|
Toronto Sun
April 18, 1982
Canada’s Constitution Act of 1982 signified the achievement of full independence from the United Kingdom. With the act Canada established its Charter of Rights and Freedoms and gained the right to amend its own constitution. Despite the popularity of the new constitution throughout most of Canada, provincial leaders in Québec refused to endorse it because they wanted guarantees of greater protection for the province’s French Canadian culture. This Toronto Sun article reveals the reactions of Canadians as Queen Elizabeth II signed the new Canadian constitution into law.
By Derik Hodgson
OTTAWA — The Constitution came home in a warm spring rain.
 |
|
Also on Encarta |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
The Royals, the politicians and the masses mingled in the wet as history was made in a cloudburst.
While the rain dampened a day it didn't douse a patriotic spirit as Canada got a Constitution.
At 11:37 a.m. yesterday, Queen Elizabeth wrote her name on a piece of paper and officially proclaimed a made-in-Canada Constitution complete with a Charter of Basic Rights and Freedoms and an amending formula.
|
|
Also on MSN |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The signing was the last step in the 115-year road to full nationhood.
As she signed the parchment, thousands of tiny Maple Leaf flags fluttered in the wind and a throaty cheer went up from nearly 100,000 people who had mustered in the wet to watch history made.
Both the Queen and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau referred to Quebec and made it clear that the absence of Premier Rene Levesque was noted.
Trudeau put it bluntly:
'The government of Quebec decided that it wasn't enough. It decided not to participate in this ceremony, celebrating Canada's full independence.
'I know that many Quebecers feel themselves pulled in two directions by that decision. But one need look only at the results of the referendum in May 1980 to realize how strong is the attachment to Canada among the people of Quebec.
'By definition, the silent majority does not make a lot of noise. It is content to make history.'
The Queen was more oblique in her reference but made almost the same point.
'Although we regret the absence of the premier of Quebec, it is right to associate the people of Quebec with this ceremony because, without them, Canada would not be what it is today,' she said.
As the Queen spoke, the rain-swollen clouds unzipped and the torrent drowned out most of her speech to the thousands assembled on the lawns.
As Trudeau spoke — amid the choreographed pageantry of massed choirs, scarlet-clad soldiers and cheering patriots — Mother Nature added a touch of her own to the spectacle: A flock of Canadian geese circled the hill and then pushed off through the rain to the north country.
While the downpour saw umbrellas sprout like mushrooms, few people fled the rains.
'I don't care if I'm wet … it's fun, it's fun,' a freckled Girl Guide said as the rain dripped off her nose.
The Queen, sheltered by a canopy and later by an umbrella, was the focal point for the day.
While the patriation of the Constitution may be the capstone of Pierre Trudeau's career, he took a back seat to the Queen of Canada yesterday.
Dressed in a turquoise-blue suit, the Queen captured the hearts of the thousands.
A tiny girl thrust a bouquet of flowers forward as the Queen walked by. As a suspicious security staff glowered, the Queen clutched them to her breast and said thank you.
For those who could hear the Queen over the whispering rain, there was food for the mind in her royal words.
'It is one of the quirks of history that over a century should have passed before Canada obtained her own Constitution formulated by Canadians and approved by her own Parliament.
'But the years have not been wasted, and a great nation has grown up in this magnificent land,' Her Majesty said.
But, she warned, constitutions are simply words on paper.
'It is the commitment of the people that alone can transform a printed constitution or charter into a living and dynamic reality,' she said. 'The strength of Canada's new Constitution lies not in the words it contains, but in the foundation upon which it rests, the desire of the people of Canada that their country remain united and strong.'
The Constitution radically alters the fundamental laws that govern the land.
It won't be noticeable at first but it now exists.
The old laws still hold but now there is a new cornerstone to the democracy called Canada.
As the spring rains washed away the dirty snow and the geese flew north, Trudeau may have said it best:
'I simply wish that the bringing home of our Constitution marks the end of a long winter, the breaking up of the ice-jams and the beginning of a new spring.'
Copyright 1982, Sun Media Corporation. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Appears in
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; Constitution of Canada; Canada; British North America Act
|
Hotmail
Messenger
My MSN
MSN Directory
Appears in