POL111H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Constitution Act, 1982, Canada Act 1982, Responsible Government
What is an amending formula? An amending formula is an integral element in a written
constitution. All constitutions must be adjusted from time to time to accommodate
unanticipated developments and respond to problems. An amending formula is the
decision-making procedure for adding or changing language to a written constitution.
But the constitution must be protected from unscrupulous politicians. Consequently, the
amending formula must be difficult to trigger,
in the absence of a broad consensus that the proposed amendment is necessary. An
example is the amending formula to the US Constitution.
Because the BNA Act was a British law, it could only be amended by the British
Parliament. It did not have an amending formula that Canadian governments could
access. Instead, Canadian governments had to ask the British government to pass
amendments to the BNA Act through the British Parliament.
In 1931, the British Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster. This law applied to
Canada and some of the other parliamentary democracies created by Britain. This law
said that going forward, the British government would only ever pass amendments to
the BNA Act through the British Parliament, that the Canadian government requested
first. So after 1931, the Canadian government could always get any amendment to the
BNA Act that it wanted, by requesting it from the British government. But nevertheless
Canada could not be described as a legally sovereign country, because Canada did not
control its own constitution.
For Canada to become sovereign, the British Parliament had to give up all control over
our written constitution. That meant the British government had to pass one last law
through the British Parliament, declaring that Britain would never again amend the BNA
Act.
That is what eventually happened in 1982, when the British Parliament passed the
Canada Act at the request of the Canadian government. The Canada Act included the
Constitution Act, 1982, which added an amending formula to Canada’s written
constitution which only Canadian governments could use. In addition, the Canada Act
contained a declaration that Britain would never again amend the BNA Act. Once the
British Parliament passed the Canada Act at our request, Britain cut itself off from the
BNA Act forever, leaving Canada in charge.
By passing the Canada Act, the British Parliament: added an amending formula to
Canada’s written constitution which Canadian governments could use; and then,
declared that the British Parliament itself would never again amend the written
constitution. This means that from now on, Canada’s written constitution could only be
Document Summary
An amending formula is an integral element in a written constitution. All constitutions must be adjusted from time to time to accommodate unanticipated developments and respond to problems. An amending formula is the decision-making procedure for adding or changing language to a written constitution. But the constitution must be protected from unscrupulous politicians. Consequently, the amending formula must be difficult to trigger, in the absence of a broad consensus that the proposed amendment is necessary. An example is the amending formula to the us constitution. Because the bna act was a british law, it could only be amended by the british. It did not have an amending formula that canadian governments could access. Instead, canadian governments had to ask the british government to pass amendments to the bna act through the british parliament. In 1931, the british parliament passed the statute of westminster. Canada and some of the other parliamentary democracies created by britain.
