Constitution of Canada - Sources of The Constitution

Sources of The Constitution

There are three general methods of constitutional entrenchment:

1. Specific mention as a constitutional document in section 52(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982, such as the Constitution Act, 1867.
2. Constitutional entrenchment of an otherwise statutory English, British, or Canadian document because of subject matter provisions in the amending formula of the Constitution Act, 1982, such as provisions with regard to the monarchy in the English Bill of Rights 1689 or the Act of Settlement 1701. English and British statutes are part of Canadian law because of the Colonial Laws Validity Act, 1865, section 129 of the Constitution Act, 1867, and the Statute of Westminster 1931. Those laws then became entrenched when the amending formula was made part of the constitution.
3. Reference by an entrenched document, such as the Preamble of the Constitution Act, 1867's entrenchment of written and unwritten principles from the constitution of the United Kingdom or the Constitution Act, 1982's reference of the Proclamation of 1763.