What was the Constitution Express?

The Constitution Express was an Indigenous political mobilisation in 1980 to 1981 that organised cross-Canada train journeys from Vancouver to Ottawa to lobby for explicit Indigenous rights in the patriated Canadian Constitution. The Constitution Express helped secure section 35 (existing Aboriginal and treaty rights) and section 25 (preservation of rights from the Royal Proclamation of 1763) in the Constitution Act, 1982. The mobilisation also extended to the United Nations and the European Parliament, internationalising Indigenous opposition to patriation without Indigenous consent.

The Constitution Express was launched by George Manuel, President of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC). Manuel was a Secwepemc leader who had been President of the National Indian Brotherhood (1970 to 1976) and the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (1975 to 1981). When Pierre Trudeau's federal government introduced the Constitution Act package in October 1980, Indigenous leaders feared that patriation without Indigenous-rights protections would entrench the Indian Act framework and weaken claims to Aboriginal title. Manuel and other Indigenous leaders organised the Constitution Express to lobby for explicit constitutional protection.

The first Constitution Express train left Vancouver on November 24, 1980 with about 1,000 First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and non-Indigenous passengers. The train stopped at Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Sudbury, Toronto, and other cities along the way. About 4,000 people gathered for a rally in Ottawa on November 28, 1980. Trudeau refused to meet directly with the delegates. A second Constitution Express in March 1981 took an Indigenous delegation to New York (meeting with the United Nations), London (lobbying the British Parliament), and the Hague (the Netherlands). A Constitutional Express International of April 1981 went to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. The international lobbying significantly raised the profile of Indigenous opposition to Canadian patriation.

The Constitution Express's effects were substantial. Section 35 (which recognises and affirms 'existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada') was added to the Constitution Act, 1982. Section 25 (which protects Aboriginal rights and freedoms from being abrogated by Charter rights) was also added. Section 35.1 (committing to constitutional conferences with Indigenous peoples) was added in 1983. The November 1981 Kitchen Accord had originally proposed dropping section 35 (in response to provincial concerns), but an additional Indigenous-rights lobbying campaign in late November 1981 (led by figures including AFN National Chief Del Riley, Métis leader Jim Sinclair, and Inuit leader John Amagoalik) restored section 35 with the word 'existing' added. The Constitution Express is widely regarded as a foundational moment of modern Indigenous political organising. George Manuel died in 1989; his son Arthur Manuel continued the family's Indigenous-rights work into the 21st century. A 2021 documentary 'The Constitution Express' marked the 40th anniversary.