Constitution

Québec, formerly Canada

The people of Québec has seen many constitutions throughout its history, all of which were made into law by European powers, the notable exception being the current one, enacted in 1982 by the Canadian federal parliament and all but one of Canada's provinces. (We will let you guess which one.) To this day, not a single Québec legislature, whether sovereignist or federalist, liberal or conservative, has agreed to sign the 1982 constitution.

• 1627 - Edict of the King of France creating the Company of One Hundred Associates (in French)
• 1663 - Edict of the King of France creating of the Superior Council of Quebec (in French)
• 1760 - Articles of Capitulation of Montreal (Bilingual)
• 1763 - Treaty of Paris
• 1763 - The Royal Proclamation
• 1774 - The Quebec Act
• 1791 - The Constitutional Act
• 1840 - The Union Act
• 1867 - The British North America Act

Federal Canada

The British North America Act, enacted by the Parliament of Great-Britain in 1867, gave birth to the Dominion of Canada, a federal union of three British American provinces. The British provinces of Canada (formerly two separate colonies named Upper Canada and Lower Canada), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia became federated provinces of a new federal state named Canada, itself a colony of Great Britain. Upper Canada and Lower Canada were reseparated and given the names of Ontario and Quebec.

The interpretation of this historical event is radically different in Québec when compared to that of the other parts of the federation. In English-speaking Canada, the "confederation" is the act of foundation of Canada itself, and Canada really became Canada in 1867, with the creation of the federal state. In French-speaking Quebec, the conservative politicians who joined the self-proclaimed "Great Coalition" sold the federation project to the electorate by promoting it as a confederative pact between two founding nations. Quebec liberals opposed the project as vigourously as the liberals of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, however while the anti-confederation movement eventually died in the maritime provinces, it continued in Quebec to this day.

In 1931, the Statute of Westminster gave formal independence to the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland.

• Constitutional Acts 1867 to 1982

United Kingdom

From 1763 to 1847, all laws intended to rule the lives of Quebecers had to be approved 1) by a Governor working for the Colonial Office attached to the British governement and 2) by the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain which includes the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Crown. Between 1848 and 1866, the laws had to be approved 1) by a Cabinet made out of members of the elected Legislative Assembly and 2) by the Governor and 3) the Imperial Parliament.

From 1867 to 1931, all provincial laws had to be approved by the Parliament of Quebec and federal laws by the federal Dominion Parliament in addition to the usual approvals by the Governor and the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain. From 1931, all Quebec laws and Canadian laws could be adopted without visiting London except the constitution. Since 1982, the legal and political separation with Great Britain is complete except at the symbolic level.

• Legal and Governmental Documents in the History of the United Kingdom

Colonial Regimes

Quebecers suffered quite a number of successive colonial regimes throughout their history. Here they are, in chronological order:

• From 1534 to 1663, First French Colonial Regime - Company Rule: 129 years
• 1663 to 1759, Second French Colonial Regime - Sovereign Council: 96 years
• 1759, Québec City British Occupation: 3 months
• From 1759 to 1763, First British Military Regime: 4 years
• From 1763 to 1774, British Royal Regime: 11 years
• From 1774 to 1791, First British Parliamentary Regime: 17 years
• From 1791 to 1837, Second British Parliamentary Regime: 46 years
• 1839, Second British Military Regime: 1 year
• From 1839 to 1840, Third British Parliamentary Regime - Special Council: 2 years
• From 1840 to 1867, Fourth British Parliamentary Regime - Union of Upper and Lower Canada: 27 years
• From 1867 to present, Fifth British Parliamentary Regime - federal Dominion: 136 years

Total: 472 years in 2006

Other Relevant Documents

• Documents relating to the constitutional history of Canada (1759-1791)
• Documents relating to the constitutional history of Canada (1791-1818)
• Documents relating to the constitutional history of Canada (1819-1828)
• Statutes, Treaties and Documents of the Canadian Constitution (1713 -1929)
• Chronicles of Canada (12) - The Father of British Canada: A Chronicle of Carleton

Constitutional Terminology

• Constitutional Key Words, Centre for Constitutional Studies, University of Alberta

See also

• The History section of this site
• The Constitutional saga article

Sources

• Thomson Learning Company - The Constitution of Canada
• Canadian Legal Information Institute - All legislative and judicial texts
• World Legal Information Institute
• Canada in the Making - Constitutional History