Bibliography

In any undertaking of scholarly value (if I may be so bold as to call it as such), a great number of books have been consulted over the years. Here then is an annotated biblography, divided into different sections as the Archive is.

Pre-Confederation Documents

Peter C. Newman, Company of Adventurers, Penguin Books Canada Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-670-80379-0, Appendix One. David Chapman's source for his electronic contribution of the Hudson's Bay Charter.
Adam Shortt and Arthur G. Doughty, eds. Documents Relating to the Constitutional History of Canada, 2nd. rev. ed. 1759-1791 (Ottawa: Public Archives of Canada (King's Printer), 1918). An excellent compendium of documents relating to that time. It's really a shame that the Government of Canada hasn't re-printed this great work. Incidentally, Arthur G. Doughty would later on become one of the architects of the original Canadian Coat of Arms.
Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985. Appendix II. This book has the English and French language versions of the "Constitution". Note that the French version isn't legal, it's just there for reference. For that matter neither is the English one. The loose leaf edition is the only legal reference which is officially recognized as "The Law". Unfortunately the French version of the Constitution is still not authoritative, meaning it doesn't have the force of law. (There was a commission struck to fix that, and they have published suggested French versions, but to date, nothing else has been done.)

Miscellaneous Documents

Revised Statutes of Canada. See above.

Proposals

Quite a few copies of some of the more recent proposals are now becoming readily available on the Internet, thanks to the initiatives of several levels of government in Canada. The ones leading to the creation of the Constitution Act, 1982 aren't as readily available online, and so must be sought via traditional means.

Bayefsky, Anne F., Canada's Constitutional Act 1982 and amendments: a Documentary History", 1989. Toronto: McGraw-Hill-Ryerson. 2 Vols. An excellent reference documenting the evolution of the Constitution Act, 1982, starting from 1960. The books contain many reproductions of reports, primary source legal documents and drafts, as well as some official inter-provincial correspondence.

Arguments

Towards a Just Society: The Trudeau Years, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Thomas S. Axworthy, eds., 1990. Markham: Penguin. An earnest defense of the Trudeau government's policies, which is mainly composed of essays written by former cabinet ministers and others involved on the inside at that time. There's an explanation by Mr. Trudeau himself on the inclusion of the notwithstanding clause (section 33) of the Charter of Rights and Fredoms.

Last updated: 2 March, 1998.

William F. Maton