Happy Birthday to the Statute of Westminster
This morning’s Globe reminds us of a significant anniversary, that of the 75th Anniversary of theStatute of Westminster
By some unseemly joke of constitutional myopia, the Justice Canada website suggests that the Statute has been repealed:
Notice to the reader: This document is no longer in effect. It remains on the site for reference purposes
If one checks the Canada Act, 1982 it states: In so far as they apply to Canada, (a) section 4 is repealed; and (b) subsection 7(1) is repealed. .
Which is hilarious, since it is the third most important statute in terms of defining Canada’s political and constitutional status
The power of the Canadian Parliament is expressly sovereign:
Churchill’s opposition to the statute was duly noted:
And for all those Slaw fans of MacKenzie King, a pin-up of him signing the Statute:
Maybe the UK repealed it, Simon. I think they’re still angry about us selling the Bay to an American.
Nice post, Simon. Love the images of the docs themselves.
:-) I just wrote a comment on how much I liked the paper images and the ‘digital life’ Simon had brought to this post, then nixed it ’cause I thought it sounded sappy…
Thanks to Simon F., sappy’s ok here at Slaw. :-) count me in too, nice arrangement!