The Embedded Constitutional Legacy

• Author: Kathy L. Brock/Geoffrey Hale
• Pages: 25-36

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The Embedded Constitutional Legacy

Introduction

To understand Canadian federalism today, it is necessary to return

to the founding of the federation. e ideas that the founders

embedded into the constitutional fabric of Canada have continued

to inf‌luence patterns of governance in the present day, although

as we discuss in subsequent chapters, many of these ideas have

morphed, taking on multiple layers of new meaning and dierent

meanings depending on where citizens live and how they def‌ine

themselves as Canadians. Foundational principles that often appear

straightforward on paper are often much more complex in practice

with the potential to become contested and convoluted, causing

quiescent political issues to become quite volatile. us, to begin

to comprehend debates over intergovernmental relations in Canada

and the varying government perspectives, it is necessary to under-

stand the principles as originally embedded in the Constitution in

 and then to follow their journey in meaning through history.

Tensions between federalism and three other core principles of

the Canadian Constitution should be considered as we begin to

ref‌lect on the composition and evolution of Canadian federalism.

First, the rule of law is a vital elementary principle mandating that