Most of us are aware that Canada is a democratic country. However, how many of us know that it was a British colony until 1857? Yes, the country was one among the British colonies until 1857. The colony was announced as a formal legal country by the enactment of the British North American Act also known as BNA by the British Parliament. Some people even call it the Constitution Act since it led to the formation of the Canadian Constitution. The act outlines the functions of the government and explains the powers of the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Reading further will help you understand the Canadian law and the legal system in the country.



The Constitution act or BNA divided the country into main levels of governments namely the federal level, the provincial level and the municipal or local level. The act also stated separately the responsibilities of each level of government in making laws in the areas that come under their control. Each government works independent of the other in establishing their powers and controlling their jurisdiction. Each level of government has powers to make laws in field allotted to them. However, in some cases, these jurisdictions may overlap, in the sense, the central or federal government can make laws related to marriage and divorce and laws related splitting the properties after divorce are made by the provincial government. Thus, when a couple has to bid farewell to each other in Canada both provincial and federal act comes into the picture.

Now that it is clear that the different levels of Canadian government comes into the picture to deal with a single problem. One needs to understand the relationship between all these levels of government to solve any legal problem. When it comes to laws of Rights and Freedoms, every Canadian citizen is equal under the law irrespective of their race, color, sex and religion. This means that there is no partiality for any particular person in Canada when it comes to the benefits enjoyed from the laws or protection of rights by the Canadian laws.

The Canadian charter made for rights and freedoms also ensures guarantee for democratic rights. It also guarantees respect for two main languages of the country namely French and English.

Having explained about the different levels of government and their powers, one will have the question of who makes all these laws. As mentioned before, Canada is a democratic country and the democracy, in simple terms, is defined as a government of the people, for the people and by the people. Therefore, people are responsible and play a key role in forming up the government. In all the three levels of government, the people who represent the public in making any decisions elect the representatives. Thus the Canadian people act as the key sources in making the laws in Canada. Thus, everyone who is 18 years or more have the responsibility of voting and electing the representative in their jurisdiction.