One hundred and forty years ago today the British North America Act of 1867 came into effect, superseding the Act of Union of 1840. With the colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec), the Dominion of Canada was formed.
The term "Confederation" was and is used, although Canada then and today is not actually a confederation. It is a federal state.
It remained a British dominion and lacked legislative independence. That would not come until December 11th, 1931 with the Statute of Westminster. With that Act, Canada's position in the British Empire changed. It was, for all intents and purposes an independent country and could, if the parliament of Canada approved, withdraw from any arrangement with the Crown and the British Commonwealth, however, there was still a legislative hook which remained with Britain.
At the time in 1931 when several British Empire parliaments were debating the merits of assuming more powers of independence, Canada was having difficulty determining a constitutional amending formula among the provinces. Despite the independence provided by the Statute of Westminster, the guarantor of the division of powers between provinces and the federal state remained in Britain. Constitutional amendments remained in the hands of Westminster; not Ottawa.
That changed in 1982 when the British North America Act was patriated to Canada and renamed the Constitution Act of 1867. At that time, Canada's status as a fully independent nation was formalized.
It's a slow process, apparently. And if anyone thinks it was peaceful I would recommend getting back to the history books.
Happy Birthday, Canada!
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