Document Information
Date: 1980-08-26 – 1980-08-29
By: CCMC
Citation: Continuing Committee of Ministers on the Constitution, A Preamble to the Constitution, Federal Proposals, Doc 830-84/015 (Ottawa: 26-29 August 1980).
Other formats: Not yet available.
I. Considering the evolutionary nature of Canadian constitutional change, and the need for continuity, the Government of Canada believes much of the present preamble of the BNA Act (“Whereas the provinces” through “interests of the British Empire”) should be incorporated into the new preamble with the following changes:
1. its language should be modernized where appropriate;
2. listing of the provinces should be ordered alphabetically in order to demonstrate that there are no “junior” provinces;
3. reference should be added that the provinces are freely united in the federation;
4. mention should be retained of the Crown, but as the Crown of Canada (rather than of the U.K.);
5. the constitution should be described as similar in principle to the present constitution of Canada (rather than to that of the U.K.);
6. reference should be added to Canada’s sovereignty and independence; and,
7. the present clause which refers to promoting ”the interests of the British Empire” should be replaced with a clause which refers to promoting the freedom and well-being of Canadians.
II. To the new preamble should then be added a statement of the fundamental aims of the Canadian constitution. The Government of Canada believes this statement should be brief and basic – in the sense that each item included be both “timeless” enough and general enough to reflect within itself the many different concerns and priorities of different groups, and different generations, of Canadians .
A. The government of Canada believes that virtually all the major concerns voiced at the CCMC’s ministerial discussions in Vancouver on the preamble can be reflected within the following brief list of broad and basic aims :
1. the guarantee of fundamental rights and freedoms;
2. the democratic foundation of laws and political institutions on the will and consent of the people;
3. the achievement of greater social justice, equality of economic opportunity and cultural security;
4. the desire of Canada to contribute internationally to the attainment of these aims by others.
B. In addition to this short list of general aims, the Government of Canada considers that the new constitution also needs to contain explicit statements of the following:
1. Canada’ s permanent national commitment to the endurance and self-fulfilment of the distinct French-speaking society centered in though not confined to Quebec;
2. Canada’s commitment to overcome unacceptable regional disparities through equalization; and,
3. the rights of the native peoples.
The Government of Canada believes that of these items, B.2 and B.3 should not be explicitly included in the preamble, because they can best be stated in specific sections of the new constitution dealing with equalization and, later on, native rights.
In contrast, the constitution will deal with item B.1 in various ways under a number of different heads (e .g. official languages, Supreme Court, amending formula). This is one of the reasons that the Government of Canada holds the view that item B.1 should be stated explicitly in the preamble.