week 1: the constitution

Question 1

Constitutional Foundations

Answer 1

• Newfoundland as a British colony dates back to 1580s
• BC became a British colony in 1858
• Central Canada (Ontario and Quebec) and the Maritimes established in the 18th century before the confederation in 1867
• Manitoba 1870
• Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905

Question 2

How was Canada’s constitution created?

Answer 2

with the passage of the British North America Act of 1867

Question 3

Structure of gov

Answer 3

Parliment:
- executive (the crown and the cabinet)
- legislative (hoc and senate)

Question 4

The crown

Answer 4

• The king of canada = canada’s head of state
• Power is excercised by the governor general or the lietenants governor at the provincial level
• Power to: dissolve parliament and call elections; call on parties to form government and grant royal assent to bills
• Symbolic asf

Question 5

Privy council and the cabinet

Answer 5

• Crowns power is wielded by members of the Privy Council
• Current members of cabinet held by the PM

Question 6

responsible gov

Answer 6

• PM and cabinet are drawn from the legislature and must maintain the confidence of the house of commons, known as responsible government
• Confidence can be lost on notions of non confidence or gov defeats an important legislation
• If the gov holds a majority of seats, confidence is effectively automatic
• This is because of party unity. Parliamentarians almost always vote with their party either because they agree with party cohesion or because theta are forced to party discipline

Question 7

the judiciary and the separation of powers

Answer 7

• Adhere to principle of judicial independence: judges are to make decisions free of interference by other branches of gov
• This is based on constitutional convention and statute law, rather than stemming from environmented powers

Question 8

the constitution

Answer 8

• A fundamental or overarching law in political system
• All other laws must conform to the constitution in how they are made and is their substance constitutions set the terms of the relationship between

1. Citizen and the state
2. Different branches within the state (executive, legislative)
3. Different levels of governments (federal states only)

Question 9

written/ unwritten constitutions

Answer 9

Constitutions can be written or unwritten, or some combination

Written components to the constitution = constitutional laws these are enforceable by the courts

Unwritten components to the constitution = constitutional conventions: these are not enforceable by the courts.

Question 10

dates of the four amendments

Answer 10

Constitution act 1867: original BNA act contains the divisions of powers and outlines the basic machinery of gov

Amendments to the constitution act 1867

British statutes and orders in council: most important, PEI and BC terms of union

Constitution act 1982: last amendment to be passed by British Parliament

Question 11

amending the constitution

Answer 11

Patriation (The transfer of a governmental power from a former mother country to a newly independent one) facilitated by a 1981 reference decision: constitutional amendable by canada with no british rule

SCC ruled it was a constitutional convention (unwritten rules in the constitution) for Ottawa to request an amendment to the BNA act with substantial consent of the pronvinces but not necessarily unaminity

Efforts to secure sign off from quebec began with the Meech Lake Accord. Lots of criticism and ultimately the Accord failed because it was not ratified in Newfoundland and Manitoba

Charlottetown accord also failed

Question 12

consequences of rejected acts

Answer 12

Reenergized separatist movement in Quebec

Led to 1995 referendum on quebec separation: no side narrowly prevailed (50.6%)
1998 Supreme Court reference case: separation was compatible with constitution if a clear majority voted yes to an unambiguous question on separation

Led to the clarity act, which enshrined this ruling in law