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Forging Alberta’s Constitutional Framework analyzes the principal events and processes that precipitated the emergence and formation of the law and legal culture of Alberta from the foundation of the Hudson’s Bay in 1670 until the eve of the centenary of the Province in 2005. The formation of Alberta’s constitution and legal institutions was by no means a simple process by which English and Canadian law was imposed upon a receptive and passive population. Challenges to authority, latent lawlessness, interaction between indigenous and settler societies, periods (pre- and post-1905) of jurisdictional confusion, and demands for individual, group, and provincial rights and recognitions are as much part of Alberta’s legal history as the heroic and mythic images of an emergent and orderly Canadian west patrolled from the outset by red coated mounted police and peopled by peaceful and law-abiding subjects of the Crown. Papers focus on the development of criminal law in the Canadian west in the nineteenth century; the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement of 1930; the National Energy Program of the 1980s; Federal-Provincial relations; and the role and responsibilities of the offices of Justices of the Peace and of the Lieutenant-Governor; and the legacies of the Lougheed and Klein governments.

Alberta is distinctive both for its awe-inspiring natural wonders and its fascinating history, and from the earliest footprints of human settlement to today's dynamic society, Alberta has captivated countless generations who have visited or settled in this remarkable province. To celebrate Alberta's centennial in 2005, this two-volume edition features thirty eminent historians contributing articles spanning an incredible 12,000 years of history encompassing the archaeological foundations, the natural resources, and the social and political development of the province. From the primordial to the present, Alberta Formed - Alberta Transformed is an inspiring record of the people, places, and events that have defined our province and made Alberta one of the most vibrant areas of the country-and the world. This project is made possible through grants from the Alberta Historic Resources Foundation and the Alberta Real Estate Foundation.