Mr. Diefenbaker, parliamentary democracy, and the Canadian Bill of Rights
Belliveau, Robert M.
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The Canadian Bill of Rights was enacted in 1960 as an Act of Parliament of Canada.
Mr. Diefenbaker, parliamentary democracy, and the Canadian Bill of Rights
Belliveau, Robert M.
MetadataShow full item record
The Canadian Bill of Rights was enacted in 1960 as an Act of Parliament of Canada. Many argued then, and since, that it ought to have been legally binding, or entrenched beyond the reach of both Parliament and the provincial legislatures. The Diefenbaker government responded with the argument that in order to entrench the Bill by way of constitutional amendment, the consent of all provincial governments was surely necessary, and, in all probablility, not possible to secure. At best, it meant years of delay. This explanation has, in fact, become conventional wisdom, virtually unchallenged. On closer examination, however, there is ample evidence to argue that provincial consultation, and, by extension, a discussion on entrenchment, was deliberately avoided by the Diefenbaker administration. To put it another way, the form that the Bill eventually took was the result of careful considerations and coherent, though not always c