British North America Act 1867: Important In Canadian History

The Famous Five decided to appeal to the decision made by the Supreme Court of Canada with the support of Prime Minister Mackenzie King. The Famous Five appealed to the Judicial Committee and Privy Council of England. In 1929, the British Privy Council declared women as “persons”. They stated that the constitution is a “living tree” and should change according to the time (Creating Canada, page 154). In conclusion, the victory of the Persons Case contributed to the importance of women and opened the door to many rights.

Furthermore, Canada remaining under the archaic British North America Act and not drafting its own constitution meant that the composition of the nation and the government was in the hands of the British Parliament, which denies the Canadians the luxury of dictating the structure and make-up of their own country. Now, one may say that Canada weakened its economic ties with Britain and was therefore no longer economically dependent on them, but the fact of the matter is that all we did was shift our dependence onto another nation, the United States. By 1926, America’s yearly investment in the Canadian economy had risen up to $3400 million (as opposed to $2000 million in 1920) mainly in the exporting of Canadian resources to the United States. In addition to that, American companies built “branch plants”, which were made to avoid having to pay trade tariffs, making this a pretty one-sided trade

As stated in the textbook the supremacy of God in our charter supports the notion that religion has helped shaped our law. This then shows to prove that the Supremacy of God in our charter acknowledges that Christian religion has helped to shape our current law. “The mosaic Law, although written thousands of years ago, is the foundation of Judeo-Christian moral teachings and one of the bases of our legal system.” (Oxford 46). Many influences such as the The law of God of the Ten Commandments are morals and commands that an individual is directed to follow to be lawful and not against God. For example, “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” Is an example of a commandment from the The Ten Commandments, and the statement says to not lie or fake your neighbour (criminal in the sense of law) unlawful act. There are still some aspects of these ancient laws and commandments that originated from the Supremacy of God and The Rule of Law and are still valued, written and used in the Canadian criminal code that we use today, even stated in the textbook “Prohbitions against murder, theft, and perjury, or lying, under the

Canada was rushed into Confederation way too soon and has had problems due to this. Although through these past hundred fifty years, Canada has survived and is still going strong. Confederation started on July 1st, 1867 when three British Colonies came together to become four provinces. Although Canada went through Confederation, it is not a confederate association; it is a federal state which is not the supposed meaning of Confederation. Canada has evolved majorly since Confederation back in 1867.

The Manitoba Act said that Manitoba could send in 4 member to the House Of Commons and 2 members into the Senate. It also declared that 560 000 hectares of land would be kept for the Metis families and that of people could use French or English in schools and government.

The constitution act of 1982 brought the country’s constitution to Canada from Great Britain for

- World War One, this was the first use of this act and Canada was part of the British Empire. Britain and its allies were at war against Germany, Austria-Hungary, parts of Ukraine and The Ottoman Empire. Under this act during 1914 people whom immigrated from those countries were considered “enemy aliens” (a citizen from one country who is residing in another which is at war). These so called aliens were required to register with the Canadian government and carry government issued ID at all time. They were not allowed to read or publish anything in any other language than English or French. They were also not allowed to leave the country without permits, possess firearms, or to join a group that was deemed dangerous, inappropriate or seditious. Many thousand aliens were sent to internment camps or deported; property was taken away and went missing. The camps didn’t end until 1920 the people whom were released were left with nothing and the Canadian government did not offer an apology/compensation.

The significance of the Persons case to the Canadian legal system was that women were officially now considered legal persons. This case showed that laws have to be changed in order to show the views of the majority of the population. Furthermore, it showed the importance of Canada’s connection to England. The feudal system allowed the right to appeal to the monarch (the famous five to the Privy Council) and showed how versatile and crucial the feudal system was to shaping the law system in Canada as the principle to appeal to a higher court is still in use today. Second, the Napoleonic code influenced the Canadian legal system as it created civil law and created the base for the Canadian charter of rights. During the time of Napoleon in the 19th century, he created a civil law to define and establish civil rights and laws. This civil law of France began being applied to Quebec, Canada in 1774 by The Quebec Act. With this act in place, laws would be in accordance and referred with the French law. When Napoleon created the code in 1803, it was then applied to Quebec and is still used today. Furthermore, the Napoleonic code influenced the Canadian charter of rights. In the code, the main traits found in this law is that it forbade privilege based on birth status, and allowed freedom of

Pierre Elliot Trudeau was arguably one of the most vivacious and charismatic Prime Ministers Canada has ever seen. He wore capes, dated celebrities and always wore a red rose boutonniere. He looked like a superhero, and often acted like one too. Some of the landmark occurrences in Canadian history all happened during the Trudeau era, such as patriating the constitution, creating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1980 Quebec Referendum. However, it is Trudeau’s 1969 “white paper” and the Calder legal challenge which many consider to be one of his most influential contributions to Canadian history.

The lands of Canada are vast and spread for thousands of miles touching two seas. The government of Canada was set in the East in Ontario and could only reach so far. When British Columbia joined confederation in 1871 it posed an issue to the government of Canada, the West coast was too far away to easily control. As a solution to this the Canadian government created the Northwest Mounted Police (NWMP), a group of officers who had jurisdiction on the West coast. The NWMP were successfully able to stop and prevent the illegal whiskey trade plaguing the West, prevented the annexation of Canada’s western land, and most of all brough law and order to the “lawlessness” that existed in the West. These brave men made the West a safer place for settlers.

The BNA was passed through British Parliament in 1867, and is the Act that produced Canadian Confederation. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada were integrated as ‘one Dominion’.The BNA was passed to set legal bylaws for the new country, and to outline the provincial and federal government's responsibilities of Canada, and consists of other laws (i.e., Legal and Equality Rights, Fundamentals of Freedom) and acts that amended or added to the original Act as Canada became independent. Sir John A. MacDonald being a leading figure in the discussions and conferences which resulted in the BNA and the creation of Canada, also resulted in MacDonald becoming Canada’s first Prime Minister.

Thesis: The role of the United Nations has changed from being primarily an international peacekeeping force to primarily a humanitarian organization.

During the WWI era, there were multiple events which pressed for Canada’s national autonym which eventually led to the successful creation of the Statute of Westminster. Prior to the creation of the Statute of Westminster, Britain has full control over any legal action taken place in the Commonwealth dominions including Canada. The Statue of Westminster was the last Imperial Act carried out by

The concepts provided in the documentary “The Road To Patriation”  was about the disagreement between the federal and provincial government of Canada on what to do with their constitution and how they would agree on a formula to bring back the Canadian Constitution from England. After the failure of five prime ministers and several conferences Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau took up the challenge of bringing back the constitution in early 1970 alongside with his Justice Minister

Law is a system of rules designed by a society to restrain unwanted behavior and maintains order. Law helps decide wrong and right in a society, gives voice to the weak and discourages the might-is-right philosophy. Nearly every state in this world has designed laws that help govern its people. The first set of written laws called ‘The Code of Ur-Nammu’ were designed during 2100-2050 BC. These laws, stated by the Neo-Sumerian King of a Mesopotamian city, proved to be pioneer in the formation of legal systems. First set of detailed laws were formed during 1772 BC, called the ‘Code of Hammurabi’. These laws covered a wide array of topics such as trade, slavery, slander, responsibilities of workers, and theft. These laws were quite tough where penalties were severe. The next major development took place with the enactment of Roman Laws. They were designed in 449 BC and it was developed over a thousand years. It had a major impact on the development of legal systems, witnessed by the continued use of Latin Legal Terminologies even today. One such term is Stare decisis, a doctrine of precedents. Through the citation of Stare decisis courts adhere to previous rulings when it comes to similar cases brought before the court previously. The next major development came under the enactment of English Common Laws since 1189. These laws were majorly created through the doctrine of Stare decisis. These set of laws continue to be the foundations of legal systems of numerous states around