List of Canadian constitutional documents
The constitution includes legislation that was specifically written as constitutional documents, statutes that have become entrenched since their original creation, some treaties and royal proclamations, unwritten procedures adopted from the British parliamentary system of government, and unwritten underlying values.
The oldest Canadian constitutional documents were enacted before Confederation, and originated from the English or British government.
Between Confederation in 1867 and patriation in 1982, the United Kingdom enacted some Canadian constitutional documents by means of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 and the Statute of Westminster, 1931, most notably the British North America Acts.
Originally titled Order of Her Majesty in Council admitting Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory into the Union.
Originally titled Order of Her Majesty in Council admitting British Columbia into the Union.
Originally titled Order of Her Majesty in Council admitting Prince Edward Island into the Union.
Originally titled Order of Her Majesty in Council admitting all British Territories possessions in North America and Islands adjacent thereto into the Union.
Acts governing these bodies are: Another subject specifically mentioned in the amending formula is the role of the Canadian monarchy.
There are two key pre-Confederation documents of the English parliament that continue to govern the powers and the line of succession of the Canadian monarch: the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701.
The preamble may therefore entrench key British documents like the Act of Settlement, 1701, the English Bill of Rights, 1689, and the Magna Carta.
It also includes the fact that the governor general in most circumstances is required to grant royal assent to bills adopted by both houses of parliament, and the requirement that the prime minister either resign or request a dissolution and general election upon losing a vote of confidence in the House of Commons.
Many of unwritten rules based on the preamble concern the procedure for how the Parliament of Canada and the Assemblies of its provinces are run.
For example, in the case New Brunswick Broadcasting Co. v. Nova Scotia (Speaker of the House of Assembly), the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that parliamentary privilege is a part of the unwritten convention in the Constitution of Canada, which means that Parliament may use parliamentary privilege to take certain actions even though they violate another part of the constitution.
Primarily, these are the Orders in Council, which give the government the authority to declare war, conclude treaties, issue passports, make appointments, make regulations, incorporate, and receive lands that escheat to the Crown.
[6] Other principles include responsible government, representation by population,[7] judicial independence, and parliamentary supremacy.
[8] Despite their binding nature, the Supreme Court held that unwritten principles could not invalidate legislation in Toronto v.
[9] Interpretation of the Canadian Constitution has been significantly affected by the decisions of courts, which have the power to determine the meaning of phrases and, in some cases, even read into it rules that are implied but not directly stated.
In spite of the living tree doctrine, for several decades Canadian courts mostly limited themselves to interpreting the Constitution for issues of jurisdiction.
Consequently, numerous provincial superior court cases, beginning with Halpern v. Canada (Attorney General) in Ontario, ruled that sexual orientation was an unwritten protected ground under section 15(1).
