Everything about The British North America Act totally explained
The
British North America Acts 1867–1975 are a series of
Acts of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom and the
Parliament of Canada dealing with the government of
Canada, which was known as "
British North America" until 1867. The first and most important Act of the series, the British North America Act 1867 (now the
Constitution Act, 1867), was passed in 1867, and created the self-governing
dominion of Canada. Canada and the other British dominions achieved full legislative sovereignty with the passage of the
Statute of Westminster 1931, but prior to the
Canada Act 1982 the British North America Acts were excluded from the operation of the Statute of Westminster. In 1949, the Parliament of Canada received the power to make certain types of amendment to the British North America Acts, but other amendments (and all amendments prior to 1949) could only be enacted by the United Kingdom Parliament. This long delay was in large part due to the inability to create a constitutional amendment procedure which was acceptable to all of the provinces, particularly Quebec.
In 1982, Canada
patriated its constitution and entrenched within it the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, through the
Constitution Act, 1982. By the
Canada Act 1982, the British Parliament, acting at the request and with the consent of Canada (excluding the province of Quebec), enacted the Constitution Act 1982, which established a procedure for the
amendment of the Canadian constitution by the
Canadian Parliament. The British North America Acts 1867–1975 are generally named
Constitution Acts in Canada, and together with the Constitution Act 1982 are now collectively known as the Constitution Acts 1867–1982, though they remain named as they originally were in the United Kingdom. These and other Acts form the
Constitution of Canada.
The different Acts of the series are distinguished by appending the year of their enactment. BNA Acts were passed in 1867, 1871, 1886, 1907, 1915, 1916*, 1930, 1940, 1943*, 1946*, 1949, 1949 (No. 2) *, 1951*, 1952*, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1974 and 1975. Those marked with (*) have since been repealed.
Five of the British North America Acts were enacted by the Parliament of Canada; namely those of 1952, 1965, 1974, 1975, and 1975 (No. 2). The other fifteen were enacted by the Imperial Parliament at Westminster.
French-language versions
The fifteen BNA Acts enacted by the United Kingdom Parliament don't have official French-language versions. Only the English version is official. The five BNA Acts enacted by the Canadian Parliament do have official French-language versions, and the English-language and French-language versions are equally authoritative (as with all legislation enacted by the Canadian Parliament).
The French Constitutional Drafting Committee produced translations of all the British North America Acts, pursuant to section 55 of the Constitution Act, 1982, but these were never enacted by Parliament to make them official.
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British North America Act, 1867
The act comprises a major part of
Canada's
constitution. The Act entails the original creation of a
federal dominion and sets the framework for much of the operation of the
Government of Canada, including its
federal structure, the
House of Commons, the
Senate, the justice system, and the
taxation system. It received its current name in 1982, with the
patriation of the constitution (having originally been enacted by the
Parliament of the United Kingdom). Amendments were also made at this time: section 92A was added, giving provinces greater control over non-renewable
natural resources.
British North America Act, 1871
This act gave Canada the power to establish new provinces and territories and change provincial boundaries with the affected province's consent. The act recognized the creation of the province of
Manitoba and the incorporation of
Rupert's Land and the
North-Western Territory into Canada and allowed parliament and the Ontario and Quebec legislatures to redraw the boundaries of Ontario and Quebec in order to incorporate parts of these acquisitions.
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British North America Act, 1886
This act gave parliament the authority to allow the
Territories of Canada to have representation in the
Canadian Senate and
Canadian House of Commons.
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British North America Act, 1907
This act regulated
transfer payments by the federal government to smaller provinces to support their legislatures and governments. The funds transferred were set at between $100,000 and $250,000 depending on the province's population with an extra $100,000 a year for ten years to
British Columbia.
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British North America Act, 1915
Expanded the
Canadian Senate by giving
Western Canadian provinces 24 Senators, the same number guaranteed to
Ontario,
Quebec and the
Maritime provinces. The Act also guaranteed
Newfoundland six Senators should the British colony join Confederation (it did in 1949).
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British North America Act, 1916
Extended the life of the
12th Canadian Parliament until October 1917, beyond the normal maximum of five years. The extension was due to
World War I.
(External Link) This Act was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act, 1927.
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British North America Act, 1930
Gave the newer provinces of
British Columbia,
Alberta,
Manitoba and
Saskatchewan rights over certain natural resources found in federally controlled crown lands.
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British North America Act, 1940
This act gave the federal government the jurisdiction over
Unemployment Insurance thus allowing such a progam to be created on a national level.
(External Link) An earlier attempt to create an Unemployment Insurance program during the
Great Depression was ruled
unconstitutional as unemployment relief was deemed to be a provincial responsibility.
British North America Act, 1943
This act delayed
redistribution of seats in the Canadian House of Commons until the end of
World War II.
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British North America Act, 1946
This act adjusted the formula for distributing seats in the Canadian House of Commons amongst the provinces and territories.
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British North America Act, 1949
Allowed for the entry of
Newfoundland as the tenth
province. It was renamed the
Newfoundland Act when Canada's Constitution was patriated from the United Kingdom in 1982.
This Act shouldn't be confused with the British North America (No. 2) Act 1949 (see below).
» See also: 1949 in Canada.
British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949
Granted Canada limited powers to amend its own constitution. The Parliament of Canada was thereafter allowed to amend the Canadian constitution in many areas of its own jurisdiction without appealing to the British Parliament first. However, the approval of the British Parliament was still needed for wider constitutional change such as that involving areas of provincial responsibility. Therefore, the Act can best be seen as a "partial patriation" of the Canadian constitution.
The Act was repealed in 1982 with the full patriation of the constitution from the United Kingdom and the addition of a new, comprehensive amending formula.
This Act isn't to be confused with the British North America Act, 1949 - later renamed the
Newfoundland Act in 1982 - which confirmed the terms of union between
Newfoundland and Canada and made Newfoundland the tenth province.
British North America Act, 1951
Gave the federal government the power to pass legislation concerning
Old Age Pensions while recognizing the right of provincial legislatures to do likewise.
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While parliament had instituted an Old Age Pension in 1927 it was administered by the provinces and jointly funded by them. This amendment allowed the federal government to administer and operate its own pension plan and allowed it to pass the
Old Age Security Act.
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British North America Act, 1952
This was the first of the British North America Acts to be enacted by the Canadian Parliament (rather than the "Imperial Parliament" at London, England). This was possible under the provisions of the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949.
This act adjusted the number of seats in the House of Commons and limited the number of seats a province could lose due to
redistribution based on the
census to 15% of its previous number. Gave
Yukon territory its own Member of Parliament.
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British North America Act, 1960
This act instituted a mandatory retirement age of 75 for all
superior court judges.
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British North America Act, 1964
This act expanded the federal government's jurisdiction over pensions to include survivor benefits and disability benefits while continuing to allow provincial legislation.
(External Link) This amendment to the BNA Act made the
Canada Pension Plan possible.
British North America Act, 1965
This was the second of the British North America Acts to be enacted by the Canadian Parliament (rather than the "Imperial Parliament" at London, England). This was possible under the provisions of the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949.
Renamed the
Constitution Act, 1965 in 1982, this legislation was introduced by the government of
Lester B. Pearson and instituted a
mandatory retirement age of 75 for all persons appointed to the
Canadian Senate. Those appointed prior to the passage of the Act were exempt.
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British North America Act, 1974
This was the third of the British North America Acts to be enacted by the Canadian Parliament (rather than the "Imperial Parliament" at London, England). This was possible under the provisions of the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949.
Changed the rules for the redistribution of seats in the Canadian House of Commons so that Quebec would have 75 seats while other provinces' seat allocation would be determined based on the size of their population in comparison to Quebec's. Provinces continued to be guaranteed to have at least as many MPs as Senators.
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British North America Act, 1975
This was the fourth of the British North America Acts to be enacted by the Canadian Parliament (rather than the "Imperial Parliament" at London, England). This was possible under the provisions of the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949.
Increased the representation of the
Northwest Territories in the House of Commons, to two members.
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British North America Act (No. 2), 1975
This was the fifth of the British North America Acts to be enacted by the Canadian Parliament (rather than the "Imperial Parliament" at London, England). This was possible under the provisions of the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949.
Increased the number of Senate seats to 104 from 102 and allocated one seat for the Yukon and one for the Northwest Territories.
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