Legacy of an ancient struggle

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/07/2010 (5559 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Queen has opened and consecrated many buildings in Canada during her long reign, but her dedication of the cornerstone of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights today will be one of the most significant.

That’s because the stone is no ordinary rock, but one taken from an ancient monastery at Runnymede, near London, where one of history’s most important documents was proclaimed — the Magna Carta Libertatum, as it was called in the original Latin, or Great Charter of Liberty. The museum itself is a legacy of the British Charter.

In June 1215, King John planted his seal on the Magna Carta, which limited the power of the sovereign and conveyed certain legal rights and protections to his subjects, one of the earliest examples of human-rights legislation.

A copy of the Charter that was made in 1217 is being loaned to Manitoba for the next three months. It will be on display for four hours a day at the Manitoba legislature.

The story of the Magna Carta is long and complicated, and much myth and misunderstanding have grown up around it, but it’s enough to say that it played a pivotal role in England’s constitutional development and, indeed, in other legal and democratic systems around the world, including the United States.

Article 38 of the Charter, for example, boldly curtails the arbitrary powers of the monarch and his agents: “In future, no bailiff shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported words, without credible witnesses being produced to support his word.”

The symbolic cornerstone, which is framed in a limestone panel, is actually situated on the inside of the museum near the entrance. It is the only artifact in Canada, and the world, from Runnymede, a national park and also the site of a memorial to fallen airmen from the Second World War, including Canada. The government of Great Britain granted a special dispensation for the rock, which was part of a ruined 12th century Benedictine monastery, to be moved to Canada.

It was personally selected by the Queen herself, who apparently did not want to leave such an important and hefty duty to a Royal assistant. It is an enormous honour, not just for Winnipeg, but for all of Canada. It is also more evidence of the powerful impact the museum will have on the community when it opens in two or three years.

The stone from Runnymede, for example, is probably just the first of many such rare gifts to be bestowed on the museum. The statue of Gandhi at The Forks was an early honour from the government of India, but there were hopes that human-rights giants like Nelson Mandela, as well as the relatives of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., would make contributions, even if it was only a personal visit. Museum officials are already engaged in planning for a grand opening.

The Queen will not speak at the dedication ceremony itself, but she will address the nation later at the Scotiabank Stage prior to the Manitoba Homecoming Concert for Human Rights. It’s unlikely she will mention the new Winnipeg airport or any other edifice she may have blessed with her presence while in Canada, but the museum will be an obvious opportunity to pay tribute to Canada’s human rights record and to comment on the relationship today between sovereign and citizen, and its evolution through respect for human rights and the rule of law.

The museum, remember, will be a national institution, and the only one like it in the world.

The stone from Runnymede will be a proud and enduring reminder that the museum is the legacy of an ancient struggle, one that continues today and into the future. If protocol permits, the government should today invite Her Majesty back to Winnipeg for the grand opening.

The Queen of Canada, who proclaimed Canada’s Constitution Act of 1982 and its Charter of Rights and Freedoms, would be the proper choice for such a ceremony.