Canadian Constitutional Government & Rights

This year marks the 140th anniversary of The Constitution Act (formerly called the British North America Act, 1867), and still known informally as the BNA Act), constitutes a major part of Canada's Constitution.

The Act entails the original creation of a federal dominion that united Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick in the Dominion of Canada. It defines much of the operation of the Government of Canada, including its federal structure, the House of Commons, the Senate, the justice system, and the taxation system.

It received its current name in 1982, with the patriation of the constitution (originally being enacted by the British Parliament). Amendments were also made at this time: section 92A was added, giving provinces greater control over non-renewable natural resources.

Activity

The history of Canada includes many events and people that have helped to establish the present Dominion of Canada. Research on Canadian government is especially appropriate now when celebrating the 140th anniversary of the BNA Act.

ProQuest has create a BookCart -- History of the Confederation of Canada -- that helps students to focus on their history and saves time in searching that can be reinvested in answering essential questions for critical thinking.

This BookCart includes four examples of these questions (teachers can create others) that engage students and require original thought and reasoned opinion. Student should answer at least two of the essential questions. You'll find that this BookCart contains all the information that students will need to produce a quality report, whether it's in a written report (model) of at least 150 words, or something more engaging such as a PowerPoint presentation (model).

Pathfinder to copy one or all of these ProQuest BookCarts:

• Open your eLibrary Canada Teacher Edition
  
  
• Click BookCart Admin at the top right
  
  
• Click the ProQuest Carts tab
  
  
• Select Canadian BookCarts
  
  
• Click the Copy icon for History of the Confederation of Canada
  
  
• Return to My Local Carts

Copied BookCarts will appear with "Copy of" as a title prefix. Click the BookCart Title to open the Editor, then remove "Copy of", add your name in the Author boxes, then save your new BookCart.