> Quoting Mason Gaffney:
>> 3. There are "customs" and "traditions", which in Canada, a nation
>> with no written constitution, carry much force.
>>
>
>
> I can assure you Mason, that Canada has a written constitution
>
> Rod Hay


But not at all in the sense as that in which the USA has a 'written 
constitution'. The founding document of the Canadian federation is the 
British North America Act (of the imperial parliament), which among other 
things explicitly maintains all existing statutes not subsequently repealed 
or amended by the dominion parliament. The power to amend the BNA Act 
remained at Westminster until 1982, when the power to amend was granted to 
the Canadian parliament and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was 
added to the accumulation of constitutional legislation (and judicial review 
by the Privy Council) since 1867. Though this historically stratified welter 
of imperial and dominion legislation may be said to add up to a 'written 
constitution', the fact remains that the Canadian supreme court has ruled 
that it is not exhaustive, and that the 'constitution' contains unwritten, 
customary doctrines.

A. M. C. Waterman