Evolution, not revolution: Canada's constitutional history and the Constitution Act, 1867.

• Author: Billingsley, Barbara
• Position: Feature: Constitutions

You say you want a revolution, Well, you know We all want to change the world You tell me that it's evolution Well, you know We all want to change the world ... You say you'll change the constitution Well, you know We all want to change your head From "Revolution" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Although they are not famous for their knowledge of constitutional law or history, John Lennon and Paul McCartney got it right when they linked the idea of constitutional change to the processes of revolution and evolution. Inevitably, the content and character of a nation's constitution is largely determined by the circumstances in which that nation is created. A constitution drafted along with a country's gradual evolution toward independence will have a very different emphasis than a constitution drafted on the heels of a political revolution. The point of this article is to briefly explain how Canada's constitution, and especially the Constitution Act, 1867, (1) reflect the fact that our country became an independent nation through a process of evolution rather than revolution.

What Does a Constitution Do?

In order to understand how Canada's constitution reflects our development as a nation, it is first necessary to understand the role that a constitution plays in modern society. Over the course of world history, many societies have been ruled by people who took power by force or by birthright. In these societies, laws governing the conduct of the general population were created more or less at the whim of the ruler. (2) With the rise of democracy, however, came the idea that laws should reflect the public interest rather than the particular interests or idiosyncrasies of the lawmakers. In other words, in order to be legitimate in a democracy, laws must be: (1) predictable; (2) enforceable against everyone (including the people making the laws); and (3) created in accordance with defined systems which appropriately limit the power of law-makers. The notion that laws should fulfill these requirements is known as the rule of law or constitutionalism.

A constitution, then, is a set of rules, written or unwritten, by which a society agrees to govern itself. Unlike most ordinary laws, however, the purpose of a constitution is not to set out detailed rules for controlling or regulating the conduct of individuals. Instead, a constitution sets up the mechanisms for making laws: these mechanisms both authorize and limit the power of the state, or...