This document discusses various constitutions including Canada's Constitution Act of 1982 and Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It explains that the Constitution Act marked the first inclusion of a charter of rights in Canada, giving courts a greater role in reviewing legislation. The Charter protects fundamental rights and freedoms and balances legislative and judicial powers. The document also summarizes other important constitutions like the Magna Carta and British North America Act of 1867 that helped establish Canada's system of government. Students will analyze sections of the fictional "Civic Mirror Constitution" in groups.

1. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
The Civic Mirror:
The National
Constitution
What kind of citizen will you become?

2. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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.

3. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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.

4. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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?

5. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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?

6. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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.

7. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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.

8. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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

9. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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.

10. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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.

11. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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.

12. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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 game
– 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!

13. The Civic Mirror
civicmirror.com
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.