On July, 1, 1867 The British North America Act came into effect marking the birth of the Dominion of Canada; comprising four provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Ottawa was chosen as the capital and recently knighted Sir John A. Macdonald was the first prime minister.
In 1982, the Act was renamed the Constitution Act, 1867. The Act has been seen as destructive of Indigenous rights, because it gave the federal government jurisdiction over “Indians and Lands reserved for Indians.”