Peter MacKinnon: Statute of Westminster a nation-building moment

Dec. 11 is the anniversary of the Statute of Westminster. Other than the reappearance of the Union Jack on a few of the country’s flagpoles, the day will pass unheralded, largely unnoticed, by Canada’s leaders and 40 million citizens.

The statute is a cornerstone of our autonomy and democracy. Passed by Britain’s Parliament in 1931, it recognized our independence and admission into the family of nations. It did not happen out of the blue; it was hard won by Canadians in the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge, by other distinct contributions in the First World War, the peace process that followed, and by the leaders of our country and other English colonies who insisted upon emergence from colonies to nations to a Commonwealth of Nations.

The statute was a moment but its substance and symbolism extended well beyond the immediate, to the origins of Westminster more than 1500 years earlier. Originally a precinct of ancient London it passed from ecclesiastical origins to the seat of England’s government, in particular to the Crown and Parliament. The story of Westminster is a long and often bloody one before parliamentary supremacy, the rule of law and constitutional monarchy were established and became mature institutions and democratic ways.

In March 2021, then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed the Parliament he led as founded upon “colonialism, or discrimination or systemic racism,” a brazen dismissal of a legacy whose evolution over centuries is an account of western democracy in the making. The difference between Trudeau’s assessment and the historical legacy reminds us that we cannot take our rights and freedoms for granted. Tell a different story and repeat it often enough, and the brazen dismissal diminishes the legacy.

Canada today is more divided than at any time in its modern history. Quebec is considering a third referendum on sovereignty while Alberta contemplates a first, and other provincial differences (eg Alberta and British Columbia) have sharpened.

Shame overtakes the historical record in our school boards, classrooms, museums and other public institutions. Differences have become divides in which debate is eschewed and confrontation favoured. Illiberalism has become common.

History matters. The stories we tell about the past record the collective memory of our country. Our history is not unblemished but is on the whole positive, and so we would do well on Dec. 11 to recall the full story of Westminster, and to celebrate its legacy of nationhood, democracy and freedom.

Peter MacKinnon is a Senior Fellow of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the Aristotle Foundation.