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Royal Proclamation
The Royal Proclamation was issued by King George III in 1763. It was a set of guidelines that regulated European settlers in Aboriginal territories-or what is now North America. It stated that all land is Aboriginal Land until "ceded" by treaty. It is referred by some as the "Indian Magna Carta" because it was the first step in securing Aboriginals rights. A fun fact is that some argue it is technically still valid in Canada as there has been no law to overrule it. -
Act of Union
The law was sanctioned by Queen Victoria in 1840. It brought together the colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada under one government to create the Province of Canada. It was proposed by Lord Durham after he was sent to Canada to solve the rebellions happening in lower and upper Canada. The act banned French in the constitution text, and changed upper and lower to Canada East (Quebec) and Canada West (Ontario). Some say the banning of French in the Act of Union was what fired up separatists. -
British North America Act
This bill was passed in British Pariliament in 1864. It untied the provinces of Canada (Quebec and Ontario), New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It created Canadian Confederation which means it provided us with our two kevels of government provincial and federal. -
Statute of Westminster
While Canada could self govern in 1867 we still were not fully autonomous until 1931 when Statute of Westminster was passed. It was Canadas Declaration of Independence. With the statute In effect Canada we could pass laws without British consent as well as remove them. Britains laws no longer extended to us and nor could they amend, alter or void any of our laws. It also allowed Canda to control both our foreign and domestic affairs. -
The Canada Act
The Cancda Act is also widely known as the constitution act. It made Canada completely independent of Britain and contains one of the most important laws of Canadian History because it out into place the Charter of Rights and a freedoms which has 34 rights that protect our fundamental rights. The act also added French as our second language and solved provincial issues. -
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech lake accord was a set of amendments to the Constitution act (1982). The main goal was to gain "explicit acceptance" of the constitution act from Quebec and to better the relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada, specifically from the separatists who wanted Quebec to become an independent nation. The Accor was lead by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten other premiers. The act failed and ended up actually fuelling rather than calming separatists in Quebec. -
The Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown accord was extremely similar to the Meech Lake accords in that it was as well a failed set of amendments to the constitution that was attempting to better relations with Quebec. It was rejected by Canadians in a referendum. It dealt with the division of powers, federal/provincial spending (specifically taxation), parliamentary reform, Aborigninal self government and acknowledgements of Quebecs "distinct society." It was also led by PM Mulroney and ten premiers.
