Section 2 of the ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: article 2 de la Loi constitutionnelle de 1867) is a repealed provision of the

Constitution of Canada The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents a ...

relating to the monarch of Canada. It defined the term "Her Majesty the Queen" for the purposes of the ''

Constitution Act, 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...

''. The ''

'' is the constitutional statute which established

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Originally named the ''

British North America Act, 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...

'', the Act continues to be the foundational statute for the Constitution of Canada, although it has been amended many times since 1867. It is now recognised as part of the supreme law of Canada.

''Constitution Act, 1867''

The ''

'' is part of the

and thus part of the supreme law of

. It was the product of extensive negotiations by the governments of the

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...

n provinces in the 1860s. The Act sets out the constitutional framework of Canada, including the structure of the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

and the powers of the federal government and the provinces. Originally enacted in 1867 by the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

under the name the ''British North America Act, 1867'', in 1982 the Act was brought under full Canadian control through the

Patriation Patriation is the political process that led to full Canadian sovereignty, culminating with the Constitution Act, 1982. The process was necessary because under the Statute of Westminster 1931, with Canada's agreement at the time, the Parliament o ...

of the Constitution, and was renamed the ''

''. Since

, the Act can only be amended in Canada, under the amending formula set out in the ''

Constitution Act, 1982 The ''Constitution Act, 1982'' (french: link=no, Loi constitutionnelle de 1982) is a part of the Constitution of Canada.Formally enacted as Schedule B of the ''Canada Act 1982'', enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Section 60 of t ...

''.

Repealed text of section 2

As originally enacted, section 2 read: Section 2 was found in Part I of the ''Constitution Act, 1867'', dealing with preliminary matters.

Repeal

Section 2 was repealed by the British Parliament in 1893, in the '' Statute Law Revision Act 1893'', which repealed outdated provisions of British statutes which no longer had any effect. The repeal may have been because the British Parliament had enacted a new ''Interpretation Act'' which had a general provision defining the monarch in legislation, and it was felt that there was no need for a specific provision in other legislation.

Purpose and interpretation

Section 2 defined the term "Her Majesty the Queen" as used in the ''Constitution Act, 1867''. Even though section 2 has been repealed, the courts have held that the references to the British monarch in the Preamble to the ''Constitution Act, 1867'', as well as in section 9 of the Act, relating to the executive powers, establish that the

British monarch The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

is also the

monarch of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the found ...

.''O’Donohue v. Canada'', 2003 CanLII 41404 (ON SC)

References

{{Reflist Constitution of Canada Canadian Confederation Federalism in Canada