This is one of the most important anniversaries there is on the Canadian political history calendar.  So, it was on this date in 1867 that the British Parliament approved what is still the basis for Canada’s constitution, the British North America Act. The new Dominion, one that would defy geography, race, religion and even history itself, was thus born.  What began as a nation of only four provinces -- with most of the population hugging the border with the mighty United States -- would, in less than 20 years, stretch from Atlantic to Pacific, a remarkable achievement in such a short time. My pet peeve involves the British Parliament.  For many years officials there have refused to send the original copy of the BNA Act to Canada for permanent display.  Over to you Britain, we’d like our founding document sent home to the country it helped create.   caption id="attachment_546974" align="aligncenter" width="460" The British North America Act received Royal Assent on March 29, 1867 and went into effect July 1, 1867./caption Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist.  He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy.  A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.