Gough Barry M. Historical Dictionary of Canada

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140 • CONSTITUTION ACT OF 1982

CONSTITUTION ACT OF 1982. The most important modern mea-

sure of Canadian constitutional process of the 20th century, the Con-

stitution Act, effective 17 April 1982, had three important results: it

“patriated” the British North America Act, instituted the Canadian

Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and introduced an amending for-

mula. The Constitution Act was passed by the Canadian Parliament

and signed by the sovereign. Enabling legislation preceded it in the

British Parliament, closing off completely any residual rights of im-

perial legislation over Canadian affairs.

Reaching the terms of a made-in-Canada constitutional reform

was a hectic and divisive process. Not only did it pit the federal au-

thority against the provinces but it also involved a struggle not only

within Québec but between Québec at large and the rest of Canada.

Court cases launched by provincial governments generally favored

the federal authority to reform the constitution unilaterally but also

recognized provincial rights within the federation. Native voices and

women’s rights activism also helped shape the process, and terms of

the charter recognized Indians, Inuit, and Métis as “aboriginal peo-

ples” of Canada. Québec’s nonagreement to the measure meant that

constitutional discussions would continue, and to date there have been

two abortive attempts: the Meech Lake Accord 1987 and the Char-

lottetown Accord in 1992. See also CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY.

CONSTITUTIONAL (OR CANADA) ACT OF 1791. The Constitu-

tional Act did not divide Québec but assumed such would follow. It

was intended to apply the British constitution to colonial conditions

without impinging on the guaranteed rights of French Canadians. The

act repealed the Québec Act insofar as it related to the appointment

and powers of the council, and legislative authority was vested in the

governor or lieutenant governor acting on advice or consent of the

legislative council and assembly in each of the two new provinces,

Upper Canada and Lower Canada.

The act protected the guarantees of the Québec Act to the Church

of Rome, and for Upper Canada authorized the governor to make an

allotment and appropriation of lands for the support and maintenance

of a “Protestant clergy.” This was to be one-seventh of all lands.

Rents from the “clergy reserves” were devoted to supporting a Prot-

estant clergy. This measure was unsustainable because of the plural-

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CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY • 141

ism of the Protestant churches but is noteworthy of British intentions

of an established church.

The act stated that all lands in the new province were henceforth

to be granted as freehold (not leasehold). The seigneurial system

continued in Lower Canada, though freehold was introduced. The

division occurred by order in council 24 August 1791, which divided

the Province of Québec with Upper and Lower Canada.

CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. Building on existing arrangements

in 1867, the British North America Act, or Constitution Act of 1867,

brought Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into

a federation—the Dominion of Canada—effective 1 July 1867.

Rupert’s Land and the Northwestern Territory were added in 1870,

extending Canadian dominion to the continental divide north of 49

degrees north latitude, excluding the High Arctic (added 1880).

Manitoba (1870), British Columbia (1871), and Prince Edward

Island (1873) were other additions to the dominion. By the Consti-

tution Act of 1870, Rupert’s Land and the Northwestern Territory,

subsequently combined as the Northwest Territories, were declared

federal territories subject to Ottawa; also by this measure, Parlia-

ment was empowered to create new provinces out of territories. By

the Adjacent Territories Order (1880), all British possessions and

territories in North America, specifically the High Arctic, were added

to the dominion. By the Constitution Act of 1886, the territories

were given representation in Parliament. In 1898, Yukon Territory

was created out of the Northwest Territories. In 1905, Alberta and

Saskatchewan became provinces, and Manitoba’s borders were

expanded.

Meanwhile, by the Parliament of Canada Act (1875), Parliament

was empowered to determine its own rules, privileges, and powers

regardless of whether they exceeded the powers of the House of

Commons of the United Kingdom. The Supreme Court of Canada

was created by the Dominion Act of 1875. By the Constitution Act

of 1915, Great Britain’s Parliament, for the first time, amended

Canada’s constitution in response to a draft bill prepared at Ottawa.

Previous amendments had been prepared in London. The 1915 act

defined western Canadian representation in the Senate and minimum

provincial representation in the Commons. By the Constitution Act

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142 • CONVENTION OF 1818

of 1930, Ottawa transferred to the four western provinces lands and

natural resources withheld at the time of their admission into confed-

eration. By the Statute of Westminster of 1931, equality of status

among the dominions, including Britain, was acknowledged.

By the Constitution Act of 1940, authority to legislate on unem-

ployment insurance was transferred from provincial to federal au-

thority. This was the first change since confederation in the allocation

of powers to federal and provincial governments.

In 1949, the Newfoundland Act brought Newfoundland and

Labrador into the federation to become Canada’s 10th province. In

1960, a statute of the Parliament of Canada effected the Canadian

Bill of Rights. Opposed by provincial governments, many of its

provisions have since been embraced by the Charter of Rights and

Freedoms (1982).

In 1964, by the Constitution Act of 1964, Parliament was em-

powered with unanimous approval of the provinces to pass laws on

supplementary pension benefits so long as they did not affect provin-

cial legislation. This permitted creation of the Canada Pension Plan

and the Québec Pension Plan.

The Constitution Act of 1965 required senators to retire at the age

of 75, that of 1974 established new rules for House of Commons

representation, and those of 1975 (No. 1 and No. 2) increased the

number of senators by giving one each to the Yukon and the North-

west Territories.

The Constitution Act of 1982 established an amending formula

(severing Canada’s last constitutional tie to Westminster) and the

Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Recent attempts at amendments

(the Meech Lake Accord in 1987 and Charlottetown Agreement in

1992) have proved unsuccessful. In 1998, the Clarity Act set forth

more specific rules to how a province might secede. These provisions

were reaffirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2000. See also

PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM.

CONVENTION OF 1818. A sequel to the Treaty of Ghent, the Con-

vention of 1818 was signed in London by British and American

plenipotentiaries. Under its terms, the northwest boundary between

the United States and British North America was fixed along the

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COOK, JAMES • 143

49th parallel from the Lake of the Woods to the crest of the “Stoney

Mountains,” that is to say, Rocky Mountains, thus limiting the north-

ern extent of the Louisiana territory. No boundary was established for

the region west of the continental divide, but the two powers agreed

that claims by either power would not be prejudiced to the claims of

the other until sovereignty could be determined. The convention was

renewed in 1827 but sovereignty issues were determined in 1846.

COOK, JAMES (1728–1779). English naval officer, surveyor, and

explorer Capt. James Cook was born in Yorkshire, England. In June

1757, Cook passed his master’s examinations. A varied service of

patrols, conquests, and surveys took him to Halifax, Louisbourg,

Québec, and Newfoundland during and immediately after the

Seven Years War. He charted the St. Lawrence River, a service

that allowed the expedition under Maj.-Gen. James Wolfe and Vice

Adm. Charles Saunders to dislodge the French from Canada. Cook

made charts of Newfoundland which facilitated the cod fishery of

the Grand Banks and the security of traffic coming in and out of the

St. Lawrence, whether through the Strait of Belle Isle in the north or

Cabot Strait on the south. His New Chart of the River St. Lawrence

was published in 1760, and his sailing notes were published in the

famous North American Pilot (1775).

After two great voyages to the Pacific, in 1776 Captain Cook ac-

cepted the challenge to find the Northwest Passage. He searched for

the western entrance on the northwest coast of North America and

attempted to penetrate to the north and east via the Bering Strait.

From 7 March to 18 August 1778, Cook’s ships charted the coast

from Oregon to the Bering Strait. He spent most of April at Nootka

Sound, Vancouver Island, where he and his men observed and com-

piled accounts of native life. Cook sailed to Unalaska and through the

Bering Strait, and then returned to Hawaii to winter. On 14 February

1779, an encounter with natives there cost Cook and four marines

their lives. The vessels, Discovery and Resolution, returned to Eng-

land, completing one of the longest voyages of discovery in history.

Cook is better known in England, Australia, and New Zealand than in

Canada—but his contributions to Canadian exploration and hydrog-

raphy were immense. See also NUU’CHAH’NULTH.

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144 • COOPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH FEDERATION

COOPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH FEDERATION (CCF).

See NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY.

CREE. See PLAINS CREE.

CREIGHTON, DONALD GRANT (1902–1979). A historian and

novelist born in Toronto, Creighton was educated at Victoria Col-

lege in the University of Toronto and at Balliol College, Oxford.

He was appointed lecturer in history at the University of Toronto in

1927, becoming a professor and departmental chair. The prominent

English Canadian historian of his generation, he was conservative in

his appreciations and critiques though harshly critical of Canadians

for allowing the Americanization of Canada and the diminishing of

bonds to Great Britain.

He made the study of the finance and shipping of the St. Lawrence

River his first field of study. From this derived The Commercial Em-

pire of the St. Lawrence (1937), published as part of the 25-volume

set on Canadian-American relations published under the auspices of

the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. This work was re-

printed in 1956 as The Empire of the St. Lawrence. Creighton argued

that Canada was not a geographic absurdity; rather, its history was

tied to that of the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and the wa-

tersheds of the Laurentian highlands: thus was born the “Laurentian

thesis.” The east-west axis developed by Creighton found resonance

with the work of Harold Adams Innis, notably in The Fur Trade in

Canada (1930). The Erie Canal and north-south railway links helped

subvert the old Canadian economy, with the rapid growth of Chicago

providing one of the key reasons for the decline of Montréal.

Creighton held closely to monarchical and pro-British perspec-

tives though he did not overtly show these in his works. His anti-

Americanism was pronounced and found expression in his historical

writing. It also appeared in his only novel, Takeover (1978). He was

an unabashed Canadian centralist. His study of the history of Cana-

dian confederation formed the important background volume to the

report of the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations.

He opposed strenuously the pandering to Québec, which he found

entirely political. He was of the view that bilingualism was mythical

and without historical constitutional status; he was out of phase with

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CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS • 145

the times and the currents of Canadian political thought of the 1960s

and 1970s.

His farewell political blast, delivered to the Canadian Historical

Association in 1969, was “The Decline and Fall of the Empire of

the St. Lawrence.” In it, he bewailed the postwar weakening of the

British-Canadian alliance, the recolonization of Canada by Ameri-

cans, the subversive influences of the continental economy, and the

evisceration of Canada’s national government to Québec aspira-

tions. Creighton died a sad, embittered commentator on Canadian

affairs. He is best remembered for his two-volume biography of Sir

John A. Macdonald. For many years, Creighton’s Dominion of the

North (1957) was the classic textbook of Canadian university history

courses. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and was

awarded its Tyrell Medal. He became a Companion of the Order of

Canada in 1967.

CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS. The crisis began 22 October 1962, when

intelligence reports confirmed that the Soviet Union was installing

ballistic missiles in Cuba capable of hitting the United States and

Canada. The dangers to Great Britain were also very real. President

John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade and threatened further ac-

tion unless preparations ceased on Cuba. The Canadian government

received 90 minutes’ advance warning and had to decide if it would

comply with the U.S. request to move Canadian Armed Forces

to an alert status known as Defcon 3. Minister of National Defense

Douglas Harkness approved the quiet moving of Canadian Forces to

this increased state of readiness; meanwhile, the cabinet debated the

matter. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and Secretary of State for

External Affairs Howard Green, angered by lack of adequate notice

and concerned about Canada’s anti-nuclear weapons policy, were

reluctant to acquiesce to Kennedy. As Soviet ships approached Cuba,

support for the Harkness position hardened and on 24 October the

Diefenbaker government authorized Defcon 3.

Canada’s reluctance reflected Diefenbaker’s desire to preserve

Canada’s independence and maintain a balanced posture in inter-

national affairs. More bluntly, it reflected his personal antipathy

to Kennedy. The delay was widely criticized, and the Diefenbaker

government was further charted with indecisiveness. It also fueled

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146 • CULTURE

further controversy over nuclear weapons. The crisis ended on 27–28

October when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to dismantle

and remove USSR missiles in Cuba. See also COLD WAR.

CULTURE. In keeping with the perennial discussion about whether

culture is unique in its origin or derivative in its evolution, it can

be seen in Canadian history that certain cultural creations are indig-

enous to its land and peoples (this is particularly true of Indians and

Inuit) but are also a wide reflection of European and global trends

and developments. In architecture, art, film, literature, music, and

theater, the European inheritance is justifiably strong. Because Can-

ada derives from two empires—French and British—and has been

influenced by yet a third—the United States—influences from these

successive global powers and cultural forces are necessarily manifest

in Canadian cultural history. It is against this powerful backdrop of

successive persuasive cultural forces that Canadian cultural achieve-

ments can be viewed. In addition to private initiatives, the driving

force of most achievements, The Canada Council for the Arts has

been the predominant force in projecting Canadian culture and talents

overseas, and the process of selection and advancement of same is

therefore tied to institutional and thus political agency. Moreover,

cultural requirements have necessitated the government of Canada

to respond in various ways, including the creation of the Canadian

Broadcasting Corporation and the National Film Board.

CUNARD, SAMUEL (1787–1865). A Halifax-born merchant, Sir

Samuel Cunard founded the British and North American Royal Mail

Steam Packet Company in 1839, which won lucrative Admiralty and

postal contracts. He was the pioneer of regular trans-Atlantic steam

navigation. The Cunard Steamship Company, which dominated the

Atlantic passenger trade, was founded in 1878. Cunard died in Eng-

land.

CURRIE, ARTHUR WILLIAM (1875–1933). Born in Napperton,

Ontario, Sir Arthur William Currie was the first Canadian-born

commander of the Canadian Corps in World War I. He joined the

militia in 1893, became a schoolteacher in Victoria, British Colum-

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D’AQUINO, THOMAS • 147

bia, and by the outbreak of World War I in 1914 was a lieutenant

colonel. By 1915, he was commanding the 2nd Canadian Infantry

Brigade, building a reputation for himself and his forces. In 1917, he

became a lieutenant general and corps commander.

Currie’s most notable legacy was his leadership in the war’s last

hundred days in 1918. He led the Canadian Corps against units

of the German Army, sustaining heavy casualties. The Canadian

Corps made spectacular gains and inflicted heavy losses. Currie

triumphantly entered Mons, Belgium, at the head of his troops as

the armistice came into effect. He later became president of McGill

University. See also CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.

– D –

D’AQUINO, THOMAS (1940–). One of the most influential private

citizen in Canada, d’Aquino was born in Trail, British Columbia,

and educated at the University of British Columbia, Queen’s Uni-

versity, and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

He studied politics, international affairs, history, and law. One of

Canada’s foremost policy strategists, and an effective informal

ambassador abroad, he first served as special assistant to Prime

Minister Pierre Trudeau before working in London and Paris on

strategic business problems. From 1975 to 1985, he ran a consulting

firm on international banking, giving legal advice to various inves-

tors in Canada and abroad. In 1981, d’Aquino became president and

chief executive officer of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives

(formerly the Business Council on National Issues, founded 1976),

which was the senior voice of Canadian business on public policy

issues in Canada and internationally. He was succeeded in 2009 by

John Manley. For the council, d’Aquino headed numerous studies

on Canadian competitiveness. He took a major role in the free trade

debate, backing both Canadian-U.S. free trade and the North Ameri-

can Free Trade Agreement. He also took a stance in national de-

bates on strengthening the Canadian constitution and on national and

provincial debt reductions. An avowed federalist, d’Aquino argues

for Canadian competitiveness in a global economy.

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148 • DAVIES, ROBERTSON

DAVIES, ROBERTSON (1913–1995). Born William Robertson Da-

vies in Thamesville, Ontario, Davies became a novelist, newspaper

editor, playwright, essayist, and critic. One of Canada’s most famous

writers of international fame, he is best known for The Deptford

Trilogy: Fifth Business (1970), The Maticore (1972), and World of

Wonders (1975). His What’s Bred in the Bone (1985) was short-listed

for the prestigious Man Booker prize. For a time, he was at Massey

College, University of Toronto, where he observed academic life

firsthand—a useful source for characters and plots in some of his

richly textured novels.

DAVIS, JOHN (c. 1550–1605). English mariner and explorer John

Davis was the first European to discover Davis Strait between Green-

land and the mainland of Canada. Davis led the way for such explor-

ers as Henry Hudson and William Baffin. One of the most skilled

navigators of the late 1500s, he invented a type of quadrant, a device

used in navigation, and developed what became the standard ship’s

log. He also compiled a treatise on navigation.

From 1585 to 1587, Davis headed three expeditions in search of

the Northwest Passage, a hoped-for route through Canada to Asia. He

came upon the Davis Strait on his first trip. During his voyages, Davis

explored the east coast of Baffin Island and the west coast of Green-

land but did not find a route west. From 1591 to 1593, he tried to find

a passage to Asia via the Strait of Magellan in South America. In 1605,

he was killed by Japanese pirates. See also EXPLORATION.

DAWSON, YUKON. After discovery of gold at Bonanza Creek in

1896, and the subsequent Klondike gold rush, a town site was

laid out at the junction of the Klondike River and Yukon River.

The town, originally called Dawson City, was named for the direc-

tor of the Geological Survey of Canada, George Mercer Dawson

(1849–1901). At first an administrative center, Dawson was declared

the capital of the Yukon Territory in 1898. In 1951, the capital was

shifted to Whitehorse.

DE LA TOUR, MARIE JACQUELINE (1602–1645). Born in

France, Marie married Charles de Saint-Aden de la Tour and lived in

Acadia (now New Brunswick). She was the first European woman

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DIEFENBAKER, JOHN GEORGE • 149

to settle in New Brunswick. With a small French garrison, she coura-

geously defended Fort la Tour against British soldiers for four days

but was captured and placed in prison, where she died.

DIEFENBAKER, JOHN GEORGE (1895–1979). Born 18 Septem-

ber 1895 in Neustadt, Ontario, Diefenbaker moved to a Saskatch-

ewan homestead with his family when he was eight. In 1916, Dief-

enbaker received his M.A. in political science from the University

of Saskatchewan. After serving in World War I, he returned to

university for a law degree in 1919. He then resided in Prince Albert

and became a criminal lawyer. In 1929, he married Edna Blower; she

died in 1951, and in 1953 he married Olive Palmer.

In 1940, Diefenbaker was elected to the House of Commons. In

1956, he became leader of the opposition. In June 1957, Diefenbaker

led the Progressive Conservative Party to victory by a close mar-

gin, forming a minority government. As Canada’s 13th prime min-

ister, he called for another election and won the greatest landslide in

Canadian history. In that election of 1958, Diefenbaker campaigned

against Liberal leader Lester Pearson. Diefenbaker inspired a “vi-

sion of a new and greater Canada,” one less economically dependent

on the United States. Also under his influence, the Republic of South

Africa, because of its apartheid policy, was expelled from the Com-

monwealth of Nations.

Reelected in 1962 by only a slim margin, Diefenbaker’s govern-

ment fell on 22 April 1963 on his refusal to accept nuclear weapons

from the United States. Pearson then became prime minister. Diefen-

baker remained opposition leader until 1967, when he was succeeded

by Robert Stanfield. Diefenbaker was elected for a 13th term to the

House of Commons in May 1979. He died 16 August 1979 in Ot-

tawa. He was a keen fisherman, a heroic and gifted speaker (one of

the last great orators of Parliament or on the campaign trail), and a

prophetic and ultimately tragic party leader.

“One Canada” was his crushing election call. He was a strong

advocate of the supremacy of Parliament. His government pro-

claimed a Canadian Bill of Rights; this acknowledged the rights of

individuals under Canadian law but was not a charter of rights and

freedoms (such as was enacted by legislation in 1982). He was at root

a populist. He strongly supported the interests of the common people,

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