Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1867
| Constitution Act, 1867 |
|---|
| Part of the Constitution of Canada |
| PREAMBLE |
| I. PRELIMINARY |
| 1, 2 |
| II. UNION |
| 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| III. EXECUTIVE POWER |
| 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 |
| IV. LEGISLATIVE POWER |
| 17, 18, 19, 20 |
| The Senate |
| 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 |
| The House of Commons |
| 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51(1), 51(2), 51A, 52 |
| Money Votes; Royal Assent |
| 53, 54, 55, 56, 57 |
|
V. PROVINCIAL CONSTITUTIONS Executive Power |
| 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68 |
| Legislative Power |
| 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80,81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90 |
| VI. DISTRIBUTION OF LEGISLATIVE POWERS |
| 91, 92, 92A, 93, 93A, 94, 94A, 95 |
| VII. JUDICATURE |
| 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101 |
| VIII. REVENUES; DEBTS; ASSETS; TAXATION |
| 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126 |
| IX. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS |
| 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144 |
| X. INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY |
| 145 |
| XI. ADMISSION OF OTHER COLONIES |
| 146, 147 |
| SCHEDULES |
|
First: Electoral Districts of Ontario Second: Electoral Districts of Quebec Third: Property of Canada Fourth: Property of Ontario and Quebec Fifth: Allegiance and Senate Qualification Sixth: Natural Resources |
| COMING INTO FORCE |
| Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1867 |
The Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1867 (French: Proclamation de la Loi constitutionnelle de 1867) was a royal proclamation issued by Queen Victoria on the advice of the British government, bringing the Constitution Act, 1867 into force and creating the new country of Canada, effective July 1, 1867.
The Constitution Act, 1867 is the constitutional statute which established Canada. Originally named the British North America Act, 1867, the Act continues to be the foundational statute for the Constitution of Canada, although it has been amended many times since 1867. It is now recognised as part of the supreme law of Canada.
Constitution Act, 1867
[edit]The Constitution Act, 1867 is part of the Constitution of Canada and thus part of the supreme law of Canada.[1][2] The Act sets out the constitutional structure of Canada, including creating the federal government and defining the powers of the federal government and the provinces. It was the product of extensive negotiations between the British North American provinces at the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, the Quebec Conference in 1864, and the London Conference in 1866.[3][4] Those conferences were followed by consultations with the British government in 1867.[3][5] The Act was then enacted in 1867 by the British Parliament under the name the British North America Act, 1867.[6] In 1982 the Act was brought under full Canadian control through the Patriation of the Constitution, and was renamed the Constitution Act, 1867.[2] Since Patriation the Act can only be amended in Canada, under the amending formula set out in the Constitution Act, 1982.[7][8][9]
Text of the Proclamation
[edit]The Proclamation reads:
By the QUEEN.
A PROCLAMATION for Uniting the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, into one Dominion, under the name of CANADA.
WHEREAS by an Act of Parliament, passed on the twenty-ninth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Our reign, intituled "An Act for the union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the Government thereof, and for purposes connected therewith," after divers recitals it is enacted that "it shall be lawful for the Queen, by and with the advice of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, to declare, by Proclamation, that on and after a day therein appointed, not being more than six months after the passing of this Act the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, shall form and be One Dominion under the name of Canada, and on and after that day those Three Provinces shall form and be One Dominion under that Name accordingly:" and it is thereby further enacted, that "Such Persons shall be first summoned to the Senate as The Queen by Warrant, under Her Majesty's Royal Sign Manual, thinks fit to approve, and their Names shall be inserted in The Queen's Proclamation of Union:"
We, therefore, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council, have thought fit to issue this Our Royal Proclamation, and We do ordain, declare, and command that on and after the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, shall form and be One Dominion, under the name of Canada.
And We do further ordain and declare that the persons whose names are herein inserted and set forth are the persons of whom We have by Warrant under Our Royal Sign Manual thought fit to approve as the persons who shall be first summoned to the Senate of Canada.
- For the Province of Ontario
- John Hamilton
- Roderick Matheson
- John Ross
- Samuel Mills
- Benjamin Seymour
- Walter Hamilton Dickson
- James Shaw
- Adam Johnston Ferguson Blair
- Alexander Campbell
- David Christie
- James Cox Aikins
- David Reesor
- Elijah Leonard
- William MacMaster
- Asa Allworth Burnham
- John Simpson
- James Skead
- David Lewis Macpherson
- George Crawford
- Donald Macdonald
- Oliver Blake
- Billa Flint
- Walter McCrea
- George William Allan
- For the Province of Quebec
- James Leslie
- Asa Belknap Foster
- Joseph Noel Bossé
- Louis A. Olivier
- Jacques-Olivier Bureau
- Charles Malhiot
- Louis Renaud
- Luc Letellier de St. Just
- Ulric Joseph Tessier
- John Hamilton
- Charles Cormier
- Antoine Juchereau Duchesnay
- David Edward Price
- Elzear H. J. Duchesnay
- Leandre Dumouchel
- Louis Lacoste
- Joseph F. Armand
- Charles Wilson
- William Henry Chaffers
- Jean Baptiste Guévremont
- James Ferrier
- Sir Narcisse Fortunat Belleau, Knight
- Thomas Ryan
- John Sewell Sanborn
- For the Province of Nova Scotia
- Edward Kenny
- Jonathan McCully
- Thomas D. Archibald
- Robert B. Dickey
- John H. Anderson
- John Holmes
- John W. Ritchie
- Benjamin Wier
- John Locke
- Caleb R. Bill
- John Bourinot
- William Miller
- For the Province of New Brunswick
- Amos Edwin Botsford
- Edward Barren Chandler
- John Robertson
- Robert Leonard Hazen
- William Hunter Odell
- David Wark
- William Henry Steeves
- William Todd
- John Ferguson
- Robert Duncan Wilmot
- Abner Reid McClelan
- Peter Mitchell
Given at Our Court at Windsor Castle, this twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, and in the thirtieth year of Our reign. GOD save the QUEEN.[10]
Purpose and interpretation
[edit]The Constitution Act, 1867 was passed by the British Parliament in March, 1867, receiving royal assent on March 29, 1867. However, it did not come into force immediately, as time was needed to prepare for the implementation of the new federal structure, particularly the selection of the new federal Cabinet.
Section 3 of the Act authorised the Queen, on the advice of the British government, to set the date for the coming into force of the Act. The Royal Proclamation was issued on May 22, 1867, setting July 1, 1867 as the day the Act would come into force and Canada would come into existence. Governor General Lord Monck appointed John A. Macdonald as the first prime minister of Canada. Macdonald then spent the months of May and June forming the new Cabinet, which required balancing a number of regional, sectarian, and linguistic issues. The new federal government then came into effect on July 1, 1867.[11]
Related provisions
[edit]Section 3 of the Act authorised the Queen to issue the Proclamation, acting on the advice of the British government.
Section 25 of the Act provided that the individuals listed in the Proclamation would be summoned to the Senate.
References
[edit]- ^ Peter Hogg and Wade Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, 5th ed. (Toronto: Thomson Reuters (looseleaf; current to 2022), para. 1:4.
- ^ a b Constitution Act, 1982, s. 52, s. 53, and Schedule, item 1.
- ^ a b Donald Creighton, The Road to Confederation (Toronto: Macmillan Publishing, 1864; revised ed., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012) online.
- ^ Christopher Moore, 1867 — How the Fathers Made a Deal (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1997).
- ^ Ben Gilding, "The Silent Framers of British North American Union: The Colonial Office and Canadian Confederation, 1851–67", Canadian Historical Review, Vol. 99, No. 3 (2018), pp. 349–393.
- ^ British North America Act, 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. (UK), c. 3.
- ^ Hogg and Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, para. 4:1.
- ^ Constitution Act, 1982, Part V.
- ^ Canada Act 1982 (UK) 1982, c. 11, s. 2.
- ^ Royal Proclamation, Supplement to the London Gazette, May 22, 1867, issue 23254, p. 2989.
- ^ Creighton, Road to Confederation, pp. 431–435.