Section 17 of the Constitution Act, 1867
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| Constitution Act, 1867 |
|---|
| Part of the Constitution of Canada |
| PREAMBLE |
| I. PRELIMINARY |
| 1, 2 |
| II. UNION |
| 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| III. EXECUTIVE POWER |
| 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 |
| IV. LEGISLATIVE POWER |
| 17, 18, 19, 20 |
| The Senate |
| 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 |
| The House of Commons |
| 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51(1), 51(2), 51A, 52 |
| Money Votes; Royal Assent |
| 53, 54, 55, 56, 57 |
|
V. PROVINCIAL CONSTITUTIONS Executive Power |
| 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68 |
| Legislative Power |
| 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 90Q, 90S |
| VI. DISTRIBUTION OF LEGISLATIVE POWERS |
| 91, 92, 92A, 93, 93A, 94, 94A, 95 |
| VII. JUDICATURE |
| 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101 |
| VIII. REVENUES; DEBTS; ASSETS; TAXATION |
| 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126 |
| IX. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS |
| 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144 |
| X. INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY |
| 145 |
| XI. ADMISSION OF OTHER COLONIES |
| 146, 147 |
| SCHEDULES |
|
First: Electoral Districts of Ontario Second: Electoral Districts of Quebec Third: Property of Canada Fourth: Property of Ontario and Quebec Fifth: Allegiance and Senate Qualification Sixth: Natural Resources |
| COMING INTO FORCE |
| Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1867 |
Section 17 of the Constitution Act, 1867 (French: article 17 de la Loi constitutionnelle de 1867) is the provision of the Constitution of Canada which created the federal Parliament of Canada. The Parliament is composed of the King of Canada; the appointed upper house, the Senate of Canada; and the elected lower house, the House of Commons of Canada. Political power rests mainly with the elected House of Commons.
The Constitution Act, 1867 is the constitutional statute which established Canada. Originally named the British North America Act, 1867, 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.
The Constitution Act, 1867 is part of the Constitution of Canada and thus part of the supreme law of Canada.[1][2] The Act sets out the constitutional framework of Canada, including the structure of the federal government and the powers of the federal government and the provinces. It was the product of extensive negotiations between the provinces of British North America at the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, the Quebec Conference in 1864, and the London Conference in 1866.[3][4] Those conferences were followed by consultations with the British government in 1867.[3][5] The Act was then enacted in 1867 by the British Parliament under the name the British North America Act, 1867.[6][7] In 1982 the Act was brought under full Canadian control through the Patriation of the Constitution, and was renamed the Constitution Act, 1867.[2][6] Since Patriation the Act can only be amended in Canada, under the amending formula set out in the Constitution Act, 1982.[8][9][10]
Text of section 17
Section 17 reads:
Constitution of Parliament of Canada
17 There shall be One Parliament for Canada, consisting of the Queen, an Upper House styled the Senate, and the House of Commons.[11]
Section 17 is found in Part IV of the Constitution Act, 1867, dealing with the federal legislative power.
Legislative history
This provision went through a number of changes in the legislative process. The first version, set out in the Quebec Resolutions, read:
6. There shall be a General Legislature or Parliament for the Federated Provinces, composed of a Legislative Council and a House of Commons.[12]
Two years later, the version adopted at the London Conference added the monarch:
6. There shall be a General Legislature or Parliament for the Confederation, composed of the Sovereign, a Legislative Council, and a House of Commons.[13]
In the first rough draft of the bill, the equivalent provision was modelled on the London Resolution version, and included the monarch, but in the next draft, the monarch was omitted.[14] In the third draft, the monarch was again included and the Legislative Council re-named the Senate:
10. From and after the Union, there shall be within and for the Kingdom of Canada, one General Parliament, which shall be composed of the Queen, an Upper Chamber to be called the Senate, and a House of Commons.[15]
The provision did not take its current form until the final draft, prior to the introduction of the bill in the British Parliament.[16]
Section 17 has not been amended since the Act was enacted in 1867. The reference to "the Queen" does not change when the monarch is a king.[11]