As contemporary Canadians we have been witnessing and participating in truly historic events leading up to Canada's "coming of age," as it were. We have reached at last the goal of that long journey to full, sovereign independence that began with Confederation in 1867.

It hasn't always been an easy journey. But then the Fathers of Confederation knew they were facing formidable obsticles in their effort to create a new nation in the northern half of North America. In the years since, Canadians have shown themselves equal to the challenges and more than capable of overcoming the obstacles.

Now the Parliament of Canada, in the name of all Canadians, has acted to bring the country's Constitution home where it belongs. What this means is that we will never again have to go to the Parliament of another country to ask for changes that we, as Canadians, want to make in our most fundamental law.

The Parliamentary resolution that sets out the details of our truly Canadian Constitution is important to every citizen, containing as it does many of the long-established provisions that form the foundations of our society and of the laws under which we conduct our affiars.

But in the day-to-day lives of Canadians, probably the most significant feature of our Constitution is a new one - the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Most of the rights and freedoms we are enshrining in the Charter are not totally new and different. Indeed, Canadians have tneded to take most of them for granted over the years. The difference is that now they will be guaranteed by our Constitution, and people will have the power to appeal to the courts if they feel their constitutional rights have been infringed upon or denied.

If the long and searching public debate leading up to patriation of the Constitution proved nothing else, it proved that Canadians need and want their rights and freedoms protected. Enshrining these rights in our Constitution is an essential part of that process.

We may find in the future that we want to improve and refine the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to strengthen the protection it provides for all our people.

With our own Constitution home in Canada, we are able to make those kinds of changes, as we see fit. We will do it by working together with all the partners in our federation, in the spirit of those who worked together for more than a century to make Canada a free and bountiful land.