Canada Day 2025

158th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation

July 1, 2025, marks 158th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. This is the date that the Royal Proclamation of 1867, which had received Royal assent on May 22, 1867, brought into force the British North American Act, 1867 (later known as the Constitution Act, 1867). merging four colonies of the British Empire in North America into the Dominion of Canada. These four colonies were Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, the Province of Canada (comprised of Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario)). The British North America Act, 1867 had received Royal assent on March 29, 1867.

The British North America Act, 1867 remains Canada’s constitutional framework to this day, despite numerous amendments over the years: when Canada gained formal independence, when suffrage was extended beyond white male property owners, following the development of a socialized industrial base, and after the formation of a strong and educated working class across the country, made up of people from all corners of the world.

This aspect in itself calls for reflection. After nearly 158 years, two world wars, and the end of the bipolar division of the world, the constitution and the definition of rights that derive from it must be modernized to meet the demands of the times.

On June 26, Stephen Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, issued a Canada Day message to Canadians, entitled, “United and proud. Canada is all of us. Let’s celebrate together!”He invited people to take part in July 1 festivities, saying that Canada Day “is an occasion for all Canadians to celebrate who we are with pride and conviction, as well as to look back on our shared history with reflection, and to the future with hope and determination.”

The Party is working and inviting everyone to get involved in the work of democratic renewal and constitutional modernization based on the principle that rights belong to us because we are human beings and that Quebec, Indigenous nations, and the rest of Canada must establish a free and equal union among themselves.

This is a historic task, not a matter of political choice. This modernization is necessary so that those who produce all the wealth can take their rightful place at the centre of history and bring about the changes needed to overcome the problems facing society today in terms of the economy and the natural and social environment.

The fact that this modernization is blocked and rejected by the ruling elite from election to election, including now by the Carney government and the oligarchs who dominate, perpetuates the status quo and exacerbates the constitutional crisis day by day.

(Excerpted from presentation made at meeting of Quebec Branch of (CPC(M-L))

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