Constitutional Odyssey: Can Canadians Become a Sovereign People?

by Peter H. Russell

Constitutional Odyssey is an account of the politics of making and changing Canada's constitution from Confederation to the present day. Peter H. Russell frames his analysis around two contrasting constitutional philosophies - Edmund Burke's conception of the constitution as a set of laws and practices incrementally adapting to changing needs and societal differences, and John Locke's ideal of a Constitution as a single document expressing the will of a sovereign people as to how they are to be governed. The first and second editions of Constitutional Odyssey , published in 1992 and 1993 respectively, received wide-ranging praise for their ability to inform the public debate. This third edition continues in that tradition. Russell adds a new preface, and a new chapter on constitutional politics since the defeat of the Charlottetown Accord in 1993. He also looks at the 1995 Quebec Referendum and its fallout, the federal Clarity Act, Quebec's Self-Determination Act, the Agreement on Internal Trade, the Social Union Framework Agreement and the Council of the Federation, progress in Aboriginal self-determination such as Nunavut and the Nisga'a Agreement, and the movement to reduce the democratic deficit in parliamentary government. Comprehensive and eminently readable, Constitutional Odyssey is as important as ever.

Genres: Politics, Canada, History

360 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 1993

About the author

Peter H. Russell is Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the University of Toronto (Toronto, ON).

Reviews

[Bronek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tremendous and essential history of the tumultuous soap opera that was Canadian constitutional reform in the 20th century involving the balancing of powers and the exhausting politics behind it all. The lesson learned is that we’re just too big and diverse a country to reconcile all our differing views in a single cohesive document… especially when one province insists that it is infinitely more distinct than the rest.

[Kassandra O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Canadian MUST-READ.
After 12 years in the public school system & 4 years studying PoliSci at a decent university, I credit 99.9% of my knowledge of Canada's political history to this book.

[Paddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic rebuttal to those revisionists who see 20th century liberalism in Canada's 19th century constitutional framers.