RE: [Leica] CANADA DAY & USA INDEPENDENCE DAY. :-)

[Peterson Arthur G NSSC <PetersonAG@NAVSEA.NAVY.MIL>]

		Yes, I expect Eric is glad he asked, Frank, and in any case,
I'm glad.  Very interesting!  Thank you, and have a great Canada Day!

		Art Peterson
		Alexandria, Virginia


		-----Original Message-----
		From:	frank theriault
[mailto:knarf.theriault@sympatico.ca]
		Sent:	Tuesday, July 01, 2003 7:59 AM
		To:	leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
		Subject:	Re: [Leica] CANADA DAY & USA INDEPENDENCE
DAY. :-)

		Hi, Eric,

		Since we didn't "win" our nationhood in a war of
independance, Canada's
		becoming independant was actually a gradual process (not
many Canadians know
		this either).

		July 1, 1867 was when the British North America Act (BNA
Act) was passed in
		London, basically setting up the Canadian Parliament, and
granting most of
		our rights as a nationhood.  It's the day we were no longer
a colony.  We
		weren't fully independant, however, as court cases could be
appealled from
		the Supreme Court of Canada to England's Privy Council, and
Britain had the
		right to pass laws regarding foreign affairs on our behalf
(which I don't
		think they ever did, but they still had the power to).

		Some constitutional scholars consider the passing of the
Statute of
		Westminster in 1931 as the day that Canada became a fully
independant
		country, as that extinguished appeals to the Privy Council,
and said that
		England could pass no laws regarding Canada's affairs,
foreign or domestic.

		What happened in 1982 is that we got our own written
constitution.  The BNA
		Act was "brought to Canada" so to speak, and we also passed
a new, fully
		Canadian constitution called (appropriately enough) the
Constitution Act
		1982, which has in it a wonderful and comprehensive Charter
of Rights and
		Freedoms.

		So, as of 1982, we were no longer dependant on a law of a
foreign land to
		grant us rights of nationhood.

		Aren't you glad you asked?  <vbg>

		cheers,
		frank


		Eric Welch wrote:

		> Ted, 1982? What was it that happened in '67? (That was
engraved on the
		> Winchester Model 30/30 rifle I used to own.
		>
		> Oh wait, that was the Canadian Centennial, right?
		>
		> Doh!
		>
		> Eric Welch
		> Carlsbad, CA
		> http://www.jphotog.com
		>
		> "The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't
happen at once."
		>
		>
- -Albert Einstein
		>
		> --
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		--
		"What a senseless waste of human life"
		-The Customer in Monty Python's Cheese Shop sketch


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