In his excellent introduction to this new edition of W.P.M.
Kennedy's The Constitution of Canada: An Introduction to its
Development and Law, Martin Friedland - like Kennedy a past Dean of
the University of Toronto Law School - notes that after much
research, he is ending where he began, finding Kennedy to be
"distinguished, engaging, and enigmatic." Kennedy was indeed an
enigmatic figure, in addition to being a brilliant historian.
Emigrating to Canada from Ireland around 1913 - he was the eldest
of ten children, and had run away from home at age fourteen -
Kennedy made his way teaching and researching. There were several
"enigmatic" adventures along the way, as recounted by Friedland.
Kennedy's skill as a teacher was legendary, and his abilities as a
scholar on a range of topics including Tudor history and
constitutional history were exceptional. In 1922, Kennedy's
large-canvas, ground-breaking study of the Canadian constitution
was published (Kennedy was part of a wider renaissance at
University of Toronto, where in 1922 two other important events
took place: the discovery of insulin and the creation of the School
of Graduate Studies). It was hailed as a success from the start,
called "a work of great accuracy and conspicuous fairness," "alive,
human, dramatic," "an admirable and most readable book," and "a
book which will rank high in the literature of political science"
(respectively, the Times, the Observer, the Law Quarterly Review,
and the New Statesman). Equally well-received in Canada (Saturday
Night called it "brilliant" and "a monumental work"), it became and
remained a classic text in both history and law until recently.
Kennedy traces the development of Canada from the earliest days of
the French explorers until 1922. The book is comprehensive in
scope, covering the seigniorial system in Quebec, colonial policy,
responsible government, federation, Canada as a dominion, the
distribution of legislative power, the imperial tie and federalism.
Kennedy describes all the key events: the Royal Proclamation of
1763, the Quebec Act of 1774, the Constitution Act of 1791, Lord
Durham's Report of 1840, the granting of responsible government in
1848, the British North America Act 1867, and later events up to
and including 1922. Written by a scholar who had a profound
knowledge of history, institution, and legal change, this book
remains one of the best and most comprehensive examples of the
process of nation-making. Martin Friedland's fascinating
introduction sketches out Kennedy's life and times - a time of much
intellectual ferment - as well as outlining the importance of this
book in the larger context of Canadian constitutional history.
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