Parliament of Canada - History

History

Following the surrender of New France to the United Kingdom in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Canada was governed according to the Royal Proclamation issued by King George III in that same year. To this law was added the Quebec Act, by which the power to make ordinances was granted to a Governor-in-Council, both bodies appointed by the British monarch in London. In 1791, the Province of Quebec was divided into Upper and Lower Canada, each with an elected legislative assembly, an appointed legislative council, and the relevant governor, mirroring the parliamentary structure at Westminster. During the War of 1812, American troops set fire to the buildings of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada in York, now Toronto. In 1841 the British government united the two Canadas into the Province of Canada, with a single legislature composed of, again, an assembly, council, and governor general; the 84 members of the lower chamber were equally divided amongst the two former provinces, though Lower Canada had a higher population. The governor still held significant personal influence over Canadian affairs until 1848, when responsible government was implemented in Canada. The actual site of the parliament shifted on a regular basis: From 1841 to 1844, it sat in Kingston, where the present Kingston General Hospital now stands; from 1844 until the 1849 fire that destroyed the building, the legislature was in Montreal; and, after a few years of alternating between Toronto and Quebec City. In 1866, the legislature was finally moved to Ottawa, Queen Victoria having chosen that city as Canada's capital in 1857.

The modern-day parliament of Canada came into existence in 1867, in which year the legislatures of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the United Kingdom all passed the British North America Act, 1867, uniting the aforementioned provinces—with the Province of Canada split into Quebec and Ontario—into a single federation, called the Dominion of Canada. Though the form of the new federal legislature was again nearly identical to the parliament of the United Kingdom, the decision to retain this model was made with heavy influence from the just-concluded American Civil War, which indicated to many Canadians the faults of the American federal system, with its relatively powerful states and a less powerful federal government. The British North America Act limited the powers of the provinces, providing that all subjects not explicitly delegated to them by that document remain within the authority of the federal parliament, while simultaneously giving the provinces unique powers in certain agreed-upon areas of funding.

Full legislative autonomy was granted by the Statute of Westminster, 1931, passed by the United Kingdom and ratified by the Canadian parliament. Though the statute allowed the Parliament of Canada to repeal or amend previously British laws as they applied to Canada, it did not permit the abrogation of Canada's constitution, including the British North America Acts. Hence, whenever a constitutional amendment was sought by the Canadian parliament, the enactment of a British law became necessary, though Canada's consent was required. The Parliament of Canada was granted limited power to amend the constitution by a British Act of Parliament in 1949, but it was not permitted to affect the powers of provincial governments, the official positions of the English and French languages, or the maximum five-year term of the legislature.

The Canadian Cabinet last requested the Parliament of the United Kingdom to enact a constitutional amendment in 1982, in the form of the Canada Act. This legislation terminated the power of the British parliament's ability to legislate for Canada, and the authority to amend the constitution was transferred to Canadian legislative authorities. Most amendments require the consent of the Senate, the House of Commons, and the legislative assemblies of two-thirds of the provinces representing a majority of the population; the unanimous consent of provincial legislative assemblies is required for certain amendments, including those affecting the sovereign, the governor general, the provincial lieutenant governors, the official status of the English and French languages, the Supreme Court of Canada, and the amending formulas themselves.