BILL C-60: OR, HOW NOT TO DRAFT A CONSTITUTION

Abstract

This article examines the perceived deficiencies of substance and form in the Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978, focusing in particular on its hybrid nature: part enactment intended to have the force of law, and part mere proposal. To determine whether the rights and liberties enshrined in the Charter would be secure against unilateral abrogation by the federal or provincial levels, the author examines the nature of the amending power in the B.N.A. Act, 1867. He concludes that the bulk of the Charter, with the exception of three clauses, is unsatisfactorily vulnerable to abrogation.