Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1867

The Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 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

The Constitution Act, 1867 is part of the Constitution of Canada and thus part of the supreme law of Canada.Peter Hogg and Wade Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, 5th ed. (Toronto: Thomson Reuters (looseleaf; current to 2022), para. 1:4.Constitution Act, 1982, s. 52, s. 53, and Schedule, item 1. 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.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). Those conferences were followed by consultations with the British government in 1867.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. The Act was then enacted in 1867 by the British Parliament under the name the British North America Act, 1867.Hogg and Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, para. 1:2.British North America Act, 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. (UK), c. 3. In 1982 the Act was brought under full Canadian control through the Patriation of the Constitution, and was renamed the Constitution Act, 1867. Since Patriation the Act can only be amended in Canada, under the amending formula set out in the Constitution Act, 1982.Hogg and Wright, Constitutional Law of Canada, para. 4:1.Constitution Act, 1982, Part V.Canada Act 1982 (UK) 1982, c. 11, s. 2.

Text of the Proclamation

The Proclamation reads:"A Proclamation For Uniting the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, into One Dominion, under the Name of Canada", May 22, 1867; reproduced in the Journals of the Senate of Canada, 1st Parliament, 1st session, 1867, vol 1, pp xii to xiv.

Purpose and interpretation

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.Creighton, Road to Confederation, pp. 431–435.

As required by section 25 of the Act, the Proclamation contained the names of the individuals who would be appointed to the Senate, prior to the first sitting of the new Parliament of Canada.Richard Gwyn, John A.: The Man Who Made Us (Vintage House Canada, 2007), vol 1, p. 428.

Related provisions 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