Christ In Canada 150 - The Constitution

Leading up to our celebration of Canada Day 2017, we have looked at several examples of our Christian national heritage and the founding of our Country.  In this final post in our “Christ In Canada 150” series, we will consider our Constitution.

The “Dominion of Canada” was originally created in 1867 by an act of the British Parliament, and the Queen’s Assent, as a union of the Province of Canada (Ontario / Quebec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.  This is known as the British North American Act, or BNA.

It was not until 1982, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, that the Constitution was patriated; i.e. transferred under the authority of the Canadian Parliament.  In that Act, Part 1 is known as the “Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms” and it begins with the following preamble:

“Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law:”

In the opening sentence of our Constitution, our Parliament and all of Canada acknowledge that it is GOD who rules over the nations!  This statement is actually taken from an earlier Act of parliament known as the “Canadian Bill of Rights”.

The Bill of Rights was enacted in 1960 under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.  The preamble to this Act includes the following “Principles”:

·       supremacy of God

·       the dignity and worth of the human person

·       the position of the family

·       freedom is founded upon respect for moral and spiritual values

Finally, the last paragraph of the preamble includes a very profound conclusion.  It makes the following statement regarding the Principles mentioned above:

“the human rights and fundamental freedoms derived from them”

Our Parliament understood, and passed an Act declaring, that our rights and freedoms are derived!  That means that we have these rights and freedoms because of a certain reason.  And the reason they give, ultimately, is the supremacy of GOD!  In other words, human beings have human rights because we are made in the image of GOD.

Genesis 1:27 KJV  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Our nation, our constitution, and our rights and freedoms are founded solely upon the fact that GOD is the Creator and we are made in HIS image. Let’s keep Christ In Canada 150!