Runnymede, UK
Conservative Leader Pierre
Poilievre is having a great time in Europe and getting media coverage.
Too many Canadians wouldn't
know that our Bill of Rights, our Charter of Rights, and our entire
constitutional and Parliamentary structure owe their foundation to the British
system and the Magna Carta. For decades,
Liberal governments have tried to downplay the British roots of our democracy.
In the video linked below,
Pierre Poilievre relishes the history and tells the story engagingly. Every Canadian should watch this video and pass
this page along.
I’ve had the pleasure of
sitting in the Canadian House of Commons, participating in debates, and hearing
rulings from the Speaker that trace back to documents such as the Magna Carta
or the English Bill of Rights of 1689. I
get emotional every time I see this video.
Runnymede is a water-meadow
alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, just 32 km west of
central London. It is notable for its
association with the sealing of Magna Carta.
The name Runnymede is derived
from the Middle English runinge (taking counsel) and mede (mead or meadow),
referring to a place in the meadows used for regular meetings. The Witan, Witenagemot, or Council of the
Anglo-Saxon Kings of the 7th to 11th centuries met from time to time at
Runnymede, especially during the reign of Alfred the Great (871–899). The Council usually assembled in the open
air.
The Magna Carta, Charter of
English liberties, was granted by King John on June 15, 1215, under threat of
civil war and reissued with alterations in 1216, 1217, and 1225. By declaring the Sovereign to be subject to
the rule of law and documenting the liberties of "free men," the
Magna Carta laid the foundation for individual rights in Anglo-American
jurisprudence.
The Magna Carta affected
common and constitutional law, political representation, and the development of
parliaments. Runnymede's association
with the ideals of democracy, the limitation of power, equality, and freedom
under law has attracted the placement of monuments and commemorative symbols
there. The location is now a minor
tourist attraction.
Magna Carta (Medieval Latin
for "Great Charter") is a royal charter of rights sealed by King John
of England. First drafted by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, it was to make peace
between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons who demanded that the
King confirm the Charter of Liberties. It
promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from
illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on
feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons.
Many later attempts to draft
constitutional forms of government trace their lineage back to Magna
Carta. The British dominions, Australia,
New Zealand, Canada, and formerly the Union of South Africa and Southern
Rhodesia, reflected the influence of Magna Carta in their laws. The Charter's effects can be seen in the laws
of other states that evolved from the British Empire --the USA.
Magna Carta continues to have
a powerful iconic status in the Commonwealth countries, being cited by
politicians and lawyers in support of constitutional positions.
It was a written law intended
to limit the Crown's capricious power.
In 1867, the British North America Act (Canadian Constitution) was ‘similar
in principle to that of the United Kingdom’.
From that phrase, the spirit and heritage of the Magna Carta were passed
down into the formation of Canadian law.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFiHlsITkTA
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