对加拿大代议制“民主”发轫的质疑

Doubts about the Origin of Representative Government in Canada

长期以来,宪制问题一直是加拿大国内学术界研究的重中之重。作为加拿大宪制支柱的代议制发轫于何时?国际学术界的普遍看法是源自英国统治时期,其中尤以加拿大皇家学会院士J·M·S·凯尔莱斯教授为代表。然而通过对加拿大政制的考察,可证实其观点有失偏颇,法属时期的加拿大不但产生了地方自治政府机构,也萌发了代议制民主政治的萌芽。

Researching on constitutionalism is a focus in Canadian academia. The beginning of the representative democracy as the pillar of the constitutional order appeared from the tome of Britain ruling according to the international academic view. J. M. S.Careless,Fellow of Royal Society of Canada was the leading figure. But through the investigation of the early Canadian political system,it has been found that the view is biased. The French colonialism in Canada had caused not only institutions of local autonomy,but also the embryonic stage of representative democracy.