Peace

"Magna Carta is such a Fellow, he will have no Sovereign."

Sir Edward Coke

  • Magna Carta!

    • The BNA ACT (Constitution Act, 1867) gaves Parliament the power to make laws "for the Peace, Order and Good Government of Canada."

    The BNA ACT powers over trade, commerce, defence, banking, taxation, and other measures deemed necessary to provide for Peace, Order and Good Government, including using federally - appointed provincial Lieutenant Governors to disallow provincial legistlation at odds with Ottawa.(Ian Greene, The Charter of Rights, Toronto: 1989)

    Those in favour of a centralized rather than a decentralized form of government point to two phases of the BNA ACT, Peace, Order and Good Government of Canada and the regulation of trade and commerce, "as incorporated all powers not exclusively given to the provinces, and therefore the residuum of powers lies with the federal government.

    In addition, the Lieutenant Governors of the provinces (all of whom were appointees of the federal government) held the right to reserve and disallow provincial legislation." Michael D. Behiels, From the Constitution Act, 1982 to the Meech Lake Accord, 1987: Individual Rights for all versus Collective Rights for Some" from Democracy with justice, edited by Alain G. Gagnon and A. Brain Tanguay, Ottawa: Carleton University Press 1992 at p.127.

    Another anomaly of the canadian constitution is the peace, order and good government limits on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The "notwithstanding clause" of the Charter of Rights and Freedom permits Parliament or a provincial legistlature to pass legislation which violates certain of these rights inserted in the Charter. Inserted in the Charter is a declaration that shall operate "notwithstanding" a certain provision of the Charter, for up to five years.

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    Email:toellis2@yahoo.ca Last modified: 21 Janauary, 2008

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