Patriation is a non-legal term used in Canada to describe a process of constitutional change, also known as homecoming, of the constitution. Up until 1982, Canada was governed by a constitution that was a British law and could be changed only by an act of the British parliament (only with the consent of the Canadian government). Patriation thus specifically refers to making the constitution amendable by Canada only, with no role for the Parliament of the United Kingdom to play in the amending process. Hence, patriation is associated with the adoption of the Canadian amending formula and the corresponding acquisition of full sovereignty.

The word patriation was invented in Canada and based upon the word repatriation, which means to return to one's country. As the Canadian constitution was originally a British law, it could not return to Canada.^[1] The term was first used in 1966 by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson in response to a question in parliament: "We intend to do everything we can to have the constitution of Canada repatriated, or patriated."^[2]

Early attempts[link]

From 1867, the Constitution of Canada was primarily contained in the British North America Act, 1867, and other British North America Acts, which were passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Several Canadian prime ministers, starting with William Lyon Mackenzie King in 1927, had made attempts to domesticize the amending formula, but could not obtain agreement with the provincial governments as to how such a formula would work. Thus, even after the Statute of Westminster granted Canada and other Commonwealth nations full legislative independence in 1931, Canada requested that the British North America Act, 1867, be excluded from the laws that were now within Canada's complete control to amend; until 1949, the constitution could only be changed by a further act at Westminster. The British North America (No.2) Act, 1949, granted the Parliament of Canada limited power to amend the constitution in many areas of its own jurisdiction, without involvement of the United Kingdom. The constitution was amended in this manner five times: in 1952, 1965, 1974, and twice in 1975.

This, however, did not stop continued negotiations between federal and provincial governments on the development of a new amending formula in which the United Kingdom would have no part. In the 1960s, efforts by the governments of Prime Ministers John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson culminated in the Fulton-Favreau formula, but without Quebec's endorsement, the patriation attempt failed. In 1968, Pearson was succeeded by Pierre Trudeau, who also advocated patriation. He made several attempts, including the Victoria Charter in 1971 and more proposed amendments in 1978.

Patriation achieved[link]

Patriation was given a new impetus after the 1980 Quebec referendum, in which Trudeau promised a new constitutional agreement if the province voted "No" to sovereignty-association. Trudeau found new allies in Premiers Bill Davis (Ontario) and Richard Hatfield (New Brunswick). However, there was disagreement over Trudeau's proposed Charter of Rights, which the other eight provinces opposed as encroachments on their power. The eight provinces were Quebec, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Newfoundland.

Soon the other eight premiers came to an agreement, and submitted their own plan for a constitution, without a Charter of Rights and with an "opt out" clause for federal programs with equivalent funding given to the province(s). They would be dubbed the "Gang of Eight" by the media. Surprisingly included among them was René Lévesque, because it meant Lévesque was refusing the traditional Quebec demand for a veto power over future constitutional amendments. Lévesque was not trusted by many in the group until he signed the document, and many of the "Gang's" later problems would be attributed to the fact that Lévesque thought the agreement was a final one when he signed it, not a starting point for negotiations as the other premiers understood it.

Trudeau rejected the proposed document out of hand, and then threatened to take the case for patriation straight to the British parliament "[without] bothering to ask one premier." The federal Cabinet and Crown counsel took the position that if the British Crown — in council, parliament, and on the bench — was to exercise its residual sovereignty over Canada, it did so at the request of the federal ministers of the Crown only.^[3] The Gang soon appealed to the courts. Justice Joseph O'Sullivan of the Manitoba Court of Appeal found that the federal government's position was incorrect; the constitutionally entrenched principle of responsible government meant that the Queen, as either Queen of Canada or of the United Kingdom, could not legislate for the provinces (i.e. alter their constitutions) only on the advice of her Canadian federal ministers; "Canada had not one responsible government but eleven."^[3] But the judges across the country were not unanimous in their conclusions on the matter.^[4] Further, officials in the United Kingdom indicated that the British parliament was under no obligation to fulfill any request for legal changes made by Trudeau, particularly if Canadian convention was not being followed.^[5] Still, the case went to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Patriation Reference[link]

The court ruled (for the first time, on live television) that the federal government had the right, by letter of the law, to proceed with the unilateral patriation of the constitution (the decision seven to two in favour). However, by a different six-to-three majority, the court said that the constitution was made up as much of convention as written law and ruled that a unilateral patriation was not in accordance with constitutional convention. Although the courts enforce laws, not constitutional conventions, the message was clear: agreement by a "substantial" number of premiers would be required.^[4] This number was not defined and commentators later criticised the court's failure to rule that the approval of all provinces was required.^[4][6][7]

The decision was controversial and a loss for the Gang. Lévesque would later remark: "In other words, Trudeau's goals might be unconstitutional, illegitimate, and even 'go against the principles of federalism,' but they were legal!" Trudeau, in his memoirs, paraphrased the court as saying "that patriation was legal, but not nice."

The Conference[link]

The decision set the stage for a meeting amongst all premiers and Trudeau in Ottawa, in November 1981. After two days of meetings came to a stalemate, Trudeau pitched an idea to Lévesque: to patriate the constitution as it was, but continue debates for two years and maybe even have a national referendum on certain issues. Lévesque, feeling threatened that he would be cast as "undemocratic" (especially after the recent referendum he initiated on Quebec's independence) agreed with Trudeau on the issue. Their respective memoirs have very different stories on the conversation.

The other seven opposition premiers were startled: Canadians nationwide were mostly in agreement with Trudeau on the issue and were tired of the constant constitutional talks. A referendum would surely give him what he wanted with the backing of the majority of the voting populace, undermining provincial powers. Even though Lévesque would later back off of the referendum proposal, saying it looked as though it was "written in Chinese," Trudeau had succeeded in breaking up the Gang of Eight. Lévesque went to sleep in Hull, Quebec, for the night, telling the other premiers to call him if anything happened.^{[citation needed]}

The Kitchen Accord controversy[link]

That night — November 4, 1981 — the Minister of Justice, Jean Chrétien, met with Attorney General of Saskatchewan Roy Romanow and Attorney General of Ontario Roy McMurtry in the kitchen of Ottawa's Government Conference Centre. The premiers agreed to get rid of the "opt out" clause, while Chrétien reluctantly offered to include the Notwithstanding Clause in the constitution. Hatfield and Davis agreed to the compromise and told Trudeau that he should take the deal. Trudeau accepted what would be called the Kitchen Accord. The men at the table that night became known as the Kitchen Cabinet.^{[citation needed]}

However, former Newfoundland premier Brian Peckford, one of the premiers present at the federal-provincial conference and the November 4 evening meeting, rebuked in an article in The Globe and Mail the events of that night as anything that resembled "The Kitchen Accord" or "Night of the Long Knives".^[8] He said four premiers, from Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, and senior representatives from Alberta and British Columbia, worked from a proposal that the Newfoundland delegations brought to the meeting. Efforts were made to reach the other provinces, including Quebec, to no avail. Beckford further asserted that Chrétien was not contacted and he had no knowledge of the "so-called kitchen meetings". The proposal agreed upon that night was essentially the same as the Newfoundland’s proposal except some minor word changes and adding a new section, and the final draft was to go to all the provinces for approval the following morning.^[8]

As they were all in Quebec, Lévesque and his people remained ignorant of the agreement until Lévesque walked into the premiers' breakfast and was told the agreement had been reached. Lévesque refused to give his support to the deal and left the meeting; the government of Quebec subsequently announced on November 25, 1981, that it would veto the decision. However, both the Quebec Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, which issued its ruling on the matter on December 6, 1982, stated that Quebec had never held such veto powers.^[9]

The events were very divisive. Quebec nationalists saw the deal as the English-speaking premiers betraying Quebec, which prompted use of the term Night of the Long Knives.^[10] In English Canada, Lévesque was seen as having tried to do the same to the English-speaking premiers by accepting the referendum. Among those was Brian Mulroney, who said that by "accepting Mr. Trudeau's referendum idea, Mr. Levesque himself abandoned, without notice, his colleagues of the common front." Jean Chrétien's role in the negotiations made him reviled among sovereigntists. Until the Quebec Liberals came to power in 1985, every law passed in Quebec used the Notwithstanding Clause.

Legal closure[link]

With the agreement of the majority of provincial governments, the Canada Act 1982 was also formally approved by the governments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In a joint address in the Canadian parliament, the Queen was asked to amend the constitution and she, as Queen of the United Kingdom, granted Royal Assent to the Canada Act on March 29, 1982, 115 years to the day since Queen Victoria gave assent to the British North America Act 1867.^[11] The Canada Act contained the Constitution Act, 1982, which itself included an amending formula involving only Canadian governments. Section 2 of the Canada Act, meanwhile, plainly states that no subsequent UK law "shall extend to Canada as part of its law", while item 17 of its schedule also amends the Statute of Westminster removing the "request and consent" provision.^[12]

Elizabeth II, the Queen of Canada, proclaimed the patriated constitution in Ottawa on April 17, 1982. On the royal proclamation parchment were spaces for the signatures of the Queen, Trudeau, and the Registrar General of Canada; at the signing ceremony, however, Trudeau offered Chrétien an opportunity to also place his name on the document. The pen's nib had, by that point, been broken, leading Chrétien to utter under his breath "merde!" (French for "shit"), which the Queen overheard and laughed at.^[13] The broken pen caused a smudge at the end of Chrétien's signature. The desk upon which the proclamation was signed (known as the Constitution Table) resides in the office of the Speaker of the Senate of Canada.^[14]

The Queen was aware of the rift Quebec's exclusion had caused. Thus, being aware that this was the first time in Canadian history that a major constitutional change had been made without the Quebec government's agreement, the Queen privately expressed to journalists her regret that Quebec was not part of the settlement.^[15] Quebec sovereigntists have since demanded that the Queen or another member of the Canadian Royal Family apologize for the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1982, calling the event a part of a "cultural genocide of francophones in North America over the last 400 years."^[16]

Legal questions[link]

As constitutional scholar Robin White has noted, some might think that, since the Canada Act 1982 is British as well as Canadian law, the United Kingdom could theoretically repeal it and declare its laws to be binding in Canada. Hogg, however, disputes this view, noting that since Canada is now sovereign, the Supreme Court of Canada would find a British law supposedly binding in Canada to be just as invalid in Canada "as a law enacted for Canada by Portugal."^[17] Paul Romney argued in 1999 that, regardless of what the British authorities did, the constitutional principle of responsible government in Canada denied them the right to ever again legislate for Canada; he stated: "[T]he constitutional convention known as responsible government entailed legal as well as political sovereignty. Responsible government meant that the Queen of Canada could constitutionally act for Canada only on the advice of her Canadian ministers. If the British parliament were to legislate for Canada except at the request of the competent Canadian authorities, and the Queen assented to that legislation on the advice of her British ministers, Canadian courts would refuse to enforce that legislation."^[18]

References[link]

External links[link]

The Wiktionary entry for patriation

Michael David Chong, PC, MP (traditional Chinese: 莊文浩; simplified Chinese: 庄文浩; Mandarin Pinyin: Zhuàng Wénhào; Jyutping: Zong1 Man4 Hou6, born November 22, 1971) is a Canadian politician. He has represented the riding of Wellington—Halton Hills in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004. He served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Sport, as well as the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada from February 6, 2006 to November 27, 2006. Chong is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Early life and career[link]

Chong was born to a Hong Kong father^[1] and a Dutch mother in Windsor, Ontario. He was raised near Fergus in Wellington County, and from Centre Wellington District High School. He studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History at the University of Toronto's Trinity College, interrupting his studies to take a job with Canadian Tire.^[2] He later completed his degree in Philosophy.^[3] Chong has worked in information technology, holding senior positions at Barclays Bank and Research Capital Corporation. Prior to his election, he worked as Chief Information Officer for the National Hockey League Players Association and was a senior technology consultant at the GTAA for the redevelopment of Toronto Pearson International Airport.^[4]

Chong was a founding member of The Dominion Institute.^[5] He served on the board of the Groves Memorial Hospital from 2002 to 2004, later serving on the board of the Elora Festival and Elora Festival Singers as well as the Corporation of Trinity College.

Chong is married to Caroline (Carrie) Joan Davidson who is a descendant of William Whiteway, a pro-Confederation politician who served as Premier of Newfoundland in the 1890s.^[6][7] They have three sons, William (born 2004), Alistair (born 2007) and Cameron (born 2009), and live just outside of Fergus in Wellington County.

Politician[link]

Chong joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the late 1980s.^[8] He ran for parliament in the 2000 federal election as a Progressive Conservative, and finished third Waterloo—Wellington against incumbent Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Lynn Myers. Chong supported Peter MacKay for the leadership of the federal PC party in 2003.^[9]

Conservative MP[link]

In early 2004, the Progressive Conservatives merged with the Canadian Alliance to create the Conservative Party of Canada. Chong joined the new party, and in March 2004 defeated Marty Burke to win its nomination for Wellington—Halton Hills.^[10] He was elected in the 2004 federal election, defeating Liberal Bruce Hood by over 2,000 votes.

Chong is primarily known as a fiscal conservative, and is considered a moderate in his party. He declared his personal support for the Kyoto Protocol during the 2004 federal election, despite his party's opposition to the measure.^[11] He supported Elizabeth Witmer's bid to lead the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in 2001-02, and supported John Tory for the same position in 2004.^[12]

Chong wrote an opinion editorial for the Globe and Mail newspaper in late 2004 entitled "Canadians without hyphens", criticizing John Barber's suggestion that there were not enough Chinese-Canadian MPs representing areas with large Chinese populations. Chong noted he was elected in a riding with a 97% caucasian population, while John McCallum was elected in Markham—Unionville, which is more than 60% Asian. Chong argued that these results reflected his idea of Canada, adding that he favoured the creation of a "common Canadian identity that will allow for greater understanding among ethnic groups".^[13]

Like most Conservative MPs, Chong voted against the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Canada in 2005. A majority of MPs from other parties supported the measure, however, and same-sex marriages were granted legal recognition. In December 2006, Chong reversed his previous position and became one of thirteen Conservative MPs to vote against re-opening the marriage debate.^[14]

Cabinet minister[link]

Chong was re-elected in the 2006 federal election. In February 2006, he was appointed to the cabinet in Stephen Harper's government as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, and Minister of Sport. He was the second Chinese-Canadian cabinet minister in Canadian history, after Raymond Chan. On November 27, 2006, Michael Chong resigned his cabinet post as he did not support a government motion recognizing the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister[link]

In the buildup to the 2006 federal budget, Chong met with various provincial representatives to discuss ways of approaching Canada's equalization formula between the federal government and the provinces. Prior to the budget's release, he described the existing system as "a mess".^[15] Some politicians in Ontario expressed concern that the deal would be unduly favourable to Quebec and unfavourable to their province.^[16] Later in the year, Harper government indicated that it would automatically transfer future surpluses to the provinces.^[17]

In September 2006, the Canadian media reported that the Harper government was considering a plan to transfer $3 billion to the provinces each year. Every province except Newfoundland and Labrador would gain revenue, with Quebec gaining the most at $1.1 billion.^[18]

Minister of Sport[link]

In early 2006, Chong said that his government would fulfill an election pledge to devote 1% of federal health spending (about $350 million) to health promotion and amateur sports.^[19] He represented the Harper government as a representative at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.^[20] This funding did not appear in the 2006 budget, although the Harper government introduced an annual sports tax credit of $80 per child.^[21]

In June 2006, Chong indicated that the federal government would not provide federal funding to the "Out Games", a gay-and-lesbian themed athletic competition held in Montreal.^[22] The following month, Chong provided $395,000 to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, to make its collection accessible online.^[23] He has also discussed the possibility of restarting Canada's ParticipACTION program, which encourages ordinary citizens to become more involved in sports and athletic events.^[24] The program was restarted in February 2007, after Chong resigned from cabinet.^[25]

Chong pledged $3.5 million to the 2008 North American Indigenous Games in early November 2006.^[26] Later in the same month, he announced the creation of Podium Canada to consolidate Canada's medal strategies for the Summer and Winter Olympics.^[27]

Other[link]

Chong opposes using the Great Lakes as a water source for inland communities. He has expressed concern about depopulation in rural Ontario, and supports continued door-to-door rural mail service programs.^[28]

Resignation[link]

Chong unexpectedly resigned from cabinet on November 27, 2006, to express his opposition to a motion before the House of Commons, put forward by Prime Minister Harper, which recognized "the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada". Chong said that the motion was akin to ethnic nationalism, which he opposes. During the press conference he held to announce his decision, he said "I believe in one nation, undivided, called Canada".^[29]

Wikinews has related news: Canadian Cabinet Minister resigns over Harper's Quebec motion

Table of offices held[link]

Electoral record[link]

All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Michael Chong - Parliament of Canada biography
• How'd They Vote?: Mike Chong's voting history and quotes

v t e   Current Members of the House of Commons of Canada Government v t e Conservative Party Harper Ablonczy Adams Adler Aglukkaq Albas Albrecht Alexander Allen Allison Ambler Ambrose Anders Anderson Armstrong Ashfield Aspin Baird Bateman Benoit Bernier Bezan Blaney Block Boughen Braid Breitkreuz G. Brown L. Brown P. Brown Bruinooge Butt Calandra Calkins Cannan Carmichael Carrie Chisu Chong Clarke Clement Daniel Davidson Dechert Del Mastro Devolin Dreeshen Duncan Dykstra Fantino Fast Findlay Finley Flaherty Fletcher Galipeau Gallant Gill Glover Goguen Goodyear Gosal Gourde Grewal Harris Hawn Hayes Hiebert Hillyer Hoback Hoeppner Holder James Jean Kamp Keddy Kenney Kent Kerr Komarnicki Kramp Lake Lauzon Lebel Leef Leitch Lemieux Leung Lizon Lobb Lukiwski Lunney McColeman MacKay MacKenzie McLeod Mayes Merrifield Menegakis Menzies Miller J. Moore R. Moore Nicholson Norlock Obhrai O'Connor Oda Oliver O'Neill-Gordon Opitz Paradis Payne Penashue Poilievre Preston Raitt Rajotte Rathgeber Reid Rempel Richards Rickford Ritz Saxton Scheer Schellenberger Seeback Shea Shipley Shory Smith Sopuck Sorenson Stanton Storseth Strahl Sweet Tilson Toet Toews Trost Trottier Truppe Tweed Uppal Valcourt Van Kesteren Van Loan Vellacott Wallace Warawa Warkentin Watson J. Weston R. Weston Wilks Williamson Wong Woodworth Yelich T. Young W. Young Zimmer Official Opposition v t e New Democratic Party Mulcair Allen Angus Ashton Atamanenko Ayala Aubin Benskin Bevington Blanchette Blanchette-Lamothe Boivin Borg Boulerice Boutin-Sweet Brahmi Brosseau Caron Cash Charlton Chicoine Chisholm Choquette Chow Christopherson Cleary Comartin Côté Crowder Cullen D. Davies L. Davies Day Dewar Dionne Labelle Donnelly Doré Lefebvre Dubé Duncan Dusseault Freeman Garrison Genest Genest-Jourdain Giguère Godin Gravelle Groguhé D. Harris J. Harris Hassainia Hughes Jacob Julian Kellway Larose Lapointe Latendresse Laverdière LeBlanc Leslie Liu Mai Marston Martin Masse Mathyssen Michaud Moore D. Morin I. Morin M-A. Morin M-C. Morin Nantel Nash Nicholls Nunez-Melo Papillon Patry Péclet Perreault Pilon Quach Rafferty Ravignat Raynault Rousseau Saganash Sandhu Savoie Scott Sellah Sims Sitsabaiesan Stewart Stoffer Sullivan Thibeault Toone Tremblay Turmel Third Party v t e Liberal Party Rae Andrews Bélanger Bennett Brison Byrne Casey Coderre Cotler Cuzner Dion Duncan Easter Eyking Foote Fry Garneau Goodale Hsu Karygiannis Lamoureux LeBlanc MacAulay McCallum McGuinty McKay Murray Pacetti Regan Scarpaleggia Sgro Simms St-Denis Trudeau Valeriote Independents v t e Bloc Québécois Plamondon Bellavance Fortin Mourani v t e Green Party May v t e Independent Goldring Hyer 41st Canadian Parliament Vacancies: 1

v t e   Presidents of the Privy Council Blair Howe Kenny Tupper O'Connor McDonald Huntington Cauchon Blake O'Connor Masson Mousseau McLelan Macdonald Colby Abbott Ives Bowell Angers Laurier Borden Rowell Calder Normand King Meighen King Bennett King St-Laurent Chevrier Dorion Diefenbaker Lamontagne McIlraith Favreau Gordon Trudeau (acting) MacEachen (acting) D. Macdonald MacEachen Sharp MacEachen Baker Pinard Ouellet Nielsen Hnatyshyn Mazankowski Clark Blais Massé Dion Coderre Robillard Chong Van Loan Ambrose Verner Penashue

v t e Ministers of Intergovermental Affairs Ministers of State (Federal-Provincial Relations) (1977-1991) Lalonde Reid Jarvis Murray Minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs (1991-1993) Clark Minister responsible for Federal-Provincial Relations (1993) Campbell Ministers of Intergovermental Affairs (1993-) Massé Dion Pettigrew Robillard Chong Van Loan Ambrose Verner Penashue