It's time for Canada to Bring Back the Act
The company that publishes the Town Crier newspapers is helping lead a nationwide movement to bring the original constitution of Canada back to this country.
While other countries like United States have their revered documents on display for its citizens to see, the 1867 documents that founded Canada are stored behind locked doors in a London, England vault, says Lori Abittan, president of Multimedia Nova Corporation and Town Crier publisher.
This fact came to light as the company was preparing the Canadian Experience series, which is published in over 70 print and online publications in 24 languages to engage Canadians with our history. It came as a shock to discover we don’t even have the British North America Act here, Abittan says.
This discovery prompted Abittan to launch a campaign, [url=http://www.BringBacktheAct.ca]BringBacktheAct.ca[/url].
Leading figures from government, academia and culture have joined the BringBacktheAct.ca working group to coordinate efforts to rally Canadians and to press the government to ask for the act and associated documents to be brought to Canada.
“Canada needs its constitution,” says Ian Wilson, former head of Canada’s national Library and Archives. “The British North America Act, 1867, also known as the Constitution Act, 1867, sets out the vision and hopes of the Fathers of Confederation.”
Historian Jack Granatstein says, “Having this most important icon from our history accessible here in our own country would have inestimable value in helping bring our history alive for Canadians,”
Organizers are calling on Canadians to lend their voices to the chorus asking the British government to allow the original BNA Act to
be given to Canada where it will be properly displayed for the country to see.
They can sign the online petition at [url=http://www.bringbacktheact.ca]Bring[/url][url=http://www.BackTheAct.ca]BackTheAct.ca[/url]
Canadians can also get more information about the campaign and make their own views known on the website.
The campaign’s ultimate goal is to have the Act in Canada by 2014 — in time for the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown and Quebec City constitutional conferences that set the groundwork for Confederation. The document would then become part of a cross-country exhibition on Canada’s constitutional history before finding a permanent home in Ottawa in time for Canada’s 150th birthday on July 1, 2017.
“This is an important project for our country,” Abittan says. “We are proud Canadians and while many of our readers were born somewhere else, we have all chosen Canada as our home. It is why we decided to undertake The Canadian Experience and why we have dedicated ourselves to bring the BNA Act home for all Canadians. We all need to understand our country’s history and foundations to truly appreciate how wonderful and unique Canada really is.”
