[19] In that campaign, the Liberals ran on constitutional change, including a speech at Maple Leaf Gardens in which Trudeau promised unilateral action if the premiers did not agree to patriation.[20]

Patriation achieved edit

Patriation was given a new impetus after the 1980 referendum on Quebec independence, before which Trudeau promised a new constitutional agreement if the majority of Quebecers voted "No". As the referendum did result in a majority rejecting separation, Trudeau approached his British counterpart, Margaret Thatcher, to inform her the Canadian government wanted to patriate the constitution. Thatcher's reply was that the British Parliament would allow this, with provincial approval or not.[21]

After a number of days of negotiation between Trudeau and the premiers and the leak of the Kirby Memo by an "internal federal source", which antagonized Quebec,[22] the premiers consulted at the Chateau Laurier and drafted a list of 10 powers to be devolved to the provinces in exchange for consent to patriation. Trudeau, when presented with the document, refused to accept it and reiterated his threat that he would seek the House of Commons' approval to proceed with a unilateral amendment. Faced with Premier of Manitoba Sterling Lyon's charge that it would "tear the country apart", Trudeau responded that, if Canada could not have control of its own constitution and a charter when most provinces had their own, the country would deserve to be torn apart.[23] This led Thatcher to take a less certain view of how things might proceed through the British legislature, sensing the provincial opposition would make the legislation controversial in Parliament.[21]

Canada Bill and provincial opposition edit

Trudeau announced his belief that the premiers were dealing in bad faith and met with his caucus to propose a new course. After offering a wide range of options and proposing full reform, a Quebec MP shouted "Allons-y en Cadillac!"[24] (translated by Trudeau to mean "let's go first class ... be liberal to the end ... not to temper our convictions with political expediency").[25] Taking the proposal to Cabinet, some ministers suggested using the manoeuvre to increase federal power over the economy, but Trudeau demurred, replying "we shouldn't upset the balance".[24] On October 2, 1980, he announced on national television his intention to proceed with unilateral patriation in what he termed the "people's package". The proposal would request patriation from the UK Parliament, as well as the entrenchment of a charter of rights, and would call for a referendum to be held within two years on the amending formula for the new constitution, which would be a choice between the Victoria Charter veto formula and any joint proposal by the provinces that could be approved by provinces totalling 80% of the population.[n 2] In the same month, the attorneys general of six provinces launched suits in three provincial courts, seeking clarity on whether or not the federal Cabinet could request the British Parliament pass legislation that would alter the balance of power between the provincial and federal crowns without the support of provincial governments. The British government became adverse to introducing any bill that might be found to be unconstitutional.[21]

 
Premier of Ontario Bill Davis

Trudeau found new allies in Premiers Bill Davis (Ontario) and Richard Hatfield (New Brunswick)[26] and the federal New Democratic Party, under Ed Broadbent, announced its support after persuading Trudeau to devolve some resource powers to the provinces.[26] The Prime Minister's proposal in the House of Commons, which would be tabled as the Canada Bill, invited Aboriginal, feminist, and other groups to Ottawa for their input on the charter of rights in legislative committees. However, there was disagreement over the charter, which the premiers of six provinces (Lyon, René Lévesque of Quebec, Bill Bennett of British Columbia, Angus MacLean of Prince Edward Island, Peter Lougheed of Alberta, and Brian Peckford of Newfoundland) opposed as encroachments on their power; the press dubbed this the Gang of Six. Manitoba, Newfoundland, and Quebec launched references to their respective Courts of Appeal asking if the Canada Bill was constitutional. Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan remained neutral.

At the insistence of British Columbia, the premiers who opposed unilateral patriation drafted an alternative proposal to showcase the disagreement between the sides and to counter the federal government's charges of obstructionism if the document were to proceed to Westminster. The idea was for patriation to take place with no charter of rights and the amending formula would permit amendment with the approval of seven provinces consisting of 50% of the population, referred to as the Vancouver Formula. The premiers' innovation was a clause allowing for dissenting provinces to "opt out" of new amendments that superseded provincial jurisdiction and receive equivalent funding to run a substitute programme if two-thirds of the members of the provincial legislature acquiesced.[27] Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan approved of this, prompting the press to now call the opposition premiers the Gang of Eight.

Trudeau rejected the proposed document out of hand and again threatened to take the case for patriation straight to the British Parliament "[without] bothering to ask one premier." The federal Cabinet and Crown counsel took the position that if the British Crown—in Council, in Parliament, and on the bench—was to exercise its residual sovereignty over Canada, it did so at the request of the federal ministers of the Crown only.[28] Further, officials in the United Kingdom indicated that the British Parliament was under no obligation to fulfill any request for legal changes made by Trudeau, particularly if Canadian convention was not being followed.[29] The British Commons Foreign Affairs Committee drafted a report in January 1981 stating it would be wrong for the Parliament of the United Kingdom to enact the proposals regardless of the provincial opposition.[30]

Patriation Reference edit

 
The Supreme Court of Canada

The Courts of Appeal in Newfoundland, Quebec, and Manitoba delivered their opinions on the reference questions in the second quarter of 1981. The Manitoba and Quebec Courts of Appeal answered the questions posed by their provincial governments in favour of the federal government, ruling that there was no constitutional objection to the federal government proceeding unilaterally.[31][32] The Court of Appeal of Newfoundland, however, ruled in favour of the provincial government. It held that both as a matter of constitutional law and constitutional convention, the federal government could not request the proposed amendments from the British Parliament without the consent of the provinces.[33] The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.[34] The governments of Manitoba and Quebec appealed from the decisions of the Courts of Appeal in those provinces and the federal government appealed from the decision of the Newfoundland Court of Appeal.

On September 28, 1981, the court ruled (on live television, for the first time) that the federal government had the right, by letter of the law, to proceed with the unilateral patriation of the constitution (the decision was seven to two in favour). However, by a different six-to-three majority, the court said that the constitution was made up as much of convention as written law and ruled that a unilateral patriation was not in accordance with constitutional convention. Although the courts enforce laws, not constitutional conventions, the court's decision stated that agreement by a "substantial" number of premiers would be required to abide by the convention.[34] This number was not defined and commentators later criticized the court's failure to rule that the approval of all provinces was required.[34][35][36] The decision was controversial and a loss for the premiers. Lévesque would later remark, "in other words, Trudeau's goals might be unconstitutional, illegitimate, and even 'go against the principles of federalism', but they were legal!" Trudeau, in his memoirs, paraphrased the court as saying "that patriation was legal, but not nice".

Both the United Kingdom and Canada undertook contingency preparations: Margaret Thatcher's British cabinet explored simply unilaterally patriating the constitution to Canada with an amending formula requiring unanimous approval of the provinces.[37] Trudeau began to plan for a referendum proposing a unilateral declaration of independence in the event of a United Kingdom refusal.[38]

Constitutional Conference, November 1981 edit

The decision set the stage for a meeting amongst all premiers and Trudeau in Ottawa, on November 2, 1981. The conference opened with Trudeau announcing an openness to a new amending formula, Davis postulating that his cabinet could accept an agreement without an Ontario veto, and Hatfield proposing deferral of some elements of a charter.[39] This was seen as a general opening toward the provincial proposal, though Trudeau declared the charter was non-negotiable.[39]

 
Pierre Trudeau (left) and Jean Chrétien (right) at a session of the 1981 constitutional talks

On November 3, a compromise put to Trudeau involving amending the Group of Eight's proposal with a limited charter was met with a blunt refusal, with federal officials declining a "gutted charter",[40][41] while Lévesque and Trudeau argued on the language provisions of the charter.[40] On November 4, the premiers' breakfast meeting saw two new proposals floated: The Premier of Saskatchewan, Allan Blakeney, would accept a charter without language rights and constitutional amendment by any seven provinces, regardless of population and the removal of financial compensation,[41] while Bennett would allow Trudeau his language rights provisions in exchange for other considerations.[42] Lyon and Lévesque were angered and refused to go along, with Lougheed successfully suggesting the ideas be proposed to test Trudeau's negotiating position.[42] In return, Trudeau launched a new federal initiative to the premiers: patriate the constitution as it was, but continue debates for two years and, if deadlock resulted, hold a national referendum on the amending formula and charter.[42] Lévesque, fearing the alliance was crumbling and facing mocking remarks by Trudeau that as a "great democrat" (especially after the recent referendum he initiated on Quebec's independence), but confident he could ensure any referendum on a charter would fail, agreed in principle.[43] Trudeau promptly announced a "Canada–Quebec alliance" on the issue to the press, stating "the cat is among the pigeons."[43]

The other seven opposition premiers were startled: Campaigning against the protection of rights was generally seen as political suicide[44] and a national referendum could be seen as "conventionalizing" the charter without the need for provincial approval.[43] Further, Canadians nationwide were mostly in agreement with Trudeau on the issue and were tired of the constant constitutional talks; The draft text of the Federal proposal was later revealed to involve the approval of Trudeau's reforms, with referendums being only if provinces representing 80% of the population demanded them within the two years.[44] This prompted Lévesque to back away from the referendum proposal, saying it looked as though it was "written in Chinese."[44] The conference descended again into acrimony, with Trudeau and Lévesque angrily clashing over language rights.[45] Trudeau announced that he would attend one final meeting at 9am the following day and head to Westminster if agreement was not reached.[45] Peckford announced that Newfoundland would forward a proposal the next day.[45] Lévesque and the Quebec delegation went to sleep in Hull, Quebec, for the night.

Kitchen Accord edit

That afternoon—November 4, 1981—the Minister of Justice, Jean Chrétien, met with Attorney General of Saskatchewan Roy Romanow and Attorney General of Ontario Roy McMurtry in the kitchen of Ottawa's Government Conference Centre. The attorneys general discussed a scenario in which the provinces would agree to the charter and disallowing opting-out with compensation, while Chrétien agreed to the Vancouver amending formula and reluctantly offered to include the notwithstanding clause in the constitution.[46] Chrétien, who had been deeply involved in supporting the "no" side of the Quebec referendum and abhorred the possibility of another one, recommended the compromise to Trudeau,[46] but the Prime Minister felt, given the previous chaos, it would still be impossible to obtain the agreement of his provincial counterparts and demurred.[46] In the evening, Davis, however, agreed in principle to the compromise and told Trudeau that he should do so as well, informing him he would not be on his side if he proceeded unilaterally at that point.[46] Trudeau, who knew that his position in London was growing tenuous, even with the support he had, accepted.[47] Thus, working with the draft proposal created by the Newfoundland delegation,[48][49] the six groups worked through the night to prepare the compromise proposal. This period would be called the Kitchen Accord; the men at the table that night became known as the Kitchen Cabinet. In exchange for agreeing to the inclusion of the notwithstanding clause, Trudeau declined to remove the federal powers of disallowance and reservation from the draft Constitution.[50]

At the end of this period of negotiations, René Lévesque left to sleep at Hull, a city on the other side of the Ottawa river, before leaving he asked the other premiers (who were all lodged in Ottawa) to call him if anything happened.[51] Lévesque and his people, all in Quebec, remained ignorant of the agreement until Lévesque walked into the premiers' breakfast and was told the agreement had been reached. Lévesque refused to give his support to the deal and left the meeting; the government of Quebec subsequently announced on November 25, 1981, that it would veto the decision. However, both the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, which issued its ruling on the matter on December 6, 1982, stated that Quebec had never held such veto powers.[52]

The events were divisive. Quebec nationalists saw the deal as the English-speaking premiers betraying Quebec, which prompted use of the term Nuit des longs couteaux, or "Night of the Long Knives".[n 3] In English Canada, Lévesque was seen as having tried to do the same to the English-speaking premiers by accepting the referendum. Among those was Brian Mulroney, who said that by "accepting Mr. Trudeau's referendum idea, Mr. Levesque [sic] himself abandoned, without notice, his colleagues of the common front." Chrétien's role in the negotiations made him reviled among sovereigntists. Until the Quebec Liberals came to power in 1985, every law passed in Quebec used the notwithstanding clause.[54]

Further, Peckford rebuked in an article in The Globe and Mail claims the events that night resembled anything akin to the Kitchen Accord or Night of the Long Knives.[55] According to Peckford, four premiers—from Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia—and senior representatives from Alberta and British Columbia, worked from a proposal brought to the meeting by the Newfoundland delegation. Efforts were made to reach the other provinces, including Quebec, but to no avail. Peckford further asserted that Chrétien was not contacted and he had no knowledge of the "so-called kitchen meetings". The proposal agreed upon that night was essentially the same as the Newfoundland delegation's, except for minor alterations to wording and the addition of a new section, and the final draft was to go to all the provinces for approval the following morning.[55]

Peckford's assertions have, in turn, been challenged by Howard Leeson, who was then the Saskatchewan Deputy Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs and present during all of the negotiations that night.[48] He claimed that, while the officials did work from Newfoundland's draft, it was only because it was largely similar to the Kitchen Accord, which had already been developed and agreed to by the governments of Ontario and Saskatchewan and was known to the federal government.[49] Further, Peckford played only a minor role that evening, entering later, with the majority of the negotiating being done by Blakeney and Davis. Leeson concluded that Davis and Lougheed were the most important players in securing an agreement.[56] In his opinion, the presence in the National Archives of Canada of the Kitchen Accord leaves no doubt about its existence and it was one of several crucial linkages in the patriation negotiations.[57]

Legal closure edit

With the agreement of the majority of provincial governments, the federal government moved to implement the patriation package. Joint resolutions of the Canadian House of Commons and the Senate requested that the Queen cause to be introduced in the British Parliament the necessary legislation to patriate the constitution. The resolution contained the text of what was to become the Canada Act, 1982, which included the Constitution Act, 1982.[58] Though certain British parliamentarians continued to oppose the bill based on concerns about the rights of Canada's Indigenous peoples,[30] the Parliament at Westminster passed the Canada Act, 1982, and Queen Elizabeth II, as Queen of the United Kingdom, granted royal assent on March 29, 1982, 115 years to the day when Queen Victoria gave assent to the British North America Act, 1867.[59] The Constitution Act, 1982, included an amending formula involving only the federal House of Commons and Senate and provincial legislative assemblies. Section 2 of the Canada Act states that no subsequent UK law "shall extend to Canada as part of its law", while item 17 of its schedule also amends the Statute of Westminster by removing the "request and consent" provision.[60] Elizabeth II then, as Queen of Canada, proclaimed the patriated constitution in Ottawa on April 17, 1982.[n 4][63]

Today I have proclaimed this new constitution [...] There could be no better moment for me, as Queen of Canada, to declare again my unbounded confidence in the future of this wonderful country.[64]

Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, April 17, 1982

Canada had established the final step in complete sovereignty as an independent country, with the Queen's role as monarch of Canada separate from her role as the British monarch or the monarch of any of the other Commonwealth realms.[65]

Paul Martin Sr, who was in 1981 sent, along with John Roberts and Mark MacGuigan, to the UK to discuss the patriation project, noted that, during that time, the Queen had taken a great interest in the constitutional debate and the three found the monarch "better informed on both the substance and politics of Canada's constitutional case than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats."[66] Trudeau commented in his memoirs: "I always said it was thanks to three women that we were eventually able to reform our Constitution[, including] The Queen, who was favourable... I was always impressed not only by the grace she displayed in public at all times, but by the wisdom she showed in private conversation."[66]

Being aware that this was the first time in Canadian history that a major constitutional change had been made without the Quebec government's agreement and Quebec's exclusion from the patriation agreement had caused a rift, the Queen privately conveyed to journalists her regret that the province was not part of the settlement.[n 5][68] Quebec sovereigntists have, since 1982, demanded that the Queen or another member of the Canadian Royal Family apologize for the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1982, calling the event a part of a "cultural genocide of francophones in North America over the last 400 years".[69] In 2002, Premier of Quebec Bernard Landry directed the executive council and lieutenant governor not to recognise Elizabeth's golden jubilee in protest of the Queen having signed the Constitution Act, 1982.[70]

Legal questions edit

As constitutional scholar Robin White has noted, some might think that, since the Canada Act, 1982, is British as well as Canadian law, the United Kingdom could theoretically repeal it and declare its laws to be binding in Canada. Peter Hogg, however, disputes this view, noting that since Canada is now sovereign, the Supreme Court of Canada would find a British law which purported to be binding in Canada just as invalid in Canada "as a law enacted for Canada by Portugal."[71] Paul Romney argued in 1999 that, regardless of what the British authorities did, the constitutional principle of responsible government in Canada denied them the right to ever again legislate for Canada; he stated: "[T]he constitutional convention known as responsible government entailed legal as well as political sovereignty. Responsible government meant that the Queen of Canada could constitutionally act for Canada only on the advice of her Canadian ministers. If the British Parliament were to legislate for Canada, except at the request of the competent Canadian authorities, and the Queen assented to that legislation on the advice of her British ministers, Canadian courts would refuse to enforce that legislation."[72]

Notes edit

  1. ^ The conference was held between 27 and 30 November 1967 on the 54th floor of the newly finished Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower. The summit was convened by Ontario Premier John Robarts and attended by all the other provincial premiers except W.A.C. Bennett.[14][15][16]
  2. ^ The Victoria Charter formula was chosen due to it being unanimously accepted at that conference in 1972, which eventually failed on other grounds; An amendment would require the approval of Ontario, Quebec, two Western provinces, two Atlantic Provinces, and the Federal government. The second proposal requiring provinces consisting of 80% of the population would, by necessity, require Ontario's and Quebec's approval.
  3. ^ Trudeau, in his essay on the Quebec referendum, regarding the curious and distasteful use of this description, remarked: "The 'Night' in question is of course that of the so-called 'Long Knives', a label shamelessly borrowed from Nazi history by separatists suffering from acute paranoia."[53]
  4. ^ On the royal proclamation parchment were spaces for the signatures of the Queen, Trudeau, and the Registrar General of Canada; at the signing ceremony, however, Trudeau offered Chrétien an opportunity to also place his name on the document. The pen's nib had, by that point, been broken, leading Chrétien to utter under his breath "merde!" (French for "shit"), which the Queen overheard and laughed at.[61] The broken pen caused a smudge at the end of Chrétien's signature.
    The desk upon which the proclamation was signed (known as the Constitution Table) resides in the office of the Speaker of the Senate of Canada.[62]
  5. ^ The Queen later publicly expressed on 22 and 23 October 1987 her personal support for the Meech Lake Accord, which attempted to bring Quebec governmental backing to the patriated constitution by introducing further amendments, and she received criticism from opponents of the accord, which failed to attract the unanimous support from all federal and provincial legislators required for it to pass.[67]

References edit

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  3. ^ Couture, Christa (January 1, 2017). "Canada is celebrating 150 years of… what, exactly?". CBC. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
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  10. ^ Dutil, Patrice (13 February 2017). "The Imperative of a Referendum" (PDF). Fraser Institute. 1980, the newly elected government (elected with 44% of the vote) headed by Pierre Elliott Trudeau launched a drive to patriate the Canadian Constitution
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  39. ^ a b Bastien 2013, p. 290
  40. ^ a b Bastien 2013, p. 291
  41. ^ a b Fraser 1984, p. 294
  42. ^ a b c Bastien 2013, p. 292
  43. ^ a b c Fraser 1984, p. 295
  44. ^ a b c Fraser 1984, p. 296
  45. ^ a b c Bastien 2013, p. 294
  46. ^ a b c d Bastien 2013, p. 295
  47. ^ Bastien 2013, p. 296
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  56. ^ Leeson 2011, pp. 85–99
  57. ^ Leeson 2011, p. 96
  58. ^ Text of the Resolution respecting the Constitution of Canada adopted by the House of Commons on December 2, 1981.
  59. ^ Lederman, William (1983). "The Supreme Court of Canada and Basic Constitutional Amendment". In Banting, Keith G.; Simeon, Richard (eds.). And no one cheered: federalism, democracy, and the Constitution Act. Toronto: Taylor & Francis. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-458-95950-1. Retrieved June 12, 2010.
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  66. ^ a b Heinricks, Geoff (2001). . Canadian Monarchist News. No. Winter/Spring 2001–2001. Toronto: Monarchist League of Canada (published July 2001). Archived from the original on June 22, 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  67. ^ Geddes, John (2012). "The day she descended into the fray". Maclean's. No. Special Commemorative Edition: The Diamond Jubilee: Celebrating 60 Remarkable years. Rogers Communications. p. 72.
  68. ^ Arthur Bousfield; Garry Toffoli. . The Canadian Royal Heritage Trust. Archived from the original on February 3, 2007.
  69. ^ "Charles must apologize: Quebec sovereigntists". CBC. 30 October 2009. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  70. ^ Phillips, Stephen. "Republicanism in Canada in the reign of Elizabeth II: the dog that didn't bark" (PDF). Canadian Monarchist News. Toronto: Monarchist League of Canada. Summer 2004 (22): 19–20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  71. ^ Hogg 2003, p. 58
  72. ^ Romney 1999, p. 272

External links edit

  • The Road to Patriation
  • "Patriation of the Constitution" in The Canadian Encyclopedia
  • Giving Credit Where Credit's Due: Rewriting the Patriation Story

patriation, political, process, that, full, canadian, sovereignty, culminating, with, constitution, 1982, process, necessary, because, time, under, statute, westminster, 1931, with, canada, agreement, british, parliament, retained, power, amend, canada, britis. Patriation is the political process that led to full Canadian sovereignty culminating with the Constitution Act 1982 The process was necessary because at the time under the Statute of Westminster 1931 and with Canada s agreement the British Parliament retained the power to amend Canada s British North America Acts and to enact more generally for Canada at the request and with the consent of the Dominion That authority was removed from the UK by the enactment of the Canada Act 1982 on March 29 1982 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom as requested by the Parliament of Canada 4 A proclamation bringing the Constitution Act 1982 into effect was signed by Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Minister of Justice Jean Chretien on April 17 1982 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa 5 The patriation process saw the provinces granted influence in constitutional matters and resulted in the constitution being amendable by Canada only and according to its amending formula with no role for the United Kingdom The monarch s constitutional powers over Canada were not affected by the act Canada has complete sovereignty as an independent country the role of the monarch of Canada is distinct from that of the monarch of the UK or any other Commonwealth realm 9 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Early attempts 3 Patriation achieved 3 1 Canada Bill and provincial opposition 3 2 Patriation Reference 3 3 Constitutional Conference November 1981 3 4 Kitchen Accord 3 5 Legal closure 4 Legal questions 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksEtymology editThe word patriation was coined in Canada as a back formation from repatriation returning to one s country Prior to 1982 power to amend the Canadian constitution was held by the Parliament of the United Kingdom subject in some respects to request and consent from Canada hence some have felt that the term patriation was more suitable than the term repatriation returning something 10 11 The term was first used in 1966 by Prime Minister Lester B Pearson in response to a question in Parliament We intend to do everything we can to have the constitution of Canada repatriated or patriated 12 Early attempts editFrom 1867 the constitution of Canada was primarily contained in the British North America Act 1867 and other British North America Acts which were passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom Several Canadian prime ministers starting with William Lyon Mackenzie King in 1927 had made attempts to domesticize the amending formula but could not obtain agreement with the provincial governments as to how such a formula would work 13 Thus even after the Statute of Westminster granted Canada and other Commonwealth nations full legislative independence in 1931 Canada requested that the British North America Act 1867 be excluded from the laws that were now within Canada s complete control to amend until 1949 the constitution could only be changed by a further act at Westminster The British North America No 2 Act 1949 granted the Parliament of Canada limited power to amend the constitution in many areas of its own jurisdiction without involvement of the United Kingdom The constitution was amended in this manner five times in 1952 1965 1974 and twice in 1975 Negotiations continued sporadically between federal and provincial governments on the development of a new amending formula in which the United Kingdom would have no part In the 1960s efforts by the governments of Prime Ministers John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson including the Confederation of Tomorrow conference in Canada s centennial year n 1 17 culminated in the Fulton Favreau formula but without Quebec s endorsement the patriation attempt failed nbsp Pierre Trudeau far left with Elizabeth II centre at Buckingham Palace 1977In 1968 Pearson was succeeded by Pierre Trudeau who also advocated patriation He made several attempts including the Victoria Charter in 1971 and more proposed amendments in 1978 At the 1978 1979 conference Trudeau prepared for the first time to provide some federal concessions with regard to the division of powers including family law fisheries and resources 18 However the other premiers balked which led to speculation they were waiting to see if the more province friendly Progressive Conservatives would win the coming federal election 19 In that campaign the Liberals ran on constitutional change including a speech at Maple Leaf Gardens in which Trudeau promised unilateral action if the premiers did not agree to patriation 20 Patriation achieved editPatriation was given a new impetus after the 1980 referendum on Quebec independence before which Trudeau promised a new constitutional agreement if the majority of Quebecers voted No As the referendum did result in a majority rejecting separation Trudeau approached his British counterpart Margaret Thatcher to inform her the Canadian government wanted to patriate the constitution Thatcher s reply was that the British Parliament would allow this with provincial approval or not 21 After a number of days of negotiation between Trudeau and the premiers and the leak of the Kirby Memo by an internal federal source which antagonized Quebec 22 the premiers consulted at the Chateau Laurier and drafted a list of 10 powers to be devolved to the provinces in exchange for consent to patriation Trudeau when presented with the document refused to accept it and reiterated his threat that he would seek the House of Commons approval to proceed with a unilateral amendment Faced with Premier of Manitoba Sterling Lyon s charge that it would tear the country apart Trudeau responded that if Canada could not have control of its own constitution and a charter when most provinces had their own the country would deserve to be torn apart 23 This led Thatcher to take a less certain view of how things might proceed through the British legislature sensing the provincial opposition would make the legislation controversial in Parliament 21 Canada Bill and provincial opposition edit Trudeau announced his belief that the premiers were dealing in bad faith and met with his caucus to propose a new course After offering a wide range of options and proposing full reform a Quebec MP shouted Allons y en Cadillac 24 translated by Trudeau to mean let s go first class be liberal to the end not to temper our convictions with political expediency 25 Taking the proposal to Cabinet some ministers suggested using the manoeuvre to increase federal power over the economy but Trudeau demurred replying we shouldn t upset the balance 24 On October 2 1980 he announced on national television his intention to proceed with unilateral patriation in what he termed the people s package The proposal would request patriation from the UK Parliament as well as the entrenchment of a charter of rights and would call for a referendum to be held within two years on the amending formula for the new constitution which would be a choice between the Victoria Charter veto formula and any joint proposal by the provinces that could be approved by provinces totalling 80 of the population n 2 In the same month the attorneys general of six provinces launched suits in three provincial courts seeking clarity on whether or not the federal Cabinet could request the British Parliament pass legislation that would alter the balance of power between the provincial and federal crowns without the support of provincial governments The British government became adverse to introducing any bill that might be found to be unconstitutional 21 nbsp Premier of Ontario Bill DavisTrudeau found new allies in Premiers Bill Davis Ontario and Richard Hatfield New Brunswick 26 and the federal New Democratic Party under Ed Broadbent announced its support after persuading Trudeau to devolve some resource powers to the provinces 26 The Prime Minister s proposal in the House of Commons which would be tabled as the Canada Bill invited Aboriginal feminist and other groups to Ottawa for their input on the charter of rights in legislative committees However there was disagreement over the charter which the premiers of six provinces Lyon Rene Levesque of Quebec Bill Bennett of British Columbia Angus MacLean of Prince Edward Island Peter Lougheed of Alberta and Brian Peckford of Newfoundland opposed as encroachments on their power the press dubbed this the Gang of Six Manitoba Newfoundland and Quebec launched references to their respective Courts of Appeal asking if the Canada Bill was constitutional Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan remained neutral At the insistence of British Columbia the premiers who opposed unilateral patriation drafted an alternative proposal to showcase the disagreement between the sides and to counter the federal government s charges of obstructionism if the document were to proceed to Westminster The idea was for patriation to take place with no charter of rights and the amending formula would permit amendment with the approval of seven provinces consisting of 50 of the population referred to as the Vancouver Formula The premiers innovation was a clause allowing for dissenting provinces to opt out of new amendments that superseded provincial jurisdiction and receive equivalent funding to run a substitute programme if two thirds of the members of the provincial legislature acquiesced 27 Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan approved of this prompting the press to now call the opposition premiers the Gang of Eight Trudeau rejected the proposed document out of hand and again threatened to take the case for patriation straight to the British Parliament without bothering to ask one premier The federal Cabinet and Crown counsel took the position that if the British Crown in Council in Parliament and on the bench was to exercise its residual sovereignty over Canada it did so at the request of the federal ministers of the Crown only 28 Further officials in the United Kingdom indicated that the British Parliament was under no obligation to fulfill any request for legal changes made by Trudeau particularly if Canadian convention was not being followed 29 The British Commons Foreign Affairs Committee drafted a report in January 1981 stating it would be wrong for the Parliament of the United Kingdom to enact the proposals regardless of the provincial opposition 30 Patriation Reference edit Main article Patriation Reference nbsp The Supreme Court of CanadaThe Courts of Appeal in Newfoundland Quebec and Manitoba delivered their opinions on the reference questions in the second quarter of 1981 The Manitoba and Quebec Courts of Appeal answered the questions posed by their provincial governments in favour of the federal government ruling that there was no constitutional objection to the federal government proceeding unilaterally 31 32 The Court of Appeal of Newfoundland however ruled in favour of the provincial government It held that both as a matter of constitutional law and constitutional convention the federal government could not request the proposed amendments from the British Parliament without the consent of the provinces 33 The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada 34 The governments of Manitoba and Quebec appealed from the decisions of the Courts of Appeal in those provinces and the federal government appealed from the decision of the Newfoundland Court of Appeal On September 28 1981 the court ruled on live television for the first time that the federal government had the right by letter of the law to proceed with the unilateral patriation of the constitution the decision was seven to two in favour However by a different six to three majority the court said that the constitution was made up as much of convention as written law and ruled that a unilateral patriation was not in accordance with constitutional convention Although the courts enforce laws not constitutional conventions the court s decision stated that agreement by a substantial number of premiers would be required to abide by the convention 34 This number was not defined and commentators later criticized the court s failure to rule that the approval of all provinces was required 34 35 36 The decision was controversial and a loss for the premiers Levesque would later remark in other words Trudeau s goals might be unconstitutional illegitimate and even go against the principles of federalism but they were legal Trudeau in his memoirs paraphrased the court as saying that patriation was legal but not nice Both the United Kingdom and Canada undertook contingency preparations Margaret Thatcher s British cabinet explored simply unilaterally patriating the constitution to Canada with an amending formula requiring unanimous approval of the provinces 37 Trudeau began to plan for a referendum proposing a unilateral declaration of independence in the event of a United Kingdom refusal 38 Constitutional Conference November 1981 edit The decision set the stage for a meeting amongst all premiers and Trudeau in Ottawa on November 2 1981 The conference opened with Trudeau announcing an openness to a new amending formula Davis postulating that his cabinet could accept an agreement without an Ontario veto and Hatfield proposing deferral of some elements of a charter 39 This was seen as a general opening toward the provincial proposal though Trudeau declared the charter was non negotiable 39 nbsp Pierre Trudeau left and Jean Chretien right at a session of the 1981 constitutional talksOn November 3 a compromise put to Trudeau involving amending the Group of Eight s proposal with a limited charter was met with a blunt refusal with federal officials declining a gutted charter 40 41 while Levesque and Trudeau argued on the language provisions of the charter 40 On November 4 the premiers breakfast meeting saw two new proposals floated The Premier of Saskatchewan Allan Blakeney would accept a charter without language rights and constitutional amendment by any seven provinces regardless of population and the removal of financial compensation 41 while Bennett would allow Trudeau his language rights provisions in exchange for other considerations 42 Lyon and Levesque were angered and refused to go along with Lougheed successfully suggesting the ideas be proposed to test Trudeau s negotiating position 42 In return Trudeau launched a new federal initiative to the premiers patriate the constitution as it was but continue debates for two years and if deadlock resulted hold a national referendum on the amending formula and charter 42 Levesque fearing the alliance was crumbling and facing mocking remarks by Trudeau that as a great democrat especially after the recent referendum he initiated on Quebec s independence but confident he could ensure any referendum on a charter would fail agreed in principle 43 Trudeau promptly announced a Canada Quebec alliance on the issue to the press stating the cat is among the pigeons 43 The other seven opposition premiers were startled Campaigning against the protection of rights was generally seen as political suicide 44 and a national referendum could be seen as conventionalizing the charter without the need for provincial approval 43 Further Canadians nationwide were mostly in agreement with Trudeau on the issue and were tired of the constant constitutional talks The draft text of the Federal proposal was later revealed to involve the approval of Trudeau s reforms with referendums being only if provinces representing 80 of the population demanded them within the two years 44 This prompted Levesque to back away from the referendum proposal saying it looked as though it was written in Chinese 44 The conference descended again into acrimony with Trudeau and Levesque angrily clashing over language rights 45 Trudeau announced that he would attend one final meeting at 9am the following day and head to Westminster if agreement was not reached 45 Peckford announced that Newfoundland would forward a proposal the next day 45 Levesque and the Quebec delegation went to sleep in Hull Quebec for the night Kitchen Accord edit That afternoon November 4 1981 the Minister of Justice Jean Chretien met with Attorney General of Saskatchewan Roy Romanow and Attorney General of Ontario Roy McMurtry in the kitchen of Ottawa s Government Conference Centre The attorneys general discussed a scenario in which the provinces would agree to the charter and disallowing opting out with compensation while Chretien agreed to the Vancouver amending formula and reluctantly offered to include the notwithstanding clause in the constitution 46 Chretien who had been deeply involved in supporting the no side of the Quebec referendum and abhorred the possibility of another one recommended the compromise to Trudeau 46 but the Prime Minister felt given the previous chaos it would still be impossible to obtain the agreement of his provincial counterparts and demurred 46 In the evening Davis however agreed in principle to the compromise and told Trudeau that he should do so as well informing him he would not be on his side if he proceeded unilaterally at that point 46 Trudeau who knew that his position in London was growing tenuous even with the support he had accepted 47 Thus working with the draft proposal created by the Newfoundland delegation 48 49 the six groups worked through the night to prepare the compromise proposal This period would be called the Kitchen Accord the men at the table that night became known as the Kitchen Cabinet In exchange for agreeing to the inclusion of the notwithstanding clause Trudeau declined to remove the federal powers of disallowance and reservation from the draft Constitution 50 At the end of this period of negotiations Rene Levesque left to sleep at Hull a city on the other side of the Ottawa river before leaving he asked the other premiers who were all lodged in Ottawa to call him if anything happened 51 Levesque and his people all in Quebec remained ignorant of the agreement until Levesque walked into the premiers breakfast and was told the agreement had been reached Levesque refused to give his support to the deal and left the meeting the government of Quebec subsequently announced on November 25 1981 that it would veto the decision However both the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court which issued its ruling on the matter on December 6 1982 stated that Quebec had never held such veto powers 52 The events were divisive Quebec nationalists saw the deal as the English speaking premiers betraying Quebec which prompted use of the term Nuit des longs couteaux or Night of the Long Knives n 3 In English Canada Levesque was seen as having tried to do the same to the English speaking premiers by accepting the referendum Among those was Brian Mulroney who said that by accepting Mr Trudeau s referendum idea Mr Levesque sic himself abandoned without notice his colleagues of the common front Chretien s role in the negotiations made him reviled among sovereigntists Until the Quebec Liberals came to power in 1985 every law passed in Quebec used the notwithstanding clause 54 Further Peckford rebuked in an article in The Globe and Mail claims the events that night resembled anything akin to the Kitchen Accord or Night of the Long Knives 55 According to Peckford four premiers from Newfoundland Saskatchewan Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia and senior representatives from Alberta and British Columbia worked from a proposal brought to the meeting by the Newfoundland delegation Efforts were made to reach the other provinces including Quebec but to no avail Peckford further asserted that Chretien was not contacted and he had no knowledge of the so called kitchen meetings The proposal agreed upon that night was essentially the same as the Newfoundland delegation s except for minor alterations to wording and the addition of a new section and the final draft was to go to all the provinces for approval the following morning 55 Peckford s assertions have in turn been challenged by Howard Leeson who was then the Saskatchewan Deputy Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs and present during all of the negotiations that night 48 He claimed that while the officials did work from Newfoundland s draft it was only because it was largely similar to the Kitchen Accord which had already been developed and agreed to by the governments of Ontario and Saskatchewan and was known to the federal government 49 Further Peckford played only a minor role that evening entering later with the majority of the negotiating being done by Blakeney and Davis Leeson concluded that Davis and Lougheed were the most important players in securing an agreement 56 In his opinion the presence in the National Archives of Canada of the Kitchen Accord leaves no doubt about its existence and it was one of several crucial linkages in the patriation negotiations 57 Legal closure edit With the agreement of the majority of provincial governments the federal government moved to implement the patriation package Joint resolutions of the Canadian House of Commons and the Senate requested that the Queen cause to be introduced in the British Parliament the necessary legislation to patriate the constitution The resolution contained the text of what was to become the Canada Act 1982 which included the Constitution Act 1982 58 Though certain British parliamentarians continued to oppose the bill based on concerns about the rights of Canada s Indigenous peoples 30 the Parliament at Westminster passed the Canada Act 1982 and Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of the United Kingdom granted royal assent on March 29 1982 115 years to the day when Queen Victoria gave assent to the British North America Act 1867 59 The Constitution Act 1982 included an amending formula involving only the federal House of Commons and Senate and provincial legislative assemblies Section 2 of the Canada Act states that no subsequent UK law shall extend to Canada as part of its law while item 17 of its schedule also amends the Statute of Westminster by removing the request and consent provision 60 Elizabeth II then as Queen of Canada proclaimed the patriated constitution in Ottawa on April 17 1982 n 4 63 Today I have proclaimed this new constitution There could be no better moment for me as Queen of Canada to declare again my unbounded confidence in the future of this wonderful country 64 Elizabeth II Queen of Canada Ottawa Ontario April 17 1982 Canada had established the final step in complete sovereignty as an independent country with the Queen s role as monarch of Canada separate from her role as the British monarch or the monarch of any of the other Commonwealth realms 65 Paul Martin Sr who was in 1981 sent along with John Roberts and Mark MacGuigan to the UK to discuss the patriation project noted that during that time the Queen had taken a great interest in the constitutional debate and the three found the monarch better informed on both the substance and politics of Canada s constitutional case than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats 66 Trudeau commented in his memoirs I always said it was thanks to three women that we were eventually able to reform our Constitution including The Queen who was favourable I was always impressed not only by the grace she displayed in public at all times but by the wisdom she showed in private conversation 66 Being aware that this was the first time in Canadian history that a major constitutional change had been made without the Quebec government s agreement and Quebec s exclusion from the patriation agreement had caused a rift the Queen privately conveyed to journalists her regret that the province was not part of the settlement n 5 68 Quebec sovereigntists have since 1982 demanded that the Queen or another member of the Canadian Royal Family apologize for the enactment of the Constitution Act 1982 calling the event a part of a cultural genocide of francophones in North America over the last 400 years 69 In 2002 Premier of Quebec Bernard Landry directed the executive council and lieutenant governor not to recognise Elizabeth s golden jubilee in protest of the Queen having signed the Constitution Act 1982 70 Legal questions editAs constitutional scholar Robin White has noted some might think that since the Canada Act 1982 is British as well as Canadian law the United Kingdom could theoretically repeal it and declare its laws to be binding in Canada Peter Hogg however disputes this view noting that since Canada is now sovereign the Supreme Court of Canada would find a British law which purported to be binding in Canada just as invalid in Canada as a law enacted for Canada by Portugal 71 Paul Romney argued in 1999 that regardless of what the British authorities did the constitutional principle of responsible government in Canada denied them the right to ever again legislate for Canada he stated T he constitutional convention known as responsible government entailed legal as well as political sovereignty Responsible government meant that the Queen of Canada could constitutionally act for Canada only on the advice of her Canadian ministers If the British Parliament were to legislate for Canada except at the request of the competent Canadian authorities and the Queen assented to that legislation on the advice of her British ministers Canadian courts would refuse to enforce that legislation 72 Notes edit The conference was held between 27 and 30 November 1967 on the 54th floor of the newly finished Toronto Dominion Bank Tower The summit was convened by Ontario Premier John Robarts and attended by all the other provincial premiers except W A C Bennett 14 15 16 The Victoria Charter formula was chosen due to it being unanimously accepted at that conference in 1972 which eventually failed on other grounds An amendment would require the approval of Ontario Quebec two Western provinces two Atlantic Provinces and the Federal government The second proposal requiring provinces consisting of 80 of the population would by necessity require Ontario s and Quebec s approval Trudeau in his essay on the Quebec referendum regarding the curious and distasteful use of this description remarked The Night in question is of course that of the so called Long Knives a label shamelessly borrowed from Nazi history by separatists suffering from acute paranoia 53 On the royal proclamation parchment were spaces for the signatures of the Queen Trudeau and the Registrar General of Canada at the signing ceremony however Trudeau offered Chretien an opportunity to also place his name on the document The pen s nib had by that point been broken leading Chretien to utter under his breath merde French for shit which the Queen overheard and laughed at 61 The broken pen caused a smudge at the end of Chretien s signature The desk upon which the proclamation was signed known as the Constitution Table resides in the office of the Speaker of the Senate of Canada 62 The Queen later publicly expressed on 22 and 23 October 1987 her personal support for the Meech Lake Accord which attempted to bring Quebec governmental backing to the patriated constitution by introducing further amendments and she received criticism from opponents of the accord which failed to attract the unanimous support from all federal and provincial legislators required for it to pass 67 References edit Proclamation of the Constitution Act 1982 Government of Canada May 5 2014 Retrieved February 10 2017 A statute worth 75 cheers Globe and Mail Toronto March 17 2009 Retrieved February 10 2017 Couture Christa January 1 2017 Canada is celebrating 150 years of what exactly CBC Retrieved February 10 2017 1 2 3 Lauterpacht Elihu 1988 International law reports Volume 78 Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 457 ISBN 9781316152065 OCLC 898874831 Trepanier Peter 2004 Some Visual Aspects of the Monarchical Tradition PDF Canadian Parliamentary Review Retrieved 10 February 2017 Bickerton James Gagnon Alain eds 2004 Canadian politics 4th ed Peterborough Broadview Press pp 250 254 344 347 ISBN 1551115956 OCLC 55973728 Cyr Hugo 2009 Canadian federalism and treaty powers organic constitutionalism at work Bruxelles P I E Peter Lang ISBN 9789052014531 OCLC 263146956 6 7 8 Dutil Patrice 13 February 2017 The Imperative of a Referendum PDF Fraser Institute 1980 the newly elected government elected with 44 of the vote headed by Pierre Elliott Trudeau launched a drive to patriate the Canadian Constitution Hogg Peter 2003 Constitutional law of Canada student ed Scarborough Ont Carswell p 55 ISBN 9780459240851 OCLC 51801564 House of Commons Debates Hansard 373 2 28 Jan 1966 Documented as earliest known use in the Oxford English Dictionary entry patriate Privy Council Office Intergovernmental Affairs gt History gt Why in 1931 Canada Chose Not to Exercise its Full Autonomy as Provided for Under the Statute of Westminster Queen s Printer for Canada Archived from the original on 5 August 2014 Retrieved 21 June 2013 Confederation of Toronto Conference Montreal Gazette 1 December 1967 Retrieved 30 January 2016 Lessons from Canada s Centennial and Other Celebrations for Planning for Toronto s Participation in Canada 150 A Toronto Strategy for Canada s 150th in 2017 PDF Toronto City of Toronto August 2014 p 14 Retrieved 30 January 2015 Bryden Penny 2013 A justifiable obsession Conservative Ontario s relations with Ottawa 1943 1985 Toronto University of Toronto Press pp 152 178 ISBN 978 1442663824 OCLC 861671555 Whyte John 26 October 2012 Rejection of Charlottetown accord ended era of constitutional reform Toronto Star Retrieved 26 October 2012 Fraser Graham 1984 PQ Rene Levesque and the Parti Quebecois in Power Toronto MacMillan p 173 ISBN 0771597932 Fraser 1984 p 174 Fraser 1984 p 179 a b c Murphy Philip 2013 Monarchy and the End of Empire Oxford Oxford University Press p 171 ISBN 978 0 19 921423 5 retrieved 27 April 2023 MacGuigan Mark 30 September 2002 An Inside Look at External Affairs During the Trudeau Years The Memoirs of Mark MacGuigan Calgary University of Calgary Press p 90 ISBN 978 1 55238 076 5 Trudeau Pierre Elliot 1993 Memoirs Toronto McClelland amp Stewart p 306 ISBN 0 771 08588 5 OCLC 30702551 a b Trudeau 1993 p 309 English John 2009 Just watch me the life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1968 2000 Toronto Alfred A Knopf Canada p 478 ISBN 9780307372987 OCLC 759510344 a b Trudeau 1993 p 310 Bayefsky Anne F 1989 Canada s Constitution Act 1982 amp amendments a documentary history Vol II Toronto McGraw Hill Ryerson pp 804 808 ISBN 978 0 07549 500 0 OCLC 22731830 Romney Paul 1999 Getting it wrong how Canadians forgot their past and imperilled Confederation Toronto University of Toronto Press pp 273 274 ISBN 978 0 8020 8105 6 Heard Andrew 1990 Canadian Independence Vancouver Simon Fraser University Retrieved 25 August 2010 a b Murphy 2013 p 172 Reference re Amendments of the Constitution of Canada 1981 CanLII 3000 MB CA Reference re Amendment of the Constitution of Canada 1981 CanLII 2785 QC CA Reference re Amendment of the Constitution of Canada 1981 CanLII 2638 NL CA paras 38 58 a b c Romney 1999 p 275 Russell Peter H et al 1982 The Courts and the Constitution Kingston Institute of Intergovernmental Relations ISBN 978 0 88911 035 9 Forsey Eugene 1984 The Courts and the Conventions of the Constitution University of New Brunswick Law Journal Fredericton University of New Brunswick Press 33 11 Bastien Frederic 2013 The Battle of London Trudeau Thatcher and the Fight for Canada s Constitution Toronto Dundurn pp 286 288 ISBN 978 1 45972 329 0 Bastien 2013 pp 283 6 a b Bastien 2013 p 290 a b Bastien 2013 p 291 a b Fraser 1984 p 294 a b c Bastien 2013 p 292 a b c Fraser 1984 p 295 a b c Fraser 1984 p 296 a b c Bastien 2013 p 294 a b c d Bastien 2013 p 295 Bastien 2013 p 296 a b Leeson Howard 2011 The Patriation Minutes Edmonton Centre For Constitutional Studies p 112 ISBN 978 0986936500 a b Leeson 2011 pp 59 60 Russell Peter H 2004 Constitutional odyssey can Canadians become a sovereign people Toronto University of Toronto Press ISBN 978 0 8020 3936 1 Harder Lois Patten Steve 2015 Looking Back on Patriation and Its Consequences In Lois Harder Steve Patten eds Patriation and Its Consequences Constitution Making in Canada Vancouver BC UBC Press pp 3 24 ISBN 978 0 7748 2864 2 Russell Peter H 2011 The Patriation and Quebec Veto References The Supreme Court Wrestles with the Political Part of the Constitution Supreme Court Law Review Ottawa LexisNexis Canada Inc 75 76 ISSN 0228 0108 Retrieved 5 March 2012 Trudeau accuses Bouchard of betraying Quebecers Montreal Gazette Feb 3 1996 Guillaume Rousseau and Francois Cote A Distinctive Quebec Theory and Practice of the Notwithstanding Clause When Collective Interests Outweigh Individual Rights Revue generale de droit vol 47 no 2 2017 p 348 a b Peckford Brian November 11 2011 A fresh stab at the night of the long knives The Globe and Mail Retrieved March 5 2012 Leeson 2011 pp 85 99 Leeson 2011 p 96 Text of the Resolution respecting the Constitution of Canada adopted by the House of Commons on December 2 1981 Lederman William 1983 The Supreme Court of Canada and Basic Constitutional Amendment In Banting Keith G Simeon Richard eds And no one cheered federalism democracy and the Constitution Act Toronto Taylor amp Francis p 177 ISBN 978 0 458 95950 1 Retrieved June 12 2010 Canada Act 1982 Full text UK National Archives Retrieved January 6 2012 Delacourt Susan May 25 2012 When the Queen is your boss Toronto Star Retrieved May 27 2012 Kinsella Noel May 25 2010 Speaking Notes of the Honourable Noel A Kinsella Speaker of the Senate on the Occasion of the Unveiling of the Portrait of the Right Honourable Jean Chretien PDF Queen s Printer for Canada Archived from the original PDF on June 12 2013 Retrieved February 23 2012 Proclamation of the Constitution Act 1982 Library and Archives Government of Canada Government of Canada 2015 Retrieved 13 February 2017 The signing of the proclamation on April 17 1982 an amending formula that would no longer require an appeal to the British Parliament Memorable Quotations About Canada s Monarchy Monarchist League of Canada retrieved 6 March 2023 Trepanier Peter 2004 Some Visual Aspects of the Monarchical Tradition PDF Canadian Parliamentary Review Retrieved 10 February 2017 a b Heinricks Geoff 2001 Trudeau and the Monarchy Canadian Monarchist News No Winter Spring 2001 2001 Toronto Monarchist League of Canada published July 2001 Archived from the original on June 22 2008 Retrieved 10 February 2009 Geddes John 2012 The day she descended into the fray Maclean s No Special Commemorative Edition The Diamond Jubilee Celebrating 60 Remarkable years Rogers Communications p 72 Arthur Bousfield Garry Toffoli Elizabeth II Queen of Canada The Canadian Royal Heritage Trust Archived from the original on February 3 2007 Charles must apologize Quebec sovereigntists CBC 30 October 2009 Retrieved March 7 2011 Phillips Stephen Republicanism in Canada in the reign of Elizabeth II the dog that didn t bark PDF Canadian Monarchist News Toronto Monarchist League of Canada Summer 2004 22 19 20 Archived from the original PDF on 17 December 2009 Retrieved 10 February 2009 Hogg 2003 p 58 Romney 1999 p 272External links edit nbsp Look up patriation in Wiktionary the free dictionary The Road to Patriation Patriation of the Constitution in The Canadian Encyclopedia Giving Credit Where Credit s Due Rewriting the Patriation Story Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Patriation amp oldid 1186825139, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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