26 to 28 of the Act, which have been used only
Imperial Parliament would have sanctioned
once, in 1990.
that severance.? But: ?Not a single suggestion
was made, that it could...be for the interest of
That the federation resolutions were brought
the colonies...that there should be a severance
into eff ect by an act of the British Parliament
of our connection....There was a unanimous
was the Fathers? deliberate choice. They could
feeling of willingness to run all the hazards of
have chosen to follow the American example,
war [with the United States]...rather than lose
and done so without violent revolution.
the connection....?
Sir John A. Macdonald, in the Confederation
Hence, the only way to bring the federation into
debates, made that perfectly clear. He said:
being was through a British act.
?...If the people of British North America
after full deliberation had stated that...it
That Act, the British North America Act,
was for their interest, for the advantage of
1867 (now renamed the Constitution Act,
British North America to sever the tie [with
1867), contained no provisions for its own
A Federal State
9
How Canadians Govern Themselves
amendment, except a limited power for the
The Constitution Act, 1867, remains the basic
provinces to amend their own constitutions. All
element of our written Constitution. But the
other amendments had to be made by a fresh
written Constitution, the strict law of the
act of the British Parliament.
Constitution, even with the latest addition, the
Constitution Act, 1982, is only part of our whole
At the end of the First World War, Canada
working Constitution, the set of arrangements
signed the peace treaties as a distinct power,
by which we govern ourselves. It is the skeleton;
and became a founding member of the
it is not the whole body.
League of Nations and the International
Labour Organization. In 1926, the Imperial
Responsible government, the national cabinet,
Conference recognized Canada, Australia, New
the bureaucracy, political parties: all these are
Zealand, South Africa, the Irish Free State and
basic features of our system of government.
Newfoundland as ?autonomous communities,
But the written Constitution does not contain
in no way subordinate to the United Kingdom
one word about any of them (except for that
in any aspect of their domestic or external
phrase in the preamble to the Act of 1867
aff airs.? Canada had come of age.
about ?a Constitution similar in principle
to that of the United Kingdom?). The fl esh,
This gave rise to a feeling that we should be
the muscles, the sinews, the nerves of our
able to amend our Constitution ourselves,
Constitution have been added by legislation
without even the most formal intervention by
(for example, federal and provincial elections
the British Parliament. True, that Parliament
acts, the Parliament of Canada Act, the
usually passed any amendment we asked for.
legislative assembly acts, the public service
