Patriation of the Canadian Constitution: Comparative Federalism in a New Context

The Canadian constitution, also known as the British North America Act, 1867, has been patriated. Of that bundle of sticks that, fastened together, constitute sovereign autonomy, a significant few continued to rest with the British Parliament until 1982—a condition the Canadians found humiliating and the British embarrassing. With the passage of the Canada Act by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on March 29, 1982, and with royal approval, the Canadians became masters of their own house, having gained complete internal powers of constitutional amendment. But an equally important constitutional event was the process of patriation itself inasmuch as it demonstrated the continuing vitality of federalism in Canada