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The Civic Mirror:The National Constitution

What kind of citizen will you become?

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What is a Constitution?

• The Constitution serves as the supreme law of the land

• Every government policy and initiative, every new law that is made, every business deal, and every court decision must abide by the rules laid out in your constitution.

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A VERY Important Document!

• Constitutions are like principles, beliefs about right and wrong, except they apply to countries and not persons.

• They outline the fundamental rules, laws, and beliefs that the people in a country must abide by. A country’s constitution is like its skeleton of right and wrong.

• Constitutions outline to their citizens how they will govern themselves.

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A VERY Important Document!

• Your nation’s constitution (and every good constitution for that matter) must address a number of key questions.

• Take a few minutes to discuss with the people near you what the ideal answers to these questions are.

1. Legislation – How are laws made and/or amended? Who makes them? What are the limits to these lawmakers’ powers?

2. Execution – Who is in charge of the country and responsible for enforcing the law? How do these persons gain/lose power? What are the limits to their power?

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A VERY Important Document!

3. Judgment - When it is unclear whether actions are lawful or not, who determines innocence? How? What powers and limitations are these persons given to pass judgment and administer consequences?

4. Economic Production - Who is allowed to produce goods and services? Who decides what to produce? Are there ever exceptions? What role does the government have in this matter?

5. Economic Distribution - Who gets the produced goods and services? In what quantities? If there is not enough for everyone, who or what will determine who gets them?

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Important Constitutions

• Magna Carta – 1215• An English legal document that had a huge

influence on the developing legal system of England.

• England's legal system was used as a model by many colonies when they developed their own legal systems.

• It also had an impact on many other governments. • Many legal historians believe that the Magna

Carta is one of the most important documents of all time.

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Magna Carta

• It could be considered a bill of rights for medieval England.

• It set a precedent which changed the face of England forever, by establishing that the King was not above the law.

• King John of England signed the Magna Carta after strong pressure from the Church and his barons.

• King John later abandoned the Magna Carta, triggering a war which lasted until his death in 1216. His son, Henry III, took the throne, and reissued the Magna Carta in 1225, albeit in a different version.

• Strangely, the Magna Carta seemed to disappear until almost 200 years later, when the Elizabethan era sparked a new interest in and furor over the document.

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BNA Act

• British North America Act – 1867• Three provinces joined the new Confederation: the

Province of Canada (which later became Ontario and Québec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

• The British North America Act was intended to balance the forces that were pushing the old Province of Canada apart with the forces that had pushed all the provinces together.

• Slowly the other provinces and territories will come together to become the Canada as we know it today

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BNA Act

• Important elements included:• The power of the Governor General in Council to disallow any

provincial law within a year of getting a copy of the legislation.• A division of powers between the federal parliament and the

provinces. • Parliament could assume any powers that were not specifically

allocated, and had the power to act for "peace, order and good government."

• Thus, the provinces had secure power over some areas such as education.

• Québec could keep its civil law and its distinctiveness was recognized.

• The federal government, however, was theoretically stronger than its counterparts in the United States or Switzerland, increased by the power of the Governor General in Council to appoint Senators.

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Constitution Act - 1982

• This marked the first time a charter of rights had been included in any Canadian constitutional document.

• Because of this, courts were given a much greater say in government and can now disallow legislation on the basis of violations against the Charter of Rights.

It also:• Made specific mention of Aboriginal rights• Included the "notwithstanding clause," which

allows a province to override the Charter of Rights.• Set the rules for amending the Constitution.

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Charter of Rights and Freedoms

• The Charter of Rights and Freedoms not only prohibits discrimination based on race or gender, it protects mobility and language rights and enshrines the presumption of innocence.

• It guarantees democratic rights, legal rights, equality rights, language rights and fundamental freedoms.

• It balances the rights of legislatures and courts through, which gives the federal and provincial parliaments limited powers to override court decisions.

• It has passed the American Bill of Rights as the document most emulated by other nations.

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Civic Mirror Constitution

• Our country has its own constitution based on the Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982.

• We are now going to learn more about them.• These are the basis of your rights in the simulation

– Effects parliament and legislation– Effects rights when trading– Are the rules of the game that when broken can lead to

legal action.

• Know the constitution and know your rights!

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Constitution Activity

• You will be organized into FIVE groups to look at the Civic Mirror constitution

• For each set of laws you are to do THREE tasks:1. Read through all of the laws and write down key legal

terms or phrases (ex. ‘freedom’ or ‘legal representation’).

2. Choose TWO laws from your list that you think are the most important. (Sub laws all count as one law ex. 1a or 4b)

3. Explain why you think each law is important. You can use examples from real life or Civic Mirror.

• You are working as a group but each of you are responsible for your own sheet which will be submitted at the end of the period.