What happened on April 17, 1982?

On April 17, 1982 Queen Elizabeth II signed the Constitution Act, 1982 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, patriating the Canadian Constitution from Britain, adding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and adding a Canadian amending formula. April 17, 1982 is the date of full Canadian constitutional sovereignty. The patriation completed a process begun by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and made the Canadian Constitution amendable in Canada for the first time. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is widely credited with patriation as his most consequential single achievement.

The Constitution Act, 1982 was contained as Schedule B of the Canada Act of 1982 (1982 c. 11), passed by the British Parliament on March 25, 1982 and signed by the Queen on March 29, 1982. The Canada Act terminated the British Parliament's authority to legislate for Canada. The Constitution Act, 1982 was proclaimed in force in Canada on April 17, 1982 by the Queen. The proclamation ceremony took place on Parliament Hill in heavy rain. Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Trudeau, and Quebec Premier René Lévesque all attended (Lévesque protested by absence elsewhere on Parliament Hill rather than at the signing ceremony itself).

The Constitution Act, 1982 had four major components. Part I (sections 1 to 34) is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guaranteeing fundamental freedoms (section 2), democratic rights (sections 3 to 5), mobility rights (section 6), legal rights (sections 7 to 14), equality rights (section 15), official language rights (sections 16 to 22), minority-language education rights (section 23), and remedies (section 24), subject to the section 1 reasonable limits clause and the section 33 notwithstanding clause. Part II (section 35) recognises and affirms existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Indigenous peoples of Canada, a constitutional recognition demanded by Indigenous lobbying including the Constitution Express. Part III (section 36) commits to equalisation. Part V (sections 38 to 49) provides the amending formula.

The patriation completed Canadian constitutional sovereignty but produced ongoing controversy. Quebec's refusal to consent to the package created a profound constitutional anomaly: Quebec is constitutionally bound by the Constitution Act, 1982 but has never formally accepted it. The subsequent Meech Lake Accord of 1987 and Charlottetown Accord of 1992 attempted to secure Quebec's consent but both failed. The 1995 Quebec referendum produced a near-tie (50.58 per cent No to 49.42 per cent Yes), showing that the constitutional issue remained unresolved. Quebec's outstanding constitutional grievances include the lack of consent to the 1982 package, the absence of a constitutional veto for Quebec, and the limited recognition of Quebec as a 'distinct society'. Despite these continuing issues, April 17, 1982 marks the foundation of modern Canadian constitutional law.