Constitution Conventions in Canada

Constitution of Canada Major Elements Conventions

Two key conventions associated with the constitution relate to the role of the Supreme Court of Canada and the commitment to responsible government. Although the role of the Supreme Court is not precisely defined in the constitution, it has become a convention for the Court to be a primary adjudicator for constitutional disputes. This has been particularly important in Canada because of the difficulty of amending the constitution. As Canadian society has changed, the courts have played a vital role in deciding what is constitutionally acceptable.

Another key convention of Canada’s constitution is responsible government. The wording of the Constitution Act of 1867 seems to give the British monarch’s representative in Canada the governor-general near-dictatorial powers. In practice the governor-general’s role is almost purely symbolic. A convention has developed that grants most executive power to the prime minister and members of the cabinet. Although the prime minister and the cabinet are only briefly mentioned in the constitution, as members of parliament they are ultimately accountable to the voters for leadership of the country.

Unwritten conventions are more difficult to enforce than the written part of the constitution. Conventions are not enforceable by the courts but are dependent upon the political will of the Canadian citizenry. For example, during the 1970s the federal and provincial governments were unable to agree upon a process to patriate the constitution, which would allow Canada to amend its constitution without intervention by the United Kingdom. In 1980 the federal government decided to ask the British Parliament to amend the constitution without the approval of the provinces. The provinces appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, and claimed the federal government’s action was unconstitutional. The Court ruled that although there was nothing in the written constitution that prohibited the federal government from acting unilaterally, there was an unwritten constitutional convention that required amendments to the constitution to be supported by a significant number of provinces. As a result of this decision, the federal government resumed negotiations with the provinces. Eventually, the Canadian federal government and the provinces (except Québec) agreed upon a process to patriate the constitution. (1)

In this Section

• Constitution
• Constitution Origins
• Constitution Major Elements
• Constitution Documents
• Constitution Act of 1867
• Constitution Act of 1982
• Constitution Conventions
• Constitution Interpretation and Enforcement

Resources

Notes and References

1. Encarta Online Encyclopedia

See Also

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This entry was last updated: March 23, 2014