1. Canada’s Constitution What you REALLY NEED to KNOW

2. Canada’s Constitution  Two Parts:  The WRITTEN constitution  The UNWRITTEN constitution (convention)  The first part of our constitution was the BNA Act (British North America Act)  Written in 1867 by Sir John A. Macdonald and other reps from ON, QC, NS & NB

3. The BNA Act…  Created and described Canada’s system of government  Stated HOW powers would be divided among the monarch, federal and provincial levels (the municipal level didn’t exist yet)

4. The BNA Act Continued…  From 1867-1982 any changes to the constitution were done in Britain  In 1982 PM Trudeau PATRIATED (brought home to Canada) our constitution…this was HUGELY important!!  It meant that any changes could now be done without going through Britain  Canada therefore gained more freedom

5. Changes to the Constitution  PM Trudeau made TWO important additions:  AMENDING FORMULA: 7 out of 10 provinces, comprising 50% of Canada’s population, must all agree for changes to be made  CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS: Constitutionally ENTRENCHED rights for Canadian citizens