parliament, it was the most important part of the
Canadian constitutional process since the British
North America Act of 1867 first created a Canadian
constitution. Before the 1982 act passed, the involve-
ment of the United Kingdom was necessary for any
modification of Canada’s constitution, because the
British retained formal, legal powers over their for-
mer colony. Afterward, Canadians gained complete
control of their nation and its laws.
The Catalyst for Change More than a century
elapsed between the creation of a constitution for
Canada in 1867 and its patriation. The exceptionally
long delay had little to do with British opposition.
The several amendments made to the constitution
were automatically adopted by the United King-
dom’s legislature. The primary reason for the ex-
tensive time lag was the substantial disagreement
among Canadians regarding a process for amending
their constitution. In particular, they failed to agree
on the degree to which the federal government
needed the provinces’ approval for changes prior to
sending the British a formal request for an amend-
ment.
Precipitating Canada’s efforts finally to patriate
its constitution was Quebec’s referendum on inde-
pendence in 1980. In an attempt to persuade the
Québécois to vote against the measure, Canadian
prime minister Pierre Trudeau stated that he would
pursue constitutional changes as a method to ad-174 Canada Act of 1982 The Eighties in America
The official proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982, by Queen Elizabeth II of England, signed April 17, 1982.(Library and Ar-
chives Canada)