Canada's modern political history as a union of previously separate provinces began with the British North America Act, 1867. This act combined the Province of Canada with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into a Dominion within the British Empire. Canada adopted a Westminster style government with a Parliament of Canada. A Governor General fulfilled the constitutional duties of the British Sovereign on Canadian soil. Similar arrangements applied within each province. Despite this autonomy, the United Kingdom still had the power to legislate for Canada, and Canada was thus still legally a self-governing British colony. The Statute of Westminster 1931 removed the British Parliament's power to legislate for Canada, as well as for the other Dominions, unless the Dominion requested and consented to Imperial legislation. This thus had the effect of making Canada a de jure sovereign nation. The British North America Act, 1949 was also passed by the British Parliament, giving the Parliament of Canada significant constitutional amending powers. However, with Canada's agreement at the time, under the Statute of Westminster the British Parliament also retained the power to amend the key Canadian constitutional statutes, namely the British North America Acts. In effect, an act of the British Parliament was required to make certain changes to the Canadian constitution. Delay in the patriation of the Canadian constitution was due in large part to the lack of agreement concerning a method for amending the constitution that would be acceptable to all of the provinces, particularly Quebec.
Enactment
The Canada Act 1982 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in response to the request from the Parliament of Canada to take over authority for amending its own constitution. After unpromising negotiations with the provincial governments, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau proclaimed that the federal Parliament would unilaterally patriate the constitution. After numerous references by the provinces, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Patriation Reference that provincial consent was not legally necessary, but to do so without substantial consent would be contrary to a longstanding constitutional convention. Trudeau succeeded in convincing nine provinces out of ten to consent to patriation by agreeing to the addition of a Notwithstanding Clause to limit the application of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a result of discussions during a First Ministers' conference and other minor changes in November 1981. In the UK, 44 Members of Parliament voted against the Act, including 24 Conservative and 16 Labour MPs, citing concerns over Canada's past mistreatment of Quebec and Aboriginal peoples ; overall there was little opposition from the British government to passing the Act. However, new research into documents of the Margaret Thatcher government indicate that Britain had serious concerns about the inclusion of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms within the Canada Act. Part of this concern stemmed from letters of protest the British received about it from provincial actors, but also because the Charter undermined the principle of parliamentary supremacy, which until that time had always been a core feature of every government practising the Westminster system. Through section 2 of the Canada Act 1982, the United Kingdom ended its involvement with further amendments to the Canadian constitution. The procedure for amending the Constitution Act, 1982 must comply with its Part V, instead of the usual parliamentary procedure requiring the monarch's Royal Assent for enacting legislation.
While the Canada Act 1982 received royal assent on March 29, 1982 in London, it was not until the Queen visited Canada the following month that the Constitution Act, 1982, its Canadian equivalent, was proclaimed by letters patent as a statutory instrument by the Queen during her presence in Canada. Canada's Constitution Act, 1982 was signed into law by Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada on April 17, 1982 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Queen Elizabeth's constitutional powers over Canada were not affected by the act, and she remains Queen and Head of State of Canada. Canada has complete sovereignty as an independent country, however, and the Queen's role as monarch of Canada is separate from her role as the British monarch or the monarch of any of the other Commonwealth realms.
