I don't recall the context, but I remember a proposal that any new law would have to be done with the elimination of another law. Presumably with a net reduction in the number of words. California also has a huge constitution and has had some omnibus legislation that "modernized" it by amending many areas. Did something foul slip through? Probably.
It will be a race to see whether he can finish reading it before the Supreme Court puts more statutes under the constitutional umbrella. My guess is the Supreme Court would get competitive.
"Canada has one of the strangest constitutions in the western world." Me, currently at law school in new Zealand studying the mess that is our constitutional law; "oh really." my conclusion is Britain just fucked up constitutions for all of us
@@janmelantu7490 guess what separation of powers is one of the main parts of our constitution as well! And as for the systems, I personally prefer ours anyway. The mess is just from just not all written down in one place like yours, the actual content of it is pretty solid.
NZ like Canada technically do not have an actual constitution, but rather a framework of laws that act like a constitution but not actually one. 5 Countries in the world operate like this, all products of the British Empire
@@adamlangton1967 lol ok. It's adorable how you angsty post-modern diet commies think you are your own thing. You are spoiled little satellite states of American hegemony who we bounce on our knee and let you play make-believe in your cute little socialist sandbox on daddy's dime. Doesn't bother us at all, your entitled attitude is our cross to bear. I don't even know where you're from, and it doesn't matter. Since you're b****ing about about America like a spoiled 14 year old in English on a smartphone, it's more than safe to assume this applies to you because we saved and propped up the entire developed world a million times over. Don't grow up. Never change. God Bless America.
@@adamlangton1967 someone who quotes statistics like that and virtue signals leftist talking points. Here half of us respect our founding based on western enlightenment ideology and the inherent value of the free individual. The other half of us think like you do and are leeches on society. I have Healthcare and I'm highly educated. Here's a novel concept... I pay for it. And like all good products that compete in a free economy, I receive superior quality at a fair price. I can more than afford it, and the hospitals bend over backwards to give me the best cutting edge care in the world faster than anyone else with no bureaucratic red tape slowing them down. We also do have free Healthcare and education to benefit the poor. It''s called Medicare and federal education. Both suck and raise the price for productive citizens. Half of Americans also subsidize ALL of the world's medical research and advancement. Your country collectively bargains at hostage rates with an artificially low cap to get your tax payers a lower rate that barely covers the cost and allows only for the smallest of profit margins that any doctor or medical researcher will tell you is insulting for existing medical products and services. Private American policy holders fund 100 percent of medical discovery and advancement. Your welcome again, free Healthcare boy. And guns? Oh yes we have guns. Our worst hell hole cities ban them and that's where all the violence is. However, if you want to bring crime into my home, good luck.
Fun fact: because the preambule in the 1867 constitutional act says so, all British unwritten constitutional principles are now part of the modern Canadian constitution as well, making the constitution even larger (and weirder)! These principles include stuff like ministerial responsibility and the fact there is a prime minister that’s different from other ministers. It also means that documents like the UK Bill of Rights from 1689 and the Magna Carta are technically part of the Canadian constitution as well.
Only 4 clauses of the magnaxarte are in affect. And they're powers are granted from else where. So arguably the magna carte is no more in affect than the 10 commandments. Yeah. Murder is still wrong. But not because the bible says so. Yeah. Towns still need structure but in line with town councils according their legislation and not the magna carte
@@damenwhelan3236 and two of those clauses explicitly apply to things that are in the UK (one guarantees the rights and freedoms of the City of London, the other one guarantees the same for the Church of England). The two that do still apply (clauses 39 and 40), which guarantee the right of all men for a trial by a jury of their peers, and habeas corpus (which is one of the reasons it was so groundbreaking), remain of course part of the UK constitution, such as it is.
If I’m not mistaken, British unwritten constitutional principles apply to all common law countries. Devin Stone from Legal Eagle (who’s an American lawyer) mentions English common law and the Magna Carta in a lot of his videos.
I mean Ireland’s constitution is interesting in the sense that every single amendment has to be passed by popular vote in a national referendum. So far there have been 32 amendments approved by the electorate since the constitution’s adoption in 1937. There were 11 amendments rejected by the electorate, so this has lead to the weird situation where the list of amendments skips some numbers. For example, there is no 24th or 25th amendment because they were rejected in a referendum. So it just goes from 23rd to 26th amendment.
Learning about the Canadian constitution makes me really glad as an Australian that the colonial authorities had a test run to figure everything out before our federation.
Fun fact, the Canadian Constitution Act 1867, just says it includes the UK Constitution in the Preamble. So all the unwritten constitutional conventions from the pre 1867 UK constitution (Such as the bill of rights, ect) could be considered part of the Canadian constitution.
It's written in Canadian. In plain American English, it says: 'Feel free to abolish the constitution and call an election, just keep yer hands off the wheelchairs and the french.' But seriously, the PM has immediate and unlimited power if he has the house votes, except he doesn't have the power to prevent freedom of movement to polling stations. We live in a 5-year dictatorship. The supreme court is technically in charge, tho.
It was really meant to be a compromise clause. The provinces were not willing to give up power to the SCC completely on most issues so they only agreed to ratify the Charter if the s. 33 was included. In practice it is really only Quebec that uses it, which is funny because they never officially signed onto the Charter.
@@stevengoetz6773 Ford threatened to use it, but the Court of Appeal for Ontario unanimously granted a stay on the lower court's ruling, making the Notwithstanding clause unnecessary.
@@vgkstone9692 The very sparing use of Section 33 is a perfect example of a situation in which democratic values are being protected not by actual laws but instead by customs and norms. The problem with customs and norms is that all you need is one authoritarian who has no affection or respect for democratic traditions and will instead do anything to increase their power for those norms to be destroyed. If the US Constitution had something like section 33 (thank goodness it doesn't), I have no doubt in my mind Trump would've used it with little regard for the consequences.
@@Christopher_TG I doubt trump would have used it, he had full support from the American people and the establishment to implement the insurrection act during the riots in the summer which resulted in cities and their streets being burnt to the ground. Also rest in peace to the 30 people who died during those riots. But anyways he had all that support to implement that kind of power and he refused. He has 4 years and a lot of excuses to use those types of powers and never did. (To my knowledge). That clause will sit dormant for a while until enough is eroded away from our charter that invoking that clause won’t matter anymore. I doubt it would be used outright, that would be a poor strategy and would most likely result in people turning on someone using that kind of power out of the blue. It would have to get much much worse before that clause is invoked and used to seriously harm the country and it’s people. (Just my opinion)
I think we Australians learnt from Canada when we made our constitution in 1901. The Australian constitution ALWAYS had a domestic ammending provision through referenda. Any UK changes to the Constitution Act would be invalid and have no effect in Australia. The referendum provision has made amendments rare but we do have a much "cleaner" constitutional history than Canada as a result. In 1986 the Australian and UK parliaments passed the "Australia Act" which removed any authority for the UK to legislate for the States. Until then the Australian States were technically still separate colonies of Britain while the Federal Government was legislatively independent since the Statute of Westminster, It was a bit confusing. The Australia Act also specified that it was "An Act to bring constitutional arrangements affecting the Commonwealth and the States into conformity with the status of the Commonwealth of Australia as a sovereign, independent and federal nation". So our High Court has interpreted it as a final declaration of independence. Also no Charter/Bill of Rights here. It is a constant debate. Some rights such as "Freedom of political communication" and a right to vote in a representative democracy have been ruled to be "implied" in the constitution by the High Court though. It is interesting how different yet similar the Australian and Canadian constitutional histories are.
Interesting fact on that. “Commentaries on the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia”, An annotated version of the Australian Constitution written by one of its drafters, mentions Canada over 400 times. Australia clearly learned what to do and what not to do from us haha.
He dosent even mention it here, but Canada’s Constitution also has a part of the preamble including the entirety of the British Constitution up to 1867 on top of our own written constitution.
even there, when unionists in northern ireland tried to get the northern ireland protocol struck down, with one of their arguments being that it conflicted with the acts of union, they failed. not on the basis that it didn't conflict with the acts of union, just that that was fine
I love this - it’s so perfectly Canadian having both a British-style refusal to have a single constitutional document and a ridiculously elaborate system to amend it like they have in the US 😂😂😂
@@benpearson49 It would be pretty awkward and kind of passive aggressive if the president disapproved of the amendment but had to sign it anyway. I'm sure that's happened at some point in our history with the 17 post-BOR amendments.
@@vulpes7079 the head of Canada is the Queen. There are anti-monarchists who would love to have Canada cut those ties. There are monarchists here who would oppose such a break from the British monarchy.
Wow JJ, I will never again look at the U.S. constitution as complicated. That is a long and convoluted trail of legislation. Thanks for the education !
@@JJMcCullough I blame the far left social justice progressive types. (I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing it has something to do with George Orwell, destroy history so they can write their own, or some such nonsense.)
@@JJMcCullough It's not a particularly interesting topic, but history in general is not really taught anymore at all as it's been replaced with "social studies" and the like. Bring back the hard humanities!!
As usual, great stuff J.J. You distinguish yourself from a lot of political commentary because your material is more often than not based on really fundamental as well as relatable aspects of Canadian politics and culture. You don't just focus on commenting on current events; you ask broad questions, and you do it while also being really fun and interesting. :)
An apt metaphor in describing the constitution itself. Where you describing a congenital ADD or did trying to understand your constitution responsible for doing that to you?
@@aksb2482 Better that than a load of unelected judges enforcing their own personal agendas and beliefs through the guise of some document written down by people long dead like they have in the US.
@Ad Lockhorst Yes, it's a consequence of having a system of government that has been steadily evolving itself since 1215 - there are going to be odd relics. I think the majority of the population would support the principle of getting rid of the Lords Spiritual, but really it has no effect on their lives so it's not a major piece of government policy - indeed when they did try make the House of Lords elected in 2012, they were actually planning on keeping the Lords Spiritual as the only permanent unelected members of the Chamber. Also, support for the Queen, and indeed her Christian beliefs, is actually very high in the UK, so governments can try reform the monarchy but anything too radical would be electoral self-harm, thus, has never been attempted.
@Ad Lockhorst So, the one who is on the throne and the one second in line for the throne... isn't that what's important that the ones who are liked are the ones with their bums on the throne? (Plus, I don't think that the country will go from heavily supporting the monarchy to calling for a republic just because of Charles, he may even turn out to be quite a popular King - he is a moderniser, after all.)
Canada believes that free speech should serve a free society. A society is a group of people who agreed to live together under a social contract. Even though we have free speech in Canada, we can't lie under oath, do false advertising, yell fire in a crowded theatre etc. We also can't do "hate speech" which covers all racist and sexist remarks. People pushing fake news such as Holocaust denier, Ernst Zundel, have been arrested and jailed.
The 1st Amendment of US it says " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." But Canada doesn't have a codified constitution so the Parliament have right to limit or suspend the Freedom of Speech thru simple legislation.
Was the 'Night of Long Knives' the reason why Quebec didn't sign the Constitution? I remember a famous meeting between then PM Trudeau and all the premiers, including Quebec premier Rene Levesque. Levesque was elsewhere when Trudeau and the other premiers signed some sort of agreement. Rene came back, and felt betrayed after he learned about the deal. This happened in the 80s, I think, so forgive me if I'm a bit fuzzy on the details.
Who cares about Quebec, they've already turned their backs on Canada, so who are they to comment on Federal decisions? It's not as if they pay into the system either as they take more out then the put in. If the arseholes in Quebec had their way, she wouldn't speak English.
Meanwhile we here in the US have the oldest written one still in use and it's only been modified 17 times since the Bill of Rights(the first 10 Amendments) were ratified in 1791. Albeit that's because it's intentionally made extremely difficult to amend but still.
@@JJMcCullough Also, I think you'll appreciate considering the video, that including all 27 amendments, our Constitution is only a little over 7500 words
@@JJMcCullough -- It would be even shorter if you took out all the obsolete clauses, such as Prohibition (later abolished), the slavery clauses, and the old way of electing the Vice President. There is still a lot of "junk" in the US Constitution. (We probably don't need to worry about "quartering troops" anymore.)
Please Canada: go ahead and annex the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana as the province of "South British Columbia" (or just "Columbia") to complete your conquest of the entire former Oregon Territory. The Oregon Territory should have never been divided at the 49th Parallel in the 1840s. Canada should have taken it all. I'm sure the people of that territory (at least the Western half) would approve of being separated from "Trump's America."
Love affair with left-wing politics, weird stereotypes, racist politicians, 100s of ethnicities, languages, cultures, and religions, weird amending formulas, and a somewhat unrepresentative electoral system....... Weirdness is the one of the few uniting factors in the country.....
Another weird constitution might be the Dutch one. Article 120 states: ‘The constitutionality of Acts of Parliament and treaties shall not be reviewed by the courts.’ That basically means that a judge cannot overrule an unconstitutional law. Which basically means that the constitution has no real power and can easily be undermined if the parliament wants to. I don’t know if that has caused any weird situations but maybe it’s interesting for you to dig into 😊
It's not that weird, judicial review is a controversial idea. Even Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt have all been critical of judicial review at times. The fact is, that judicial review has its downsides, not just benefits. Just look at Dred Scott v. Sandford, a SCOTUS case in the mid 1800s that interpreted the US Constitution as not granting citizenship to people of African descent. And when SCOTUS seems to change its mind every few decades about how exactly the Constitution should be interpreted, and with SCOTUS being unelected positions, it leaves the directly elected legislative body at the mercy of how these 9 unelected justices are feeling in a particular decade, instead of what the elected Representatives and Senators in Congress actually put forth. In fact, if Congress passed a bill that SCOTUS should have term limits, the SCOTUS could reject term limits on themselves as unconstitutional. So much for checks and balances, when a governmental body can veto legislation that is intended to reform that same governmental body. It would be like if we needed a dictator's permission to place term limits on the dictator. The only other option is a constitutional amendment which is next to impossible in this climate based on its stringent requirements.
Thanks to South Park this is how I thought a Canadian Impeachment would go... Mister, Prime Minister, you're out, Bubby... I don't think so, Guy... I'm not your Guy, Friend... I'm not your Friend, Buddy... I'm not your Buddy, Guy!
The State of Alabama has the longest constitution in the world. I think its because local governments don't have any power in Alabama so if a city wants to raise salaries of its employees, the state legislature has to pass a new amendment. Very weird system but at least Alabama is number one in something.
The "no less MPs than Senators" rule isn't weird, it's a reasonable concession that kept the 3 Maritime provinces from separating or joining the US in the 1930s. It's not like PEI having 4 MPs instead of one is going to tip the balance of power in a 338-seat House of Commons.
Excellent summary. One minor thing: the Union of Canada was actually that merger of Quebec and Ontario from 1840 to 1867. Britain had recently forced a merger of itself with Ireland to block Irish independence. Seeing as there were independence rebellions in Canada in the 1830s the Brits thought, why not force mergers with them too? But it was a disaster that everyone in both provinces hated. Schools teach that the 1867 confederation was motivated by the railroad or the worry about an American invasion but it was mostly an attempt to get the British to scrap the 1840 Union of Canada and let Ontario and Quebec be their own provinces again.
@@jt-on7qb I admired Elijah Harper for stalling the vote. I think most Canadians including me didn't like the Meech Lake Accords. Charlottetown was a bit better which is why it was passed.
Quote from Ontario Premier David Peterson..." If Meech fails, Canada fails. Canada will cease exist as we know it...it will become a loose association of Provinces eventually to be absorbed by the United States. More lies from yet another Liberal.
I studied constitutional law at UBC. I thought our constitution marvelous until an American pointed out to me that it was just window dressing. After some reflection, I agreed with him. You have no rights in Canada until you go to court to enforce them. In the US, anything unconstitutional gets thrown out of court.
Adam Dobrer thanks for assuming that Jews just walk around wearing Goldstars. That’s kind of like what Hitler did. Oh wait! It’s exactly what Hitler did.
Regina Tang israel has no constitution. We attempted to write one many times since the founding of the state in 1948 but none have been passed. We do however have a Declaration of Independence which is essentially stating why it is legal for Israel to exist. We also have many basic laws that are considered to be as important to Israel as the constitution is to America.
As a Brit I've often wondered why, when the Queen dies, it feels like Australia and New Zealand will opt to become Republics, but Canada won't. One answer, it seems, because it requires unanimous provincial support, inspite of public opinion. Thanks JJ!
As a Kiwi, I wouldn't bet on us becoming a republic even when the Queen dies. We're too apathetic about constitutional matters, there's a reason we ended up not changing anything in the Flag Referendum
That Notwithstanding Clause has really come in handy during COVID, I bet. Lots of rights violations in the name of public health, and they have 4 more years til they have to ask themselves hard questions about it.
What's weird is after the Civil War, all Ex Confederation States had to swear loyalty to to the Union in their Constitution as well as any state admitted thereafter, I think it was Montana or Wyoming which forgot to add and did so retroactively. Most Northern States did add it or had in revisions or new state constitutions, but they don't have to. It's a statue law not constitutional do in theory the SCOUS can call it unconstitutional.
How could you not talk about the fact that Quebec never signed the relevent documents!? That's one of the biggest things motivating Quebec nationalism.
@@JJMcCullough maybe but its still a huge thing motivating current Quebec culture. Even Thomas Gauthier mentioned it in a video you made about him. In fact I think you should make a video on Pierre Trudeau and Réné Lesvesque. Hugely important conflict in Canadian history. Getting Quebec hate has never stopped you before so I think it would be a stellar idea.
@@JJMcCullough you don’t like Quebec very much or is that a wrong conclusion I drew after a few political videos of yours and reading some of your comments?
Either I already just understand this, or you explained this way better than my first year Political Science professor did in my university’s Introduction to the Canadian Constitution class.
As Canadians we actually do not have the "right of free speech" we have the right to expression, but by definition does not include free speech in any aspect.
Wow! I really didn’t know any of this! I think I’m more aware of the “UK” constitution than I ever was Canada’s. For some reason, since Canada is in America I just assumed it had a written constitution similar to all the other nations in the Americas. It kinda sounds like how the US Virgin Islands governs itself with just Acts of Congress being used as the highest legal system (though the USVI has written several constitutions, Congress has thus far rejected them). And I wouldn’t even have known about the USVI’s situation if I didn’t have family residing there as the US territories don’t get talked about much (although I have met many people from each of them, but that is apparently uncommon for most US citizens living in the states I’m told). Next time I hear someone complain about the length of the US Constitution or the Oklahoma Constitution’s length I think I’ll reference Canada’s Constitution to them. Thanks for such an enlightening video! And for the record, I think you’d make a great PM of Canada! (Not that I actually get a say in such things, though, lol)
As someone who lives in the US, making a constitution that isn’t air-tight and in our case written in good faith...Canada’s is in need of dire overhaul and reorganization. If there should be one maxim/motto/whtvr about law it should be ‘If it can happen, it *will* happen eventually.’.
I'd recommend looking at the joke that is the Australian constitution. In practice it is merely a guideline for the government and it frequently and brazenly gone against. And the reason for its creation wasn't that altruistic anyway, as it was originally just a means for Britain to better guard the Pacific from German expansion by having a more formidable Australia in the region.
I believe there is still a clause in the BNA/Constitution Act of 1867 that allows a Provincial Lt. Governor to instead of giving assent to a provincial legislature's passed bill, to refer it to the Canadian Parliament as a whole. This was used a bit at the start, but last done in Sask. in 1960, but the power still exists. This is one of my favorite hidden items still in effect.
It’s to refer it to the federal **Government** not to the Federal Parliament, “Governor in Council” in the constitution is just code for the Federal Cabinet, since it means the GG acting on the Advice of Cabinet, but you’re right, it’s called Reservation.
It goes back to the days before 1931 when the LG was the representative, not of the Sovereign, but of the Canadian government. Indeed, the Canadian of Government still names, and pays, the LGs.
I’m an American who is somewhat of a history buff. But until now I have largely ignored Canadian history after 1815. JJ you’ve taught me so much about Canada and Canadian history. Thanks!
In Romania constitution is strange but not because is enormous like the canadian one. Romanian constitution is inspired from the french constitution. France is a semi-presidential republic and we choose to be like them.The problem is that we modified it to give power to the government and now we are a semi-presidential republic in which the president is unable to do what it was supposed to do.For example in France,a president can dismiss a prime minister but in Romania not. We say that president need to do diplomacy things but sometimes the foreign affairs minister comes and say:that's my business.We really need to clarify what a president can do and what can't do.
I think it should be noted that the Charter isn’t actually guaranteed. It’s guaranteed within reason so the government can break certain areas of the charter if it’s “justified.” I put justified in quotation marks because that’s a matter of opinion. For example, it’s illegal to advertise cigarettes in stores, that’s why they’re always hidden but this goings directly against our charter. However, they determined the benefits of protecting children outweigh the individual rights guaranteed by the charter. That’s why when the US says they’re the only free country, in terms of a constitution, they aren’t lying.
The video omits Canada's most difficult form of constitutional amendment. To change the Statute of Westminster requires the unanimous consent of all 16 Crown realms. Those are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Jamaica, etc. This is also Canada's most recent constitutional amendment. In 2011, all 16 Crown realms unanimously agreed to amend the Statute of Westminster so that male and female persons have equal accession as Sovereign.
Switzerland's constitution gets amended up to four times each year by the people, since initiatives and referendums get voted on by the electorate and all approved get added to the constitution. some concerning criminal law go into the Strafgesetzbuch, but most iniatives approved end up in the constitution itself, making the swiss constitution both enourmos and constantly expanding
Canada does have a confusing Constitution. Another strange one is the UK's Constitution. Its not even written. Thats right everyone. the UK has a unwritten Constitution. Also the UK is not a Federal like the U.S, Canada, Mexico and many other Nations. A federal system is were the States give up some powers to the Federal government. The U.K in its Union wanted to be one kingdom, like England, so there is no Federalism. That made a problem for Ireland and other parts of the U.K, so the Idea of home rule came. Ireland never got its home rule, so the South broke free. In the 1999 Scotland received home rule and the Scottish Parliament reopened after 300 years and the Welsh received the Welsh National Assembly. All that being said the UK is confusing. Its Constitution is not made up of articles. No its made up of documents such as the Magna Carta and the English bill of right; hence the reason its unwritten. Not having a written Constitution and Federalism has lead the the British Union being weak. First most of Ireland breaks free; now there is a big moment in Scotland to break free, with the First Minster asking for a new referendum, and a smaller moment in Wales to break free.
Well, the country with undoubtedly the “weirdest” constitution is of course the UK, because of course we don’t have one, other than an agglomeration of constitutional laws and judicial case law going back some 8/9 centuries. Actually after Canada finally took back full control of its constitution in 1982 it wasn’t until 1986 that Australia did the same. In both cases, at least in recent decades, this was entirely to suit the needs of both those countries’ internal politics. I think most people in the UK were glad when the role of the UK House of Lords judicial committee (the “Law Lords”) finally ended. I am a fervent monarchist, not because I have any particular love for monarchy but because I don’t wish some has-been politician to become our President, nor of course do I wish our Prime Minister to become our Head of State. Technically I understand that those Commonwealth countries which still recognise the British monarch as Head of State would have to be consulted were the UK ever wish to amend the status of its own monarchy. An anomaly certainly, but really it’s of lesser importance than many other issues facing all these countries, including the UK. From a UK perspective, Canada has been much less troublesome to the UK than Australia of course - in 1975 their Governor General dismissed their Prime Minister for purely domestic political reasons in Australia, which apparently caused considerable embarrassment to the Queen. Luckily such nonsense is unlikely ever to happen again. In any case, almost no one in the UK cares what Canada, Australia and New Zealand etc may choose to do in future, other than of course to maintain friendly ties at least partly reinforced by family ties, but of course such ties exist with many other countries & former British territories/dominions/colonies, including with your southern neighbour, the US - that’s just one of the messy, but happy, legacies of history and in the case of Canada those links perhaps include France too.
I think it's cute Canada kept sending us laws for us to pass - kind of like getting a parent to sign your homework or something. Anyway, we (the UK) don't even have a _written_ constitution.
@@immortaltyrant2474 Unwritten just means that we don't have one document we can point to and say "that is the constitution". Instead we rely on hundreds of years of legal president as our Constitution. So it's "uncodified" but still exists
@@Damo2690 Yeah, fair enough. I was referring to the fact we don't have one document with it all but good point. Also I'm pretty sure some of Magna Carta is still relevant but only a couple lines and even at that, they're like reviewed or something in more recent documents anyway.
I'm beginning to find this out about the Mexican Constitution. Whenever I learned about it, I only ever learned about 3 important articles out of 100+. I might want to read the Mexican Constitution one day. And the Colombian one. This is how I learn Spanish.
Fascinating, one of best videos that JJ has done, and that's saying something. Canada does not have a single formal constitution as so many of us thought. That the British North America Act 1867 was changed to being called the Constitution Act 1867 by the 1982 Act passed by the British Parliament shows the extent of the 'sleight of hand' that legislators can use under a Westminster system of government. The way that Canada's constitutional structure is built also makes Canada rather like Israel, which has several 'Basic Laws' that comprise its constitution, but no single formal constitution. The development of Israel's constitutional structure of the country also arose from having been governed by Britain - as Palestine, 1918-1948.
One of the key components of the British constitution is the Human Rights Act 1998 which is sort of like the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in that it affirms certain rights like freedom of expression or prohibition of torture. However, unlike the Charter, judges have no powers to strike down laws that violate the Human Rights Act because of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty ("legislative supremacy"), which is the constitutional principle that Parliament can do whatever it wants and the courts just have to deal with it. So there is no need for a "notwithstanding" clause at all because Parliament can just choose to pass laws which violate human rights. Judges have ended up having to be creative in order to give effect to the Human Rights Act. Section 3 of the HRA requires that courts interpret all laws passed by Parliament to be consistent with human rights "as far as possible". So judges sometimes exercise a bit of creativity in twisting the words of the law to protect rights (e.g. in the past, "spouses" meant opposite sex couples but judges revised the definition of "spouses" to include same sex couples to comply with Article 14 - non discrimination). And one other thing: Parliament can just choose to repeal the Human Rights Act entirely with a simple majority (because of parliamentary sovereignty).
Hi JJ, it was nice to meet you downtown the other day! I love seeing a new upload notification because it gives me more ammo to look smart with in front of my friends.
PLEASE become prime minister i PROMISE to vote for you. I’m more liberal than you but you are intelligent and educated and I believe you would be beneficial towards our country
I really appreciate your channel. I live in Upstate, NY (15 mins from QC), and, for whatever reason, I have always thought of the Rights and Freedoms part of your constitution as the entire thing (・_・ヾ
1:15 Actually, this is incorrect. Canada ceased to be a colonial possession after the passage of the Statue of Westminster 1931 conferring on it the status of a dominion which controls all legislative functions within its borders say for foreign relations and any act regarding the monarchy, which must be agreed upon by all dominions or nowadays all of the Commonwealth Realms. Canada shed dominion status, not colonial status, in 1982.
I'm American and I'm not a fan of our constitution. It's virtually impossible to change and there's no equality between men and women. Furthermore, the Canadian constitution grants its citizens the right to enter and leave unlike the US one. The US constitution is far from perfect.
In addition, the US constitution allows slavery from those incarcerated. While putting an emphasis negative rights, there are little to no references on positive rights. Not to mention absurdity of Article III (the US Federal Courts).
@@Herb615 as a non citizen of the US who has lived in many countries you all have the best constitution it may not be perfect but again what is? As to being nearly impossible to be amended, yes that the point it's very well written if there is something that has changed in society obviously an overwhelming majority would support an amendment which makes it perfect.
So how many articles do you want in your constitution?
Canadian Government: *ALL OF THEM*
Did you use this meme wrong?
*Yes*
U should have said yes instead
THIS CONSTITUTION GETS BIGGER EVERY DAY
I don't recall the context, but I remember a proposal that any new law would have to be done with the elimination of another law. Presumably with a net reduction in the number of words. California also has a huge constitution and has had some omnibus legislation that "modernized" it by amending many areas. Did something foul slip through? Probably.
With enough laws, everything is illegal. That way they can lock you up whenever they want.
So, in conclusion, it's possible for the government to torture, the victim just needs to scream in both English and French...
Sad ain't it.
AHHHHHHHHHH!!!
@@JasmineJu I think you forgot to add "Le AHHHHHHHH".
Sounds like torture in and of itself.
Since torture is a feminine noun I believe it should be " la ahhhhhhhh"
We need a livestream of JJ just reading out the entire constitution
Upvoted because it's a delightfully terrible idea.
Yes please
This is madness
Impossible, that would be impossible. I do not think a computor would be able to do that without over heating , breaking, and blowing up.
It will be a race to see whether he can finish reading it before the Supreme Court puts more statutes under the constitutional umbrella. My guess is the Supreme Court would get competitive.
How many articles do you want in your constitution?
Canada: Yes
Yes/Oui
"Canada has one of the strangest constitutions in the western world." Me, currently at law school in new Zealand studying the mess that is our constitutional law; "oh really."
my conclusion is Britain just fucked up constitutions for all of us
Y’all really should’ve taken a page from the US constitution. We have a (somewhat) sensible system with an underlying Ethos (balance of Power).
@@janmelantu7490 guess what separation of powers is one of the main parts of our constitution as well! And as for the systems, I personally prefer ours anyway.
The mess is just from just not all written down in one place like yours, the actual content of it is pretty solid.
NZ like Canada technically do not have an actual constitution, but rather a framework of laws that act like a constitution but not actually one. 5 Countries in the world operate like this, all products of the British Empire
@@adamlangton1967 lol ok. It's adorable how you angsty post-modern diet commies think you are your own thing. You are spoiled little satellite states of American hegemony who we bounce on our knee and let you play make-believe in your cute little socialist sandbox on daddy's dime. Doesn't bother us at all, your entitled attitude is our cross to bear. I don't even know where you're from, and it doesn't matter. Since you're b****ing about about America like a spoiled 14 year old in English on a smartphone, it's more than safe to assume this applies to you because we saved and propped up the entire developed world a million times over. Don't grow up. Never change. God Bless America.
@@adamlangton1967 someone who quotes statistics like that and virtue signals leftist talking points. Here half of us respect our founding based on western enlightenment ideology and the inherent value of the free individual. The other half of us think like you do and are leeches on society.
I have Healthcare and I'm highly educated. Here's a novel concept... I pay for it. And like all good products that compete in a free economy, I receive superior quality at a fair price. I can more than afford it, and the hospitals bend over backwards to give me the best cutting edge care in the world faster than anyone else with no bureaucratic red tape slowing them down.
We also do have free Healthcare and education to benefit the poor. It''s called Medicare and federal education. Both suck and raise the price for productive citizens. Half of Americans also subsidize ALL of the world's medical research and advancement. Your country collectively bargains at hostage rates with an artificially low cap to get your tax payers a lower rate that barely covers the cost and allows only for the smallest of profit margins that any doctor or medical researcher will tell you is insulting for existing medical products and services. Private American policy holders fund 100 percent of medical discovery and advancement. Your welcome again, free Healthcare boy.
And guns? Oh yes we have guns. Our worst hell hole cities ban them and that's where all the violence is. However, if you want to bring crime into my home, good luck.
Fun fact: because the preambule in the 1867 constitutional act says so, all British unwritten constitutional principles are now part of the modern Canadian constitution as well, making the constitution even larger (and weirder)! These principles include stuff like ministerial responsibility and the fact there is a prime minister that’s different from other ministers. It also means that documents like the UK Bill of Rights from 1689 and the Magna Carta are technically part of the Canadian constitution as well.
Rupert’s land orders.
Only 4 clauses of the magnaxarte are in affect. And they're powers are granted from else where. So arguably the magna carte is no more in affect than the 10 commandments.
Yeah. Murder is still wrong. But not because the bible says so.
Yeah. Towns still need structure but in line with town councils according their legislation and not the magna carte
@@damenwhelan3236 and two of those clauses explicitly apply to things that are in the UK (one guarantees the rights and freedoms of the City of London, the other one guarantees the same for the Church of England).
The two that do still apply (clauses 39 and 40), which guarantee the right of all men for a trial by a jury of their peers, and habeas corpus (which is one of the reasons it was so groundbreaking), remain of course part of the UK constitution, such as it is.
If I’m not mistaken, British unwritten constitutional principles apply to all common law countries. Devin Stone from Legal Eagle (who’s an American lawyer) mentions English common law and the Magna Carta in a lot of his videos.
@@felipeitoanuatti So what is Canada. I don't think we are common law?
I mean Ireland’s constitution is interesting in the sense that every single amendment has to be passed by popular vote in a national referendum. So far there have been 32 amendments approved by the electorate since the constitution’s adoption in 1937. There were 11 amendments rejected by the electorate, so this has lead to the weird situation where the list of amendments skips some numbers. For example, there is no 24th or 25th amendment because they were rejected in a referendum. So it just goes from 23rd to 26th amendment.
Very strange! But leave it to the Irish to come up with an alternative numbering system.
That's exactly how it should work instead of the politicians cockfights or under-the-table deals that is prevalent in Canada.
32, one for each county
I actually think it's a good idea for the constitution to be amended by referendum
Reza Jafari well I mean this constitution only applies to 26 counties but cough cough that might change in the future!
@@rezajafari6395 Only if fundamental rights are not allowed to be taken away by referendum.
Uuuuuunliiiiiimiteeeeed (constitutional) poooooower! According to the Canadian supreme court.
Hello Tigerstar!
Hello Palpatine
Hello Furry.
I AM THE CONSTITUTION
Ayeee
Learning about the Canadian constitution makes me really glad as an Australian that the colonial authorities had a test run to figure everything out before our federation.
Aw, shucks thanks
Lol nice burn! :)
JJ: What other country or place has a really weird constitution?
The UK: Hold my tea.
Fun fact, the Canadian Constitution Act 1867, just says it includes the UK Constitution in the Preamble. So all the unwritten constitutional conventions from the pre 1867 UK constitution (Such as the bill of rights, ect) could be considered part of the Canadian constitution.
We don't have one
Section 33 sounds like the most loophole-y of any loopholes in law I've heard about.
It's written in Canadian. In plain American English, it says: 'Feel free to abolish the constitution and call an election, just keep yer hands off the wheelchairs and the french.' But seriously, the PM has immediate and unlimited power if he has the house votes, except he doesn't have the power to prevent freedom of movement to polling stations.
We live in a 5-year dictatorship. The supreme court is technically in charge, tho.
It was really meant to be a compromise clause. The provinces were not willing to give up power to the SCC completely on most issues so they only agreed to ratify the Charter if the s. 33 was included. In practice it is really only Quebec that uses it, which is funny because they never officially signed onto the Charter.
@@kyleroberts7762 Rene Levesque's signing hand was busy chain-smoking.
@@kyleroberts7762 Don't forget Doug Ford using it to reduce the size of Toronto's City Council
@@stevengoetz6773 Ford threatened to use it, but the Court of Appeal for Ontario unanimously granted a stay on the lower court's ruling, making the Notwithstanding clause unnecessary.
JJ a few weeks ago: "I'm so happy the election is over finally I can talk about something other than Canadian politics."
JJ now:
Ooh boy, Section 33 is a wild story just waiting to happen. Thank you, Canada, for implanting this tiny little time bomb into your constitution
Jack Rackam very concerning given the rise of extremism amongst conservative parties.
Can you imagine someone like Trump with something like that clause?
@@Christopher_TG ?
@@vgkstone9692 The very sparing use of Section 33 is a perfect example of a situation in which democratic values are being protected not by actual laws but instead by customs and norms. The problem with customs and norms is that all you need is one authoritarian who has no affection or respect for democratic traditions and will instead do anything to increase their power for those norms to be destroyed. If the US Constitution had something like section 33 (thank goodness it doesn't), I have no doubt in my mind Trump would've used it with little regard for the consequences.
@@Christopher_TG I doubt trump would have used it, he had full support from the American people and the establishment to implement the insurrection act during the riots in the summer which resulted in cities and their streets being burnt to the ground. Also rest in peace to the 30 people who died during those riots. But anyways he had all that support to implement that kind of power and he refused. He has 4 years and a lot of excuses to use those types of powers and never did. (To my knowledge). That clause will sit dormant for a while until enough is eroded away from our charter that invoking that clause won’t matter anymore. I doubt it would be used outright, that would be a poor strategy and would most likely result in people turning on someone using that kind of power out of the blue. It would have to get much much worse before that clause is invoked and used to seriously harm the country and it’s people. (Just my opinion)
I think we Australians learnt from Canada when we made our constitution in 1901. The Australian constitution ALWAYS had a domestic ammending provision through referenda. Any UK changes to the Constitution Act would be invalid and have no effect in Australia.
The referendum provision has made amendments rare but we do have a much "cleaner" constitutional history than Canada as a result.
In 1986 the Australian and UK parliaments passed the "Australia Act" which removed any authority for the UK to legislate for the States. Until then the Australian States were technically still separate colonies of Britain while the Federal Government was legislatively independent since the Statute of Westminster, It was a bit confusing.
The Australia Act also specified that it was "An Act to bring constitutional arrangements affecting the Commonwealth and the States into conformity with the status of the Commonwealth of Australia as a sovereign, independent and federal nation". So our High Court has interpreted it as a final declaration of independence.
Also no Charter/Bill of Rights here. It is a constant debate. Some rights such as "Freedom of political communication" and a right to vote in a representative democracy have been ruled to be "implied" in the constitution by the High Court though.
It is interesting how different yet similar the Australian and Canadian constitutional histories are.
Also helps that the Australian one is 25 pages long and equally difficult to change.
Yeah gotta say, the Australian Constitution is pretty solid. Some of the alterations that were rejected would've been good tho :(
Interesting fact on that. “Commentaries on the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia”, An annotated version of the Australian Constitution written by one of its drafters, mentions Canada over 400 times. Australia clearly learned what to do and what not to do from us haha.
Britain's Constitution has basically one clause:
Parliament is supreme†
† just don't touch the act of union
He dosent even mention it here, but Canada’s Constitution also has a part of the preamble including the entirety of the British Constitution up to 1867 on top of our own written constitution.
even there, when unionists in northern ireland tried to get the northern ireland protocol struck down, with one of their arguments being that it conflicted with the acts of union, they failed. not on the basis that it didn't conflict with the acts of union, just that that was fine
I love this - it’s so perfectly Canadian having both a British-style refusal to have a single constitutional document and a ridiculously elaborate system to amend it like they have in the US 😂😂😂
One constitutional law scholar mused on Twitter that the UK could abolish the monarchy more easily than Canada could. Peak federal state.
The American one is pretty straightforward to understand; it's just tough to get 38 of the 50 states to sign on to something.
@@benpearson49
It's an either/or situation actually.
Congress can pass it or the states can.
J Farrow
Correct.
@@benpearson49 It would be pretty awkward and kind of passive aggressive if the president disapproved of the amendment but had to sign it anyway. I'm sure that's happened at some point in our history with the 17 post-BOR amendments.
One of the strange side effects is that it would be easier for the UK to abolish their monarchy than for Canada to abolish ours.
The monarchists in Canada would have a hissy fit if it was suggested. Lol.
Kingdom of Canada when
@@vulpes7079 the head of Canada is the Queen. There are anti-monarchists who would love to have Canada cut those ties. There are monarchists here who would oppose such a break from the British monarchy.
@@frankhodgson528 that's the *Dominion*. Not a kingdom in its own right
@@frankhodgson528 no shit
It’s always a good day when JJ uploads!
It's a fine day with you around
The Blue Fox JJ , does that stand for "Just a Jerk"??
@@cliffpyle3155 I guess you can't handle being told the truth instead you attack the truthsayer .
yes that's when you hear laughter all over the land
Ur moms sais the same thing, weird.
Wow JJ, I will never again look at the U.S. constitution as complicated. That is a long and convoluted trail of legislation. Thanks for the education !
I learned more Canadian history from this video then from five years of High School in Canada and a history degree.
I get comments like this a lot. I don't know why Canadian history is taught so poorly.
@@JJMcCullough I blame the far left social justice progressive types. (I'm not sure why, but I'm guessing it has something to do with George Orwell, destroy history so they can write their own, or some such nonsense.)
@@JJMcCullough It's not a particularly interesting topic, but history in general is not really taught anymore at all as it's been replaced with "social studies" and the like. Bring back the hard humanities!!
As usual, great stuff J.J. You distinguish yourself from a lot of political commentary because your material is more often than not based on really fundamental as well as relatable aspects of Canadian politics and culture. You don't just focus on commenting on current events; you ask broad questions, and you do it while also being really fun and interesting. :)
I must say...Im really impressed on how you kept this all together in your head!!
Francesca Mingo It all clangs around in there like loose hammers.
Yea
@@JJMcCullough "Like loose hammers" is definitely my new favorite metaphor
An apt metaphor in describing the constitution itself. Where you describing a congenital ADD or did trying to understand your constitution responsible for doing that to you?
Britain’s constitution, if it can be called that, is even more vacuous.
Lol there is no constitution here that's why it's "unwritten". A "violation" is whatever the Opposition says it is
@@aksb2482 Better that than a load of unelected judges enforcing their own personal agendas and beliefs through the guise of some document written down by people long dead like they have in the US.
@Ad Lockhorst Yes, it's a consequence of having a system of government that has been steadily evolving itself since 1215 - there are going to be odd relics. I think the majority of the population would support the principle of getting rid of the Lords Spiritual, but really it has no effect on their lives so it's not a major piece of government policy - indeed when they did try make the House of Lords elected in 2012, they were actually planning on keeping the Lords Spiritual as the only permanent unelected members of the Chamber. Also, support for the Queen, and indeed her Christian beliefs, is actually very high in the UK, so governments can try reform the monarchy but anything too radical would be electoral self-harm, thus, has never been attempted.
@Ad Lockhorst So, the one who is on the throne and the one second in line for the throne... isn't that what's important that the ones who are liked are the ones with their bums on the throne? (Plus, I don't think that the country will go from heavily supporting the monarchy to calling for a republic just because of Charles, he may even turn out to be quite a popular King - he is a moderniser, after all.)
Ad Lockhorst You would be a liar. The Kings 4 children only range from about 11-16 years old and the heir apparent is a girl
Canada: We're a progressive, constitutionally protected Western democracy
Also Canada: freedom of speech is more of a suggestion than a rule, right?
Canada believes that free speech should serve a free society. A society is a group of people who agreed to live together under a social contract. Even though we have free speech in Canada, we can't lie under oath, do false advertising, yell fire in a crowded theatre etc. We also can't do "hate speech" which covers all racist and sexist remarks. People pushing fake news such as Holocaust denier, Ernst Zundel, have been arrested and jailed.
@@caroline10081 America also uses the same ideas except for the hate speech bullshit which is crap
@@caroline10081 holocast deniers are idiots but Idiocracy shouldn't be a crime.
The 1st Amendment of US it says " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
But Canada doesn't have a codified constitution so the Parliament have right to limit or suspend the Freedom of Speech thru simple legislation.
@@finnwells166 lots of Canadians could be jailed for hate speech against any PM in that case
you forgot something very important: Quebec never signed it, the other provinces did and got some nice gifts from Trudeau
Maks Fill Constitutionally speaking, it wasn’t very important. It was in other ways of course.
If they didn't sign it, how can they apply its notwithstanding clause?
Was the 'Night of Long Knives' the reason why Quebec didn't sign the Constitution? I remember a famous meeting between then PM Trudeau and all the premiers, including Quebec premier Rene Levesque. Levesque was elsewhere when Trudeau and the other premiers signed some sort of agreement. Rene came back, and felt betrayed after he learned about the deal. This happened in the 80s, I think, so forgive me if I'm a bit fuzzy on the details.
Who cares about Quebec, they've already turned their backs on Canada, so who are they to comment on Federal decisions? It's not as if they pay into the system either as they take more out then the put in. If the arseholes in Quebec had their way, she wouldn't speak English.
@@hugostiglitz2388 very fitting name.
Meanwhile we here in the US have the oldest written one still in use and it's only been modified 17 times since the Bill of Rights(the first 10 Amendments) were ratified in 1791. Albeit that's because it's intentionally made extremely difficult to amend but still.
Michael Hill a video on all the amendments would be cool!
@@JJMcCullough Also, I think you'll appreciate considering the video, that including all 27 amendments, our Constitution is only a little over 7500 words
Michael Hill I once read a British paper summarizing it as being shorter than the average VCR manual and easier to read as well.
@@JJMcCullough I really like that it's short and in simple language. Makes it easy for everybody to know what it says and to understand it.
@@JJMcCullough -- It would be even shorter if you took out all the obsolete clauses, such as Prohibition (later abolished), the slavery clauses, and the old way of electing the Vice President. There is still a lot of "junk" in the US Constitution. (We probably don't need to worry about "quartering troops" anymore.)
The king of educational content has uploaded! All hail J.J.!
The only monarchial title JJ approves of!
Brady Postma I guess so lol
"South Saskatchewan." Chuckles in 'Murican.
How about "West Ontario" (Michigan) "South Ontario" (New York State), and "South New Brunswick" (New England states)?
Please Canada: go ahead and annex the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana as the province of "South British Columbia" (or just "Columbia") to complete your conquest of the entire former Oregon Territory. The Oregon Territory should have never been divided at the 49th Parallel in the 1840s. Canada should have taken it all. I'm sure the people of that territory (at least the Western half) would approve of being separated from "Trump's America."
@@markmh835 - "Trump's America" welcomes Alberta & Sas as states #51 and #52. (Trudope couldn't annex a paper clip.)
@@markmh835
Leave Idaho, Montana, and the interiora of Washington & Oregon alone.
Give the coasts back.
@@SilvanaDil @markmh835 Oh boy, looks like you're gearing up for a second civil war
You are the 1st Canadian I have ever heard say "a boot".
He does it as a joke.
@@RobertsAdra no he doesn't
I actually had a Canadian professor in college who said it exactly like he does. I didn’t realize it was so rare haha
Anita E I sometimes say it when putting on my shoes, and I’m not even Canadian.
He's the only Canadian that has ever said, "a boot".
12:55 jeez, the grinch would have a lot of work to steal the christmas in Canada
Implying Canada as a whole isn't weird?
King Edward "Longshanks" I, Hammer of the Scots, Lord of Wales and King of England touché
Weirdness is a theme.
Why such a long name 😂
@Aks ...Why such a short name?
Love affair with left-wing politics, weird stereotypes, racist politicians, 100s of ethnicities, languages, cultures, and religions, weird amending formulas, and a somewhat unrepresentative electoral system....... Weirdness is the one of the few uniting factors in the country.....
The weekend with pizza, soda, and JJ sounds like a good time.
Being a law student in Canada must be hard
I was raised in Canada and studied this at school. When I try to explain the Canadian Constitution to my wife, she becomes confused. Great video.
A J.J. McCullough video about the Canadian Constitution? You have made this constitutional law scholar's day! 😄
I, for one, had no idea that Canada even had a constitution. I was 100% sure that everyone looked like South Park depictions.
Go figure lol.
With our beady little eyes and flapping heads lol
@@chrisprobst6963 and your one single road that goes everywhere
@@therast5 Well the road part is true.
Another weird constitution might be the Dutch one. Article 120 states: ‘The constitutionality of Acts of Parliament and treaties shall not be reviewed by the courts.’ That basically means that a judge cannot overrule an unconstitutional law. Which basically means that the constitution has no real power and can easily be undermined if the parliament wants to. I don’t know if that has caused any weird situations but maybe it’s interesting for you to dig into 😊
It's not that weird, judicial review is a controversial idea. Even Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt have all been critical of judicial review at times.
The fact is, that judicial review has its downsides, not just benefits. Just look at Dred Scott v. Sandford, a SCOTUS case in the mid 1800s that interpreted the US Constitution as not granting citizenship to people of African descent.
And when SCOTUS seems to change its mind every few decades about how exactly the Constitution should be interpreted, and with SCOTUS being unelected positions, it leaves the directly elected legislative body at the mercy of how these 9 unelected justices are feeling in a particular decade, instead of what the elected Representatives and Senators in Congress actually put forth.
In fact, if Congress passed a bill that SCOTUS should have term limits, the SCOTUS could reject term limits on themselves as unconstitutional. So much for checks and balances, when a governmental body can veto legislation that is intended to reform that same governmental body. It would be like if we needed a dictator's permission to place term limits on the dictator. The only other option is a constitutional amendment which is next to impossible in this climate based on its stringent requirements.
Thanks for this man. This American is really glad to learn more about Canadian government. This is very interesting.
The Canadian Constitution is some spaghetti code if I've ever seen some.
Thanks to South Park this is how I thought a Canadian Impeachment would go... Mister, Prime Minister, you're out, Bubby... I don't think so, Guy... I'm not your Guy, Friend... I'm not your Friend, Buddy... I'm not your Buddy, Guy!
theylied1776 well that’s just offensive to my people
@@JJMcCullough Seriously? South Park is offensive to Canada? They have done about three variations of this exact joke.
@@theylied1776 I think JJ is being sarcastic here.
You nailed it.
Having a very long Constitution kind of defeats the purpose of a constitution
INDIA HAS JOINED THE CHAT.
@@iustinianconstantinescu5498 **ALABAMA HAS JOINED THE CHAT**
The Grundgesetz (German constitution) is super long...but it works pretty well. Kinda wanted to ensure no more mustachioed chancellors 🤔
Even with all the amendments, the US Constitution is still the shortest constitution in the world.
@@philagelio336 The British constitution is even shorter being exactly ZERO words long.
The State of Alabama has the longest constitution in the world. I think its because local governments don't have any power in Alabama so if a city wants to raise salaries of its employees, the state legislature has to pass a new amendment. Very weird system but at least Alabama is number one in something.
@not gonna No the Alabama Constitution is 3 times as large as the Indian Constitution.
The "no less MPs than Senators" rule isn't weird, it's a reasonable concession that kept the 3 Maritime provinces from separating or joining the US in the 1930s. It's not like PEI having 4 MPs instead of one is going to tip the balance of power in a 338-seat House of Commons.
Excellent summary. One minor thing: the Union of Canada was actually that merger of Quebec and Ontario from 1840 to 1867. Britain had recently forced a merger of itself with Ireland to block Irish independence. Seeing as there were independence rebellions in Canada in the 1830s the Brits thought, why not force mergers with them too? But it was a disaster that everyone in both provinces hated. Schools teach that the 1867 confederation was motivated by the railroad or the worry about an American invasion but it was mostly an attempt to get the British to scrap the 1840 Union of Canada and let Ontario and Quebec be their own provinces again.
It’s sounds really weird but that’s what happens when you don’t have full legal status until the 80s
This was a very good video. I was always confused about what "the" constitution was.
I still am...😳😂
And still nobody knows what it is
Well at least we know... why... we don’t know what it is
You should do a video on the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords.
jt9922 00
Haven’t the people suffered enough already?
@Fluffy Muffin How is Elijah Harper a clown for standing up so his people wouldn't get fucked over for the hundreth time?
Noooo.... Haven't we suffered enough?!
@@jt-on7qb I admired Elijah Harper for stalling the vote. I think most Canadians including me didn't like the Meech Lake Accords. Charlottetown was a bit better which is why it was passed.
Quote from Ontario Premier David Peterson..." If Meech fails, Canada fails. Canada will cease exist as we know it...it will become a loose association of Provinces eventually to be absorbed by the United States. More lies from yet another Liberal.
5:05 seeing QE like 'k wtf am i signing here???? its about canada? k sure idgaf i thought this was done already lol'
Learn to properly write...
I studied constitutional law at UBC. I thought our constitution marvelous until an American pointed out to me that it was just window dressing. After some reflection, I agreed with him. You have no rights in Canada until you go to court to enforce them. In the US, anything unconstitutional gets thrown out of court.
This is why I like your channel JJ. Informing and educating viewers out there with videos like these
Canada: "Our Constitution is SO weird.:
Israel: "Hold my Goldstar."
Adam Dobrer tell me more about it
Adam Dobrer thanks for assuming that Jews just walk around wearing Goldstars. That’s kind of like what Hitler did. Oh wait! It’s exactly what Hitler did.
Regina Tang israel has no constitution. We attempted to write one many times since the founding of the state in 1948 but none have been passed. We do however have a Declaration of Independence which is essentially stating why it is legal for Israel to exist. We also have many basic laws that are considered to be as important to Israel as the constitution is to America.
Justin s Goldstar is an Israeli brand of beer lmao
@@justins9786 In "Murica, we generally regard our Declaration of Independence as when we committed treason against the crown and owned it.
As a Brit I've often wondered why, when the Queen dies, it feels like Australia and New Zealand will opt to become Republics, but Canada won't. One answer, it seems, because it requires unanimous provincial support, inspite of public opinion. Thanks JJ!
QUÉBEC INDÉPENDANT !
As a Kiwi, I wouldn't bet on us becoming a republic even when the Queen dies. We're too apathetic about constitutional matters, there's a reason we ended up not changing anything in the Flag Referendum
Quand la Reine d'Angleterre mourra, il est probable que le Québec optera pour l'indépendance et deviendra précisément une république.
That Notwithstanding Clause has really come in handy during COVID, I bet. Lots of rights violations in the name of public health, and they have 4 more years til they have to ask themselves hard questions about it.
Exactly. This country is shit.
Alabama State Constitution: "Finally! A worthy opponent! Our battle will be epic!"
What's weird is after the Civil War, all Ex Confederation States had to swear loyalty to to the Union in their Constitution as well as any state admitted thereafter, I think it was Montana or Wyoming which forgot to add and did so retroactively. Most Northern States did add it or had in revisions or new state constitutions, but they don't have to. It's a statue law not constitutional do in theory the SCOUS can call it unconstitutional.
How could you not talk about the fact that Quebec never signed the relevent documents!? That's one of the biggest things motivating Quebec nationalism.
jhon jacson If it wasn’t that it’d be something else.
@@JJMcCullough maybe but its still a huge thing motivating current Quebec culture. Even Thomas Gauthier mentioned it in a video you made about him. In fact I think you should make a video on Pierre Trudeau and Réné Lesvesque. Hugely important conflict in Canadian history. Getting Quebec hate has never stopped you before so I think it would be a stellar idea.
@@JJMcCullough you don’t like Quebec very much or is that a wrong conclusion I drew after a few political videos of yours and reading some of your comments?
@@YoshMaster I don’t know what your definition of “like” is.
Either I already just understand this, or you explained this way better than my first year Political Science professor did in my university’s Introduction to the Canadian Constitution class.
I just realised in all your lists, you didn't include Newfoundland and Labrador. We voted to join Canada in 1948 and officially joined in 1949.
Your channel is easily one of my faves. I learn so much watching your videos.
As Canadians we actually do not have the "right of free speech" we have the right to expression, but by definition does not include free speech in any aspect.
Wow! I really didn’t know any of this! I think I’m more aware of the “UK” constitution than I ever was Canada’s. For some reason, since Canada is in America I just assumed it had a written constitution similar to all the other nations in the Americas. It kinda sounds like how the US Virgin Islands governs itself with just Acts of Congress being used as the highest legal system (though the USVI has written several constitutions, Congress has thus far rejected them). And I wouldn’t even have known about the USVI’s situation if I didn’t have family residing there as the US territories don’t get talked about much (although I have met many people from each of them, but that is apparently uncommon for most US citizens living in the states I’m told). Next time I hear someone complain about the length of the US Constitution or the Oklahoma Constitution’s length I think I’ll reference Canada’s Constitution to them.
Thanks for such an enlightening video! And for the record, I think you’d make a great PM of Canada! (Not that I actually get a say in such things, though, lol)
As someone who lives in the US, making a constitution that isn’t air-tight and in our case written in good faith...Canada’s is in need of dire overhaul and reorganization. If there should be one maxim/motto/whtvr about law it should be ‘If it can happen, it *will* happen eventually.’.
I'd recommend looking at the joke that is the Australian constitution. In practice it is merely a guideline for the government and it frequently and brazenly gone against. And the reason for its creation wasn't that altruistic anyway, as it was originally just a means for Britain to better guard the Pacific from German expansion by having a more formidable Australia in the region.
Thank you!!! I just spent two weeks trying to learn what you summed up in 15 minutes.
I believe there is still a clause in the BNA/Constitution Act of 1867 that allows a Provincial Lt. Governor to instead of giving assent to a provincial legislature's passed bill, to refer it to the Canadian Parliament as a whole. This was used a bit at the start, but last done in Sask. in 1960, but the power still exists. This is one of my favorite hidden items still in effect.
It’s to refer it to the federal **Government** not to the Federal Parliament, “Governor in Council” in the constitution is just code for the Federal Cabinet, since it means the GG acting on the Advice of Cabinet, but you’re right, it’s called Reservation.
It goes back to the days before 1931 when the LG was the representative, not of the Sovereign, but of the Canadian government. Indeed, the Canadian of Government still names, and pays, the LGs.
@@juliannorwich319 Including the Quebec LG, whom the current Quebec Govt, whomever they are, hides as much as humanly possible.
The whole protection of concepts in the Canadian constitution reminds me of the necessary and proper clause in the USA constitution
nothing on La nuit des long couteaux, when Renée Levesque was left out of the last minute negotiation about the constitutional law
12:55 why are they all dressed like Santa Claus lol
Because that is the uniform that the Justices of the Supreme Court wear
Matthew is correct but it is also because we are so close to the North Pole.
7:25 I love that the Restrooms sign hangs over Trudeau. Good touch.
I’m an American who is somewhat of a history buff. But until now I have largely ignored Canadian history after 1815. JJ you’ve taught me so much about Canada and Canadian history. Thanks!
I love that the Canadian Supreme Court is made up entirely of Santa Claus.
What an infantile remark
This sounds like an old Reform Party tape back in the 90's.
Or the Canadian Reform Alliance Party (CRAP)
In Romania constitution is strange but not because is enormous like the canadian one.
Romanian constitution is inspired from the french constitution. France is a semi-presidential republic and we choose to be like them.The problem is that we modified it to give power to the government and now we are a semi-presidential republic in which the president is unable to do what it was supposed to do.For example in France,a president can dismiss a prime minister but in Romania not. We say that president need to do diplomacy things but sometimes the foreign affairs minister comes and say:that's my business.We really need to clarify what a president can do and what can't do.
It's not true that the French PM can be dismissed by the president. The president has never had unilateral power to do that in the Fifth Republic.
I think it should be noted that the Charter isn’t actually guaranteed. It’s guaranteed within reason so the government can break certain areas of the charter if it’s “justified.” I put justified in quotation marks because that’s a matter of opinion. For example, it’s illegal to advertise cigarettes in stores, that’s why they’re always hidden but this goings directly against our charter. However, they determined the benefits of protecting children outweigh the individual rights guaranteed by the charter. That’s why when the US says they’re the only free country, in terms of a constitution, they aren’t lying.
Wow, thanks JJ ! I'm learning so much from your channel ! 👌
The video omits Canada's most difficult form of constitutional amendment. To change the Statute of Westminster requires the unanimous consent of all 16 Crown realms. Those are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Jamaica, etc.
This is also Canada's most recent constitutional amendment. In 2011, all 16 Crown realms unanimously agreed to amend the Statute of Westminster so that male and female persons have equal accession as Sovereign.
That wasn't that difficult to do.
The Australian and British parliaments amended the Statute of Westminster as they effect Australia in 1986 without any other country.
The constitution is the law of the land except when it isn't.
Love your political teaching moments JJ. It's like story time with JJ, for adults. Keep it up we love it
The UK has a constitution that isn’t defined as well, but also the government can change it just as they change any other law, with 50% of parliament
Switzerland's constitution gets amended up to four times each year by the people, since initiatives and referendums get voted on by the electorate and all approved get added to the constitution. some concerning criminal law go into the Strafgesetzbuch, but most iniatives approved end up in the constitution itself, making the swiss constitution both enourmos and constantly expanding
Canadian Constitution: Uhh Is this in our constitution?
American Constitution: Uhh that’s not in the consideration.
Canada does have a confusing Constitution. Another strange one is the UK's Constitution. Its not even written. Thats right everyone. the UK has a unwritten Constitution. Also the UK is not a Federal like the U.S, Canada, Mexico and many other Nations. A federal system is were the States give up some powers to the Federal government. The U.K in its Union wanted to be one kingdom, like England, so there is no Federalism. That made a problem for Ireland and other parts of the U.K, so the Idea of home rule came. Ireland never got its home rule, so the South broke free. In the 1999 Scotland received home rule and the Scottish Parliament reopened after 300 years and the Welsh received the Welsh National Assembly. All that being said the UK is confusing.
Its Constitution is not made up of articles. No its made up of documents such as the Magna Carta and the English bill of right; hence the reason its unwritten. Not having a written Constitution and Federalism has lead the the British Union being weak. First most of Ireland breaks free; now there is a big moment in Scotland to break free, with the First Minster asking for a new referendum, and a smaller moment in Wales to break free.
Wouldn't that create a pretty big loophole? Just by passing a Parliamentary action, y'all could override the rights y'all have and such?
Great little history lesson. Thanks!
Well, the country with undoubtedly the “weirdest” constitution is of course the UK, because of course we don’t have one, other than an agglomeration of constitutional laws and judicial case law going back some 8/9 centuries. Actually after Canada finally took back full control of its constitution in 1982 it wasn’t until 1986 that Australia did the same. In both cases, at least in recent decades, this was entirely to suit the needs of both those countries’ internal politics. I think most people in the UK were glad when the role of the UK House of Lords judicial committee (the “Law Lords”) finally ended. I am a fervent monarchist, not because I have any particular love for monarchy but because I don’t wish some has-been politician to become our President, nor of course do I wish our Prime Minister to become our Head of State. Technically I understand that those Commonwealth countries which still recognise the British monarch as Head of State would have to be consulted were the UK ever wish to amend the status of its own monarchy. An anomaly certainly, but really it’s of lesser importance than many other issues facing all these countries, including the UK. From a UK perspective, Canada has been much less troublesome to the UK than Australia of course - in 1975 their Governor General dismissed their Prime Minister for purely domestic political reasons in Australia, which apparently caused considerable embarrassment to the Queen. Luckily such nonsense is unlikely ever to happen again. In any case, almost no one in the UK cares what Canada, Australia and New Zealand etc may choose to do in future, other than of course to maintain friendly ties at least partly reinforced by family ties, but of course such ties exist with many other countries & former British territories/dominions/colonies, including with your southern neighbour, the US - that’s just one of the messy, but happy, legacies of history and in the case of Canada those links perhaps include France too.
I mean, those French protection laws r there for a reason. Quebec still wants to leave in spite of protections lawl.
JJ laying down the groundwork to justify an armed government coup I see, nice.
I think it's cute Canada kept sending us laws for us to pass - kind of like getting a parent to sign your homework or something.
Anyway, we (the UK) don't even have a _written_ constitution.
We do have a constitution
@@Damo2690 Don't we not have an "Unwritten Constitution"?
@@immortaltyrant2474 Unwritten just means that we don't have one document we can point to and say "that is the constitution". Instead we rely on hundreds of years of legal president as our Constitution. So it's "uncodified" but still exists
@@Damo2690 Yeah, fair enough. I was referring to the fact we don't have one document with it all but good point. Also I'm pretty sure some of Magna Carta is still relevant but only a couple lines and even at that, they're like reviewed or something in more recent documents anyway.
@@Damo2690 Anyway, I'll edit my comment to correct it.
I'm beginning to find this out about the Mexican Constitution. Whenever I learned about it, I only ever learned about 3 important articles out of 100+. I might want to read the Mexican Constitution one day. And the Colombian one. This is how I learn Spanish.
Fascinating, one of best videos that JJ has done, and that's saying something. Canada does not have a single formal constitution as so many of us thought. That the British North America Act 1867 was changed to being called the Constitution Act 1867 by the 1982 Act passed by the British Parliament shows the extent of the 'sleight of hand' that legislators can use under a Westminster system of government. The way that Canada's constitutional structure is built also makes Canada rather like Israel, which has several 'Basic Laws' that comprise its constitution, but no single formal constitution. The development of Israel's constitutional structure of the country also arose from having been governed by Britain - as Palestine, 1918-1948.
Nice video, but just one quibble: there were not four but three colonies (Province of Canada, NS, NB) that came together in 1867.
When JJ speaks I listen • JJ’s videos should be mandatory viewing for Canadians •
I love your animations. You should run a second channel where you explain things, but with animations similar to Kurzgesagt
0:39 - Oh, look! It's my Senator!
Oh, no! He's being embarassing again. Nevermind, don't look.
One of the key components of the British constitution is the Human Rights Act 1998 which is sort of like the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in that it affirms certain rights like freedom of expression or prohibition of torture.
However, unlike the Charter, judges have no powers to strike down laws that violate the Human Rights Act because of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty ("legislative supremacy"), which is the constitutional principle that Parliament can do whatever it wants and the courts just have to deal with it.
So there is no need for a "notwithstanding" clause at all because Parliament can just choose to pass laws which violate human rights.
Judges have ended up having to be creative in order to give effect to the Human Rights Act. Section 3 of the HRA requires that courts interpret all laws passed by Parliament to be consistent with human rights "as far as possible". So judges sometimes exercise a bit of creativity in twisting the words of the law to protect rights (e.g. in the past, "spouses" meant opposite sex couples but judges revised the definition of "spouses" to include same sex couples to comply with Article 14 - non discrimination).
And one other thing: Parliament can just choose to repeal the Human Rights Act entirely with a simple majority (because of parliamentary sovereignty).
Hi JJ, it was nice to meet you downtown the other day! I love seeing a new upload notification because it gives me more ammo to look smart with in front of my friends.
PLEASE become prime minister i PROMISE to vote for you. I’m more liberal than you but you are intelligent and educated and I believe you would be beneficial towards our country
I really appreciate your channel. I live in Upstate, NY (15 mins from QC), and, for whatever reason, I have always thought of the Rights and Freedoms part of your constitution as the entire thing (・_・ヾ
Well your not that wrong. It is the only part most of us care about or indeed can identify and understand.
Me too ....
This is the first time I've heard someone mention the Tea Party in a while
First video of yours I've watched and I am hooked!! Never realised how not weird our Australian Constitution is...
1:15 Actually, this is incorrect. Canada ceased to be a colonial possession after the passage of the Statue of Westminster 1931 conferring on it the status of a dominion which controls all legislative functions within its borders say for foreign relations and any act regarding the monarchy, which must be agreed upon by all dominions or nowadays all of the Commonwealth Realms. Canada shed dominion status, not colonial status, in 1982.
The sheer absurdity of the Canadian constitution is enough to give most Americans a new found love of their constitution
No property rights recognized, no right to self defense recognized and a Senate that refuses to do its job (oppose bad legislation).
Yup. Basically we have what we have because the deciders allow us to have it. Sounds pretty commie to me.
I'm American and I'm not a fan of our constitution. It's virtually impossible to change and there's no equality between men and women. Furthermore, the Canadian constitution grants its citizens the right to enter and leave unlike the US one. The US constitution is far from perfect.
In addition, the US constitution allows slavery from those incarcerated. While putting an emphasis negative rights, there are little to no references on positive rights. Not to mention absurdity of Article III (the US Federal Courts).
@@Herb615 as a non citizen of the US who has lived in many countries you all have the best constitution it may not be perfect but again what is? As to being nearly impossible to be amended, yes that the point it's very well written if there is something that has changed in society obviously an overwhelming majority would support an amendment which makes it perfect.