1860s

“A peep at the western world; being an account of a visit to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada, and the United States”

by

“Now the “gridiron” is a square box-like structure, situated about midships, in close proximity to the engines, and which being closed in at the top and sides, affords shelter from the wind, and to a great extent, from the heavy seas shipped in bad weather. In the centre is the capstan, which often serves as an impromptu table, and the sides or walls area series of wooden shutters, which fasten tightly into a groove, so that one or more can readily be removed to suit the weather and the convenience of the passengers. From this it can easily be imagined that, at night, the “gridiron” was the snug retreat of those who indulged in “the fragrant weed,” or who were disposed to conviviality. For myself, I shall always remember with pleasurable feelings those agreeable evenings spent on the bosom of the Atlantic in the gridiron aforesaid.”

“It was towards eight o’clock in the evening of the 4th May (and just twelve days from the time of our leaving Liverpool) when we distinguished the lights to guide vessels in their approach to Halifax, and at exactly ten o’clock p.m. we dropped our anchor in Chebuctoo harbour. We bade farewell to those passengers proceeding by the “Niagara” on to Boston, and were not long before we disembarked, and after a hasty inspection of our luggage by the officer appointed to that duty, I proceeded in a dingy and mournful specimen of a hackney coach to the “Acadian Hotel,” my future residence during my stay in Halifax. Halifax, the principal naval station of British North America, is situated in 44° 40″ N. latitude, and 63° 38” W. longitude. It is a quaint old city, unlike any I had ever seen before, and does not certainly present the appearance of having been in English hands for more than a century. It is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, originally Acadia, and was formerly a French possession. The province was called Acadia after a simple unobtrusive hardy little flower of that name which grows wild in the country—the land which inspired Longfellow, who has shed a romantic interest over it! Nos etiam in Acadia. I knew and felt that I was in Acadia, so I was induced early one fine morning to ramble through the forest in the neighbourhood of Halifax in search of one of these plants, now become so very rare, and was gratified by collecting a very fine specimen in full bloom. The leaf is not unlike that of a small rose plant, whilst the flower itself partakes of the violet species. It is a curious fact associated with this plant that it is not to be found in any other province of the western continent. The wild flowers of Acadia are most abundant, and are indeed a peculiar feature of the province. The roadside is fringed with white, pink, and purple, and wild strawberries blossoming, whiten in their starry settlements every bit of turf. In the swamps too is long green needle grass, surmounted with snowy tufts; clusters of purple laurel blossoms as they are called (though not at all like our laurels) shoot up from beside the grey rocks and boulders which lie thickly and loosely about. The ditches too are bedecked with numbers of pitcher plants which, lifting their veined and mottled vases brimming with water, invite the wood birds to drink and perch upon their thick rims. Here, again, is seen the buckthorn in blossom; there, on the turf, the scarlet partridge berry. Small shrubs of wild cherry trees also abound, and beneath shining tropical-looking leaves the fragrant may-flower modestly hides; and meadow-sweet, not less fragrant because less beautiful, pours its aroma into the fresh air. And above all and around all are the evergreens, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks, the rampikes, the grey-beards of the forest primæval, and the spicy breath of resinous balsams. This is Acadia! “This is Arcadia—this the land, That weary souls have sighed for; This is Arcadia—this the land Heroic souls have died for; Yet, strange to tell, this promised land Has never been applied for!”

“But to resume my narrative. Nova Scotia continued in the hands of the French until the year 1713, when it was ceded to the English by one of the stipulations of the treaty of Utrecht. From this date little or no progress had been made in the settlement of that part of it now known as Nova Scotia; neglect and indifference seem to have been manifested by the home government towards the colony, and gave rise to the natural inference by the French that England was either unaware of the real value of her new possession, or, if alive to its importance, did not exhibit any interest in retaining it. Accordingly they resolved to regain it by clever diplomacy, ofttimes superior to physical force. Their first step was to assert with boldness and pertinacity that “Acadia” comprised the peninsula only, and that the remainder of the territory across the bay of Fundy was still their possession.—* This* dexterous manœuvre, however, did not succeed, for the people settled in Massachussets took alarm at this unexpected claim, and at once urged the attention of the mother country to the matter, pointing out that its admission would supply the French with a formidable frontier, and would be productive of disastrous results to the peace and safety of the British North American possessions. This earnest and well-timed remonstrance roused the English government from its apathy and stimulated it to action, for it appears that plans were immediately devised for “confirming and extending “the dominion of the Crown of England in Acadia, “by constituting communities, diffusing the benefits “of population, and improving the fisheries on the “coast,” and submitted to the president of the “Board of Trade and Plantations.” This functionary was that acute statesman the Earl of Halifax, who ardently approved of the scheme, and obtained the sanction of the legislature for its developement. Public notices were issued stating that encouragement would be given to all officers and private soldiers of the army to settle in Nova Scotia. Now as several thousands of troops had been but recently disembodied from the standing army, the invitation was readily accepted it appears by 3760 persons, who, with their families were entered for embarkation, and the House of Commons voted the munificent sum of forty thousand pounds to defray the expences of their emigration. The Honourable Edward Cornwallis was appointed Governor of the colony, and accompanied the expedition, which took its departure in May 1749, and after a voyage of about six weeks arrived in Chebuctoo Harbour. (The old chronicle says the colony was founded on the 8th day of June, 1749, and is considered the natal day of Halifax).”

“It can readily be imagined that nature in her noblest aspect was here presented to the eye. The shores of the capacious harbour were covered with the dark rich verdure of the spruce and the fir, interspersed with the lighter and more attractive foliage of the larch, the maple, and the beech, thus completely concealing from view the huge masses of granite which were strewed over the soil, and which proved almost insurmountable obstacles to the cultivation of the land. Upon landing, the important question was discussed as to the most elegible site for founding a town, and as the spot first selected turned out unsuitable, that now known as Halifax was ultimately determined upon. It was named Halifax in honor of the noble Earl under whose auspices it may be said the expedition was fitted out. Previously to the landing of the new-comers, the Governor deemed it proper to organize a civil council, and, under his nomination, six members of His Majesty’s Council for the Province of Nova Scotia were appointed. The prospects of the inexperienced emigrant were not of the most cheering nature, though here indeed was “the forest primaeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks” enough to arouse the most sanguine expectations, yet, underneath this umbrageous canopy, as we have already shewn, lay hidden the source of bitter disappointment, heightened because of their sudden transition from a land populous and highly cultivated—alike the abode of wealth and civilization. The reader will have observed that the expedition reached its destination in the height of summer, and although it was supplied with provisions sufficient to sustain them for several months, it behoved the emigrants to use every exertion to protect themselves from the severity of the approaching winter. This was accomplished by the erection of wooden huts and the enclosing of the settlement. At this time there were, inclusive of soldiers, nearly five thousand souls within the palisade. Having so far attempted a brief account of the foundation of the settlement, I will proceed to notice more especially the city of Halifax, its harbour, and surrounding scenery.

The streets are all formed at right angles, the principal one running north and south of the town, whilst the houses are mostly of wood, and the churches are principally built of the same material, the appearance of which at once attracts the attention of the stranger. The streets generally are paved with wood planks with wood kerbs, while some are left entirely in their primitive state. Just fancy a wood pavement! The population is computed at 30,000, or thereabouts, and it is remarkable that little or no increase has taken place for the past half century, which is accounted for by the absence of that tide of emigration which flows into other parts of the world, there being in this locality no attraction for the emigrant, or at present any highway to the inland states. The inhabitants may be divided into three classes; first, those of Irish and Scotch descent; secondly, those of German and Dutch extraction (the offshoots of the original settlers); and, thirdly, the black people], which latter are either runaway slaves or their offspring. These latter occupy a position at the extreme north of the town, which is commonly designated the Black Settlement, and have their own distinct places of worship and sable pastors. The city and its suburbs extend over two miles in length, north and south, whilst it is barely half a mile in width at any point. By the original plan for the formation of the streets there were eight, of which two only reached the southern and three the northern extremities of the town; fifteen others intersected these at right angles. Within the last fifteen or twenty years others have been added from time to time by private individuals, in the division, subdivision, and sale of land lying outside the town.”

“There is also the pleasant little village of Dartmouth, situate opposite to Halifax on the other side of the harbour, with which there is communication by means of two steam floating bridges, which ply regularly across from the north and south ferries. It is a fashionable resort of the Halifax people, there being in the vicinity some very pleasant walks.”

“In a commercial point of view, Halifax has very little to boast of, though from its position as a port it is in my humble opinion destined in a short time to become a great commercial mart, and the highroad to our Canadian possessions. Looking at the map I was much struck with the advantages that of necessity must have accrued to its commerce if years ago the “blue noses” had constructed a line of railway direct to Quebec, for from the proximity of Halifax to England as compared with any port in the United States, it does not require any amount of shrewdness to detect that as a consequence of this, coupled with the facilities of inland communication by rail, the whole trade of Canada would flow through Halifax instead of as at present being very nearly monopolised by our Yankee neighbours. If my prognostication respecting Halifax be not realised, it will be simply owing to the lethargy of the “Halligonians,” as they call themselves; but in Halifax I observed that though its inhabitants are industrious and careful as a people, with plenty of capital, they are utterly wanting in enterprise. The responsibility of laying down lines of railway must not be thrown entirely upon government, because it is certainly the duty and the interest of the inhabitants to bring before the legislature the advantages, commercial or otherwise, that would arise from their scheme being sanctioned. It has been the case with all railroads in the United Kingdom, that they have been planned, brought before the House of Commons, and eventually carried out by private enterprise. Though the NovaScotians have undoubtedly lost a commercial revenue by inattention to their own interests in this respect, let me hope that they will not fail to carry out the line of railroad I have suggested before the opportunity be irretrievably lost.”

“Nova Scotia is divided into 18 counties, named (in worthy imitation) after counties or cities in old England. These counties send each two, three, four, or five members to represent them in the House of Assembly, which consists of 54 members, elected every four years, on the principle of universal suffrage. I may mention, en passant , that this mode of election is but of recent introduction amongst them, and as I happened whilst at Halifax to witness the spectacle of a general election, it will perhaps be as well if I say a few words on the practical working of this measure. Before doing so I will explain that the political affairs of the province are delegated to the legislative council, composed of 22 members, and the house of assembly before referred to. The members of the legislative council are styled “honourable” by courtesy, a title retained by them during life.

Now touching universal or manhood suffrage, a question the advisability of which is so much agitated at home by a certain class of politicians, I do not hesitate to aver that I never viewed it in a favourable light, because it throws into the hands of the majority—the lower classes—a preponderating influence which, whilst it is unfair to the minority, the possessors of every description of property, may be used to overthrow the most useful measures, and to favour intrigue of the most venal nature, this, be it remembered, at the expense of those most interested in the prosperity of the country. Nevertheless, not having before had an opportunity of seeing universal suffrage practically developed, I felt considerable interest in watching narrowly the progress of the election, because it would afford me a chance of testing whether the opinion I had formed was erroneous or not. The only qualifications necessary to entitle one to a vote are twenty-one years of age (no qualification at all), and a residence of five years in the province, either of which are easily evaded, because the fraud is difficult and troublesome to detect. During the day I visited, in company with a friend, every polling place in the city, and I am sure that numbers of youths (whose boyish appearance clearly indicated that they had not attained the age of twenty-one) were allowed to vote with impunity. Again, I was assured by inhabitants of the place who were in a position to know, that many voted not only as they should have done, at one booth, but again recorded their vote in another district. Though doubtless there are other means of successfully practising deception, I think I have clearly shewn the gross abuses of a system which I never wish to see introduced at home. The entire population of Nova Scotia is about 224,000; of this number about 80,000 are Roman Catholics.

“Bidding adieu to mine host of the Acadian, I left Halifax, and proceeded to Windsor, a pretty little town situate at the confluence of the rivers St. Croix and Avon, and distant from Halifax 45 miles. The communication is by railway, though the rate of travelling (15 miles an hour, including stoppages) is by no means satisfactory to one accustomed to the trains at home. The carriages on this line I observed were constructed in the United States. Why could they not be made in Nova Scotia? The plain answer is because the people in that province (as I have before hinted) have not the energy and enterprise to make for themselves what is so readily obtainable from their cousins of the stars and stripes.”

John Russell Smith. A peep at the western world; being an account of a visit to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada, and the United States, London, 1863. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbtn.10310/

British North America Act, 1867, 30-31 Vict., c. 3 (U.K.)

by

An Act for the Union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the Government thereof; and for Purposes connected therewith.

[29th March 1867]

Whereas the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have expressed their Desire to be federally united into One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom:

And whereas such a Union would conduce to the Welfare of the Provinces and promote the Interests of the British Empire:

And whereas on the Establishment of the Union by Authority of Parliament it is expedient, not only that the Constitution of the Legislative Authority in the Dominion be provided for, but also that the Nature of the Executive Government therein be declared:

And whereas it is expedient that Provision be made for the eventual Admission into the Union of other Parts of British North America:

Be it therefore enacted and declared by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:

I. — PRELIMINARY

Marginal note:
Short Title

1. This Act may be cited as The British North America Act, 1867.

Marginal note:
Application of Provisions referring to the Queen

2. The Provisions of this Act referring to Her Majesty the Queen extend also to the Heirs and Successors of Her Majesty, Kings and Queens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

II. — UNION

Marginal note:
Declaration of Union

3. It shall be lawful for the Queen, by and with the Advice of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council, to declare by Proclamation that, on and after a Day therein appointed, not being more than Six Months after the passing of this Act, the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shall form and be One Dominion under the Name of Canada; and on and after that Day those Three Provinces shall form and be One Dominion under that Name accordingly.

Marginal note:
Construction of subsequent Provisions of Act

4. The subsequent Provisions of this Act shall, unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, commence and have effect on and after the Union, that is to say, on and after the Day appointed for the Union taking effect in the Queen’s Proclamation; and in the same Provisions, unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the Name Canada shall be taken to mean Canada as constituted under this Act.

Marginal note:
Four Provinces

5. Canada shall be divided into Four Provinces, named Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

Marginal note:
Provinces of Ontario and Quebec

6. The Parts of the Province of Canada (as it exists at the passing of this Act) which formerly constituted respectively the Provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada shall be deemed to be severed, and shall form Two separate Provinces. The Part which formerly constituted the Province of Upper Canada shall constitute the Province of Ontario; and the Part which formerly constituted the Province of Lower Canada shall constitute the Province of Quebec.

Marginal note:
Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

7. The Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick shall have the same Limits as at the passing of this Act.

Marginal note:
Decennial Census

8. In the general Census of the Population of Canada which is hereby required to be taken in the Year One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, and in every Tenth Year thereafter, the respective Populations of the Four Provinces shall be distinguished.

III. — EXECUTIVE POWER.

Marginal note:
Declaration of Executive Power in the Queen

9. The Executive Government and Authority of and over Canada is hereby declared to continue and be vested in the Queen.

Marginal note:
Application of Provisions referring to Governor General

10. The Provisions of this Act referring to the Governor General extend and apply to the Governor General for the Time being of Canada, or other the Chief Executive Officer or Administrator for the Time being carrying on the Government of Canada on behalf and in the Name of the Queen, by whatever Title he is designated.

Marginal note:
Constitution of Privy Council for Canada

11. There shall be a Council to aid and advise in the Government of Canada, to be styled the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada; and the Persons who are to be Members of that Council shall be from Time to Time chosen and summoned by the Governor General and sworn in as Privy Councillors, and Members thereof may be from Time to Time removed by the Governor General.

Marginal note:
All Powers under Acts to be exercised by Governor General with Advice of Privy Council, or alone

12. All Powers, Authorities, and Functions which under any Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or of the Legislature of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick, are at the Union vested in or exerciseable by the respective Governors or Lieutenant Governors of those Provinces, with the Advice, or with the Advice and Consent, of the respective Executive Councils thereof, or in conjunction with those Councils, or with any Number of Members thereof, or by those Governors or Lieutenant Governors individually, shall, as far as the same continue in existence and capable of being exercised after the Union in relation to the Government of Canada, be vested in and exerciseable by the Governor General, with the Advice or with the Advice and Consent of or in conjunction with the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, or any Members thereof, or by the Governor General individually, as the Case requires, subject nevertheless (except with respect to such as exist under Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) to be abolished or altered by the Parliament of Canada.

Marginal note:
Application of Provisions referring to Governor General in Council

13. The Provisions of this Act referring to the Governor General in Council shall be construed as referring to the Governor General acting by and with the Advice of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.

Marginal note:
Power to Her Majesty to authorize Governor General to appoint Deputies

14. It shall be lawful for the Queen, if Her Majesty thinks fit, to authorize the Governor General from Time to Time to appoint any Person or any Persons jointly or severally to be his Deputy or Deputies within any Part or Parts of Canada, and in that Capacity to exercise during the Pleasure of the Governor General such of the Powers, Authorities, and Functions of the Governor General as the Governor General deems it necessary or expedient to assign to him or them, subject to any Limitations or Directions expressed or given by the Queen; but the Appointment of such a Deputy or Deputies shall not affect the Exercise by the Governor General himself of any Power, Authority, or Function.

Marginal note:
Command of Armed Forces to continue to be vested in the Queen

15. The Command-in-Chief of the Land and Naval Militia, and of all Naval and Military Forces, of and in Canada, is hereby declared to continue and be vested in the Queen.

Marginal note:
Seat of Government of Canada

16. Until the Queen otherwise directs the Seat of Government of Canada shall be Ottawa.

IV. — LEGISLATIVE POWER.

Marginal note:
Constitution of Parliament of Canada

17. There shall be One Parliament for Canada, consisting of the Queen, an Upper House styled the Senate, and the House of Commons.

Marginal note:
Privileges, &c. of Houses

18. The Privileges, Immunities, and Powers to be held, enjoyed, and exercised by the Senate and by the House of Commons and by the Members thereof respectively shall be such as are from Time to Time defined by Act of the Parliament of Canada, but so that the same shall never exceed those at the passing of this Act held, enjoyed, and exercised by the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and by the Members thereof.

Marginal note:
First Session of the Parliament of Canada

19. The Parliament of Canada shall be called together not later than Six Months after the Union.

Marginal note:
Yearly Session of the Parliament of Canada

20. There shall be a Session of the Parliament of Canada once at least in every Year, so that Twelve Months shall not intervene between the last Sitting of the Parliament in one Session and its first Sitting in the next Session.

The Senate

Marginal note:
Number of Senators

21. The Senate shall, subject to the Provisions of this Act, consist of Seventy-two Members, who shall be styled Senators.

Marginal note:
Representation of Provinces in Senate

22. In relation to the Constitution of the Senate, Canada shall be deemed to consist of Three Divisions:

  1. Ontario;
  2. Quebec;
  3. The Maritime Provinces, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; which Three Divisions shall (subject to the Provisions of this Act) be equally represented in the Senate as follows: Ontario by Twenty-four Senators; Quebec by Twenty-four Senators; and the Maritime Provinces by Twenty-four Senators, Twelve thereof representing Nova Scotia, and Twelve thereof representing New Brunswick.

In the Case of Quebec each of the Twenty-four Senators representing that Province shall be appointed for One of the Twenty-four Electoral Divisions of Lower Canada specified in Schedule A. to Chapter One of the Consolidated Statutes of Canada.

Marginal note:
Qualifications of Senator

23. The Qualifications of a Senator shall be as follows:

  • (1.) He shall be of the full Age of Thirty Years:
  • (2.) He shall be either a Natural-born Subject of the Queen, or a Subject of the Queen naturalized by an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or of the Legislature of One of the Provinces of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick, before the Union, or of the Parliament of Canada after the Union:
  • (3.) He shall be legally or equitably seised as of Freehold for his own Use and Benefit of Lands or Tenements held in Free and Common Socage, or seised or possessed for his own Use and Benefit of Lands or Tenements held in Franc-alleu or in Roture, within the Province for which he is appointed, of the Value of Four thousand Dollars, over and above all Rents, Dues, Debts, Charges, Mortgages, and Incumbrances due or payable out of or charged on or affecting the same:
  • (4.) His Real and Personal Property shall be together worth Four thousand Dollars over and above his Debts and Liabilities:
  • (5.) He shall be resident in the Province for which he is appointed:
  • (6.) In the Case of Quebec he shall have his Real Property Qualification in the Electoral Division for which he is appointed, or shall be resident in that Division.

Marginal note:
Summons of Senator

24. The Governor General shall from Time to Time, in the Queen’s Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Canada, summon qualified Persons to the Senate; and, subject to the Provisions of this Act, every Person so summoned shall become and be a Member of the Senate and a Senator.

Marginal note:
Summons of First Body of Senators

25. Such Persons shall be first summoned to the Senate as the Queen by Warrant under Her Majesty’s Royal Sign Manual thinks fit to approve, and their Names shall be inserted in the Queen’s Proclamation of Union.

Marginal note:
Addition of Senators in certain Cases

26. If at any Time on the Recommendation of the Governor General the Queen thinks fit to direct that Three or Six Members be added to the Senate, the Governor General may by Summons to Three or Six qualified Persons (as the Case may be), representing equally the Three Divisions of Canada, add to the Senate accordingly.

Marginal note:
Reduction of Senate to normal Number

27. In case of such Addition being at any Time made, the Governor General shall not summon any Person to the Senate, except on a further like Direction by the Queen on the like Recommendation, until each of the Three Divisions of Canada is represented by Twenty-four Senators and no more.

Marginal note:
Maximum Number of Senators

28. The Number of Senators shall not at any Time exceed Seventy-eight.

Marginal note:
Tenure of Place in Senate

29. A Senator shall, subject to the Provisions of this Act, hold his Place in the Senate for Life.

Marginal note:
Resignation of Place in Senate

30. A Senator may by Writing under his Hand addressed to the Governor General resign his Place in the Senate, and thereupon the same shall be vacant.

Marginal note:
Disqualification of Senators

31. The Place of a Senator shall become vacant in any of the following Cases:

  • (1.) If for Two consecutive Sessions of the Parliament he fails to give his Attendance in the Senate:
  • (2.) If he takes an Oath or makes a Declaration or Acknowledgment of Allegiance, Obedience, or Adherence to a Foreign Power, or does an Act whereby he becomes a Subject or Citizen, or entitled to the Rights or Privileges of a Subject or Citizen, of a Foreign Power:
  • (3.) If he is adjudged Bankrupt or Insolvent, or applies for the Benefit of any Law relating to Insolvent Debtors, or becomes a public Defaulter:
  • (4.) If he is attainted of Treason or convicted of Felony or of any infamous Crime:
  • (5.) If he ceases to be qualified in respect of Property or of Residence; provided, that a Senator shall not be deemed to have ceased to be qualified in respect of Residence by reason only of his residing at the Seat of the Government of Canada while holding an Office under that Government requiring his Presence there.

Marginal note:
Summons on Vacancy in Senate

32. When a Vacancy happens in the Senate by Resignation, Death, or otherwise, the Governor General shall by Summons to a fit and qualified Person fill the Vacancy.

Marginal note:
Questions as to Qualifications and Vacancies in Senate

33. If any Question arises respecting the Qualification of a Senator or a Vacancy in the Senate the same shall be heard and determined by the Senate.

Marginal note:
Appointment of Speaker of Senate

34. The Governor General may from Time to Time, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Canada, appoint a Senator to be Speaker of the Senate, and may remove him and appoint another in his Stead.

Marginal note:
Quorum of Senate

35. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, the Presence of at least Fifteen Senators, including the Speaker, shall be necessary to constitute a Meeting of the Senate for the Exercise of its Powers.

Marginal note:
Voting in Senate

36. Questions arising in the Senate shall be decided by a Majority of Voices, and the Speaker shall in all Cases have a Vote, and when the Voices are equal the Decision shall be deemed to be in the Negative.

The House of Commons.

Marginal note:
Constitution of House of Commons in Canada

37. The House of Commons shall, subject to the Provisions of this Act, consist of One hundred and eighty-one Members, of whom Eighty-two shall be elected for Ontario, Sixty-five for Quebec, Nineteen for Nova Scotia, and Fifteen for New Brunswick.

Marginal note:
Summoning of House of Commons

38. The Governor General shall from Time to Time, in the Queen’s Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Canada, summon and call together the House of Commons.

Marginal note:
Senators not to sit in House of Commons

39. A Senator shall not be capable of being elected or of sitting or voting as a Member of the House of Commons.

Marginal note:
Electoral Districts of the Four Provinces

40. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shall, for the Purposes of the Election of Members to serve in the House of Commons, be divided into Electoral Districts as follows:

1. — ONTARIO.

Ontario shall be divided into the Counties, Ridings of Counties, Cities, Parts of Cities, and Towns enumerated in the First Schedule to this Act, each whereof shall be an Electoral District, each such District as numbered in that Schedule being entitled to return One Member.

2. — QUEBEC.

Quebec shall be divided into Sixty-five Electoral Districts, composed of the Sixty-five Electoral Divisions into which Lower Canada is at the passing of this Act divided under Chapter Two of the Consolidated Statutes of Canada, Chapter Seventy-five of the Consolidated Statutes for Lower Canada, and the Act of the Province of Canada of the Twenty-third Year of the Queen, Chapter One, or any other Act amending the same in force at the Union, so that each such Electoral Division shall be for the Purposes of this Act an Electoral District entitled to return One Member.

3. — NOVA SCOTIA.

Each of the Eighteen Counties of Nova Scotia shall be an Electoral District. The County of Halifax shall be entitled to return Two Members, and each of the other Counties One Member.

4. — NEW BRUNSWICK.

Each of the Fourteen Counties into which New Brunswick is divided, including the City and County of St. John, shall be an Electoral District; The City of St. John shall also be a separate Electoral District. Each of those Fifteen Electoral Districts shall be entitled to return One Member.

Marginal note:
Continuance of existing Election Laws until Parliament of Canada otherwise provides

41. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, all Laws in force in the several Provinces at the Union relative to the following Matters or any of them, namely,–the Qualifications and Disqualifications of Persons to be elected or to sit or vote as Members of the House of Assembly or Legislative Assembly in the several Provinces, the Voters at Elections of such Members, the Oaths to be taken by Voters, the Returning Officers, their Powers and Duties, the Proceedings at Elections, the Periods during which Elections may be continued, the Trial of controverted Elections, and Proceedings incident thereto, the vacating of Seats of Members, and the Execution of new Writs in case of Seats vacated otherwise than by Dissolution,–shall respectively apply to Elections of Members to serve in the House of Commons for the same several Provinces.

Provided that, until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, at any Election for a Member of the House of Commons for the District of Algoma, in addition to Persons qualified by the Law of the Province of Canada to vote, every Male British Subject, aged Twenty-one Years or upwards, being a Householder, shall have a Vote.

Marginal note:
Writs for First Election

42. For the First Election of Members to serve in the House of Commons the Governor General shall cause Writs to be issued by such Person, in such Form, and addressed to such Returning Officers as he thinks fit.

The Person issuing Writs under this Section shall have the like Powers as are possessed at the Union by the Officers charged with the issuing of Writs for the Election of Members to serve in the respective House of Assembly or Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick; and the Returning Officers to whom Writs are directed under this Section shall have the like Powers as are possessed at the Union by the Officers charged with the returning of Writs for the Election of Members to serve in the same respective House of Assembly or Legislative Assembly.

Marginal note:
As to Casual Vacancies

43. In case a Vacancy in the Representation in the House of Commons of any Electoral District happens before the Meeting of the Parliament, or after the Meeting of the Parliament before Provision is made by the Parliament in this Behalf, the Provisions of the last foregoing Section of this Act shall extend and apply to the issuing and returning of a Writ in respect of such Vacant District.

Marginal note:
As to Election of Speaker of House of Commons

44. The House of Commons on its first assembling after a General Election shall proceed with all practicable Speed to elect One of its Members to be Speaker.

Marginal note:
As to filling up Vacancy in Office of Speaker

45. In case of a Vacancy happening in the Office of Speaker by Death, Resignation, or otherwise, the House of Commons shall with all practicable Speed proceed to elect another of its Members to be Speaker.

Marginal note:
Speaker to preside

46. The Speaker shall preside at all Meetings of the House of Commons.

Marginal note:
Provision in case of Absence of Speaker

47. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, in case of the Absence for any Reason of the Speaker from the Chair of the House of Commons for a Period of Forty-eight consecutive Hours, the House may elect another of its Members to act as Speaker, and the Member so elected shall during the Continuance of such Absence of the Speaker have and execute all the Powers, Privileges, and Duties of Speaker.

Marginal note:
Quorum of House of Commons

48. The Presence of at least Twenty Members of the House of Commons shall be necessary to constitute a Meeting of the House for the Exercise of its Powers; and for that Purpose the Speaker shall be reckoned as a Member.

Marginal note:
Voting in House of Commons

49. Questions arising in the House of Commons shall be decided by a Majority of Voices other than that of the Speaker, and when the Voices are equal, but not otherwise, the Speaker shall have a Vote.

Marginal note:
Duration of House of Commons

50. Every House of Commons shall continue for Five Years from the Day of the Return of the Writs for choosing the House (subject to be sooner dissolved by the Governor General), and no longer.

Marginal note:
Decennial Re-adjustment of Representation

51. On the Completion of the Census in the Year One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, and of each subsequent decennial Census, the Representation of the Four Provinces shall be readjusted by such Authority, in such Manner, and from such Time, as the Parliament of Canada from Time to Time provides, subject and according to the following Rules:–

  • (1.) Quebec shall have the fixed Number of Sixty-five Members:
  • (2.) There shall be assigned to each of the other Provinces such a Number of Members as will bear the same Proportion to the Number of its Population (ascertained at such Census) as the Number Sixty-five bears to the Number of the Population of Quebec (so ascertained):
  • (3.) In the Computation of the Number of Members for a Province a fractional Part not exceeding One Half of the whole Number requisite for entitling the Province to a Member shall be disregarded; but a fractional Part exceeding One Half of that Number shall be equivalent to the whole Number:
  • (4.) On any such Re-adjustment the Number of Members for a Province shall not be reduced unless the Proportion which the Number of the Population of the Province bore to the Number of the aggregate Population of Canada at the then last preceding Re-adjustment of the Number of Members for the Province is ascertained at the then latest Census to be diminished by One Twentieth Part or upwards:
  • (5.) Such Re-adjustment shall not take effect until the Termination of the then existing Parliament.

Marginal note:
Increase of Number of House of Commons

52. The Number of Members of the House of Commons may be from Time to Time increased by the Parliament of Canada, provided the proportionate Representation of the Provinces prescribed by this Act is not thereby disturbed.

Money Votes; Royal Assent

Marginal note:
Appropriation and tax Bills

53. Bills for appropriating any Part of the Public Revenue, or for imposing any Tax or Impost, shall originate in the House of Commons.

Marginal note:
Recommendation of Money Votes

54. It shall not be lawful for the House of Commons to adopt or pass any Vote, Resolution, Address, or Bill for the Appropriation of any Part of the Public Revenue, or of any Tax or Impost, to any Purpose that has not been first recommended to that House by Message of the Governor General in the Session in which such Vote, Resolution, Address, or Bill is proposed.

Marginal note:
Royal Assent to Bills, &c.

55. Where a Bill passed by the Houses of the Parliament is presented to the Governor General for the Queen’s Assent, he shall declare, according to his Discretion, but subject to the Provisions of this Act and to Her Majesty’s Instructions, either that he assents thereto in the Queen’s Name, or that he withholds the Queen’s Assent, or that he reserves the Bill for the Signification of the Queen’s Pleasure.

Marginal note:
Disallowance by Order in Council of Act assented to by Governor General

56. Where the Governor General assents to a Bill in the Queen’s Name, he shall by the first convenient Opportunity send an authentic Copy of the Act to One of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, and if the Queen in Council within Two Years after Receipt thereof by the Secretary of State thinks fit to disallow the Act, such Disallowance (with a Certificate of the Secretary of State of the Day on which the Act was received by him) being signified by the Governor General, by Speech or Message to each of the Houses of the Parliament or by Proclamation, shall annul the Act from and after the Day of such Signification.

Marginal note:
Signification of Queen’s Pleasure on Bill reserved

57. A Bill reserved for the Signification of the Queen’s Pleasure shall not have any Force unless and until within Two Years from the Day on which it was presented to the Governor General for the Queen’s Assent, the Governor General signifies, by Speech or Message to each of the Houses of the Parliament or by Proclamation, that it has received the Assent of the Queen in Council.

An Entry of every such Speech, Message, or Proclamation shall be made in the Journal of each House, and a Duplicate thereof duly attested shall be delivered to the proper Officer to be kept among the Records of Canada.

V. — PROVINCIAL CONSTITUTIONS.

Executive Power.

Marginal note:
Appointment of Lieutenant Governors of Provinces

58. For each Province there shall be an Officer, styled the Lieutenant Governor, appointed by the Governor General in Council by Instrument under the Great Seal of Canada.

Marginal note:
Tenure of Office of Lieutenant Governor

59. A Lieutenant Governor shall hold Office during the Pleasure of the Governor General; but any Lieutenant Governor appointed after the Commencement of the First Session of the Parliament of Canada shall not be removeable within Five Years from his Appointment, except for Cause assigned, which shall be communicated to him in Writing within One Month after the Order for his Removal is made, and shall be communicated by Message to the Senate and to the House of Commons within One Week thereafter if the Parliament is then sitting, and if not then within One Week after the Commencement of the next Session of the Parliament.

Marginal note:
Salaries of Lieutenant Governors

60. The Salaries of the Lieutenant Governors shall be fixed and provided by the Parliament of Canada.

Marginal note:
Oaths, &c. of Lieutenant Governor

61. Every Lieutenant Governor shall, before assuming the Duties of his Office, make and subscribe before the Governor General or some Person authorized by him Oaths of Allegiance and Office similar to those taken by the Governor General.

Marginal note:
Application of provisions referring to Lieutenant Governor

62. The Provisions of this Act referring to the Lieutenant Governor extend and apply to the Lieutenant Governor for the Time being of each Province or other the Chief Executive Officer or Administrator for the Time being carrying on the Government of the Province, by whatever Title he is designated.

Marginal note:
Appointment of Executive Officers for Ontario and Quebec

63. The Executive Council of Ontario and of Quebec shall be composed of such Persons as the Lieutenant Governor from Time to Time thinks fit, and in the first instance of the following Officers, namely,–the Attorney General, the Secretary and Registrar of the Province, the Treasurer of the Province, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works, with in Quebec, the Speaker of the Legislative Council and the Solicitor General.

Marginal note:
Executive Government of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

64. The Constitution of the Executive Authority in each of the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick shall, subject to the Provisions of this Act, continue as it exists at the Union until altered under the Authority of this Act.

Marginal note:
Powers to be exercised by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario or Quebec with Advice, or alone

65. All Powers, Authorities, and Functions which under any Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or of the Legislature of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, or Canada, were or are before or at the Union vested in or exerciseable by the respective Governors or Lieutenant Governors of those Provinces, with the Advice or with the Advice and Consent of the respective Executive Councils thereof, or in conjunction with those Councils, or with any Number of Members thereof, or by those Governors or Lieutenant Governors individually, shall, as far as the same are capable of being exercised after the Union in relation to the Government of Ontario and Quebec respectively, be vested in and shall or may be exercised by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Quebec respectively, with the Advice or with the Advice and Consent of or in conjunction with the respective Executive Councils, or any Members thereof, or by the Lieutenant Governor individually, as the Case requires, subject nevertheless (except with respect to such as exist under Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain, or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,) to be abolished or altered by the respective Legislatures of Ontario and Quebec.

Marginal note:
Application of provisions referring to Lieutenant Governor in Council

66. The Provisions of this Act referring to the Lieutenant Governor in Council shall be construed as referring to the Lieutenant Governor of the Province acting by and with the Advice of the Executive Council thereof.

Marginal note:
Administration in Absence, &c. of Lieutenant Governor

67. The Governor General in Council may from Time to Time appoint an Administrator to execute the Office and Functions of Lieutenant Governor during his Absence, Illness, or other Inability.

Marginal note:
Seats of Provincial Governments

68. Unless and until the Executive Government of any Province otherwise directs with respect to that Province, the Seats of Government of the Provinces shall be as follows, namely,– of Ontario, the City of Toronto; of Quebec, the City of Quebec; of Nova Scotia, the City of Halifax; and of New Brunswick, the City of Fredericton.

Legislative Power.

1. — ONTARIO

Marginal note:
Legislature for Ontario

69. There shall be a Legislature for Ontario consisting of the Lieutenant Governor and of One House, styled the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Marginal note:
Electoral districts

70. The Legislative Assembly of Ontario shall be composed of Eighty-two Members, to be elected to represent the Eighty-two Electoral Districts set forth in the First Schedule to this Act.

2. — QUEBEC

Marginal note:
Legislature for Quebec

71. There shall be a Legislature for Quebec consisting of the Lieutenant Governor and of Two Houses, styled the Legislative Council of Quebec and the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.

Marginal note:
Constitution of Legislative Council

72. The Legislative Council of Quebec shall be composed of Twenty-four Members, to be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in the Queen’s Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Quebec, one being appointed to represent each of the Twenty-four Electoral Divisions of Lower Canada in this Act referred to, and each holding Office for the Term of his Life, unless the Legislature of Quebec otherwise provides under the Provisions of this Act.

Marginal note:
Qualification of Legislative Councillors

73. The Qualifications of the Legislative Councillors of Quebec shall be the same as those of the Senators for Quebec.

Marginal note:
Resignation, Disqualification, &c.

74. The Place of a Legislative Councillor of Quebec shall become vacant in the Cases, mutatis mutandis, in which the Place of Senator becomes vacant.

Marginal note:
Vacancies

75. When a Vacancy happens in the Legislative Council of Quebec by Resignation, Death, or otherwise, the Lieutenant Governor, in the Queen’s Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Quebec, shall appoint a fit and qualified Person to fill the Vacancy.

Marginal note:
Questions as to Vacancies, &c.

76. If any Question arises respecting the Qualification of a Legislative Councillor of Quebec, or a Vacancy in the Legislative Council of Quebec, the same shall be heard and determined by the Legislative Council.

Marginal note:
Speaker of Legislative Council

77. The Lieutenant Governor may from Time to Time, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Quebec, appoint a Member of the Legislative Council of Quebec to be Speaker thereof, and may remove him and appoint another in his Stead.

Marginal note:
Quorum of Legislative Council

78. Until the Legislature of Quebec otherwise provides, the Presence of at least Ten Members of the Legislative Council, including the Speaker, shall be necessary to constitute a Meeting for the Exercise of its Powers.

Marginal note:
Voting in Legislative Council

79. Questions arising in the Legislative Council of Quebec shall be decided by a Majority of Voices, and the Speaker shall in all Cases have a Vote, and when the Voices are equal the Decision shall be deemed to be in the Negative.

Marginal note:
Constitution of Legislative Assembly of Quebec

80. The Legislative Assembly of Quebec shall be composed of Sixty-five Members, to be elected to represent the Sixty-five Electoral Divisions or Districts of Lower Canada in this Act referred to, subject to Alteration thereof by the Legislature of Quebec: Provided that it shall not be lawful to present to the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec for Assent any Bill for altering the Limits of any of the Electoral Divisions or Districts mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act, unless the Second and Third Readings of such Bill have been passed in the Legislative Assembly with the Concurrence of the Majority of the Members representing all those Electoral Divisions or Districts, and the Assent shall not be given to such Bill unless an Address has been presented by the Legislative Assembly to the Lieutenant Governor stating that it has been so passed.

3. — ONTARIO AND QUEBEC.

Marginal note:
First Session of Legislatures

81. The Legislatures of Ontario and Quebec respectively shall be called together not later than Six Months after the Union.

Marginal note:
Summoning of Legislative Assemblies

82. The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and of Quebec shall from Time to Time, in the Queen’s Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of the Province, summon and call together the Legislative Assembly of the Province.

Marginal note:
Restriction on Election of Holders of Offices

83. Until the Legislature of Ontario or of Quebec otherwise provides, a Person accepting or holding in Ontario or in Quebec any Office, Commission, or Employment, permanent or temporary, at the Nomination of the Lieutenant Governor, to which an annual Salary, or any Fee, Allowance, Emolument, or Profit of any Kind or Amount whatever from the Province is attached, shall not be eligible as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the respective Province, nor shall he sit or vote as such; but nothing in this Section shall make ineligible any Person being a Member of the Executive Council of the respective Province, or holding any of the following Offices, that is to say, the Offices of Attorney General, Secretary and Registrar of the Province, Treasurer of the Province, Commissioner of Crown Lands, and Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works, and in Quebec Solicitor General, or shall disqualify him to sit or vote in the House for which he is elected, provided he is elected while holding such Office.

Marginal note:
Continuance of existing Election Laws

84. Until the Legislatures of Ontario and Quebec respectively otherwise provide, all Laws which at the Union are in force in those Provinces respectively, relative to the following Matters, or any of them, namely,–the Qualifications and Disqualifications of Persons to be elected or to sit or vote as Members of the Assembly of Canada, the Qualifications or Disqualifications of Voters, the Oaths to be taken by Voters, the Returning Officers, their Powers and Duties, the Proceedings at Elections, the Periods during which such Elections may be continued, and the Trial of controverted Elections and the Proceedings incident thereto, the vacating of the Seats of Members and the issuing and execution of new Writs in case of Seats vacated otherwise than by Dissolution,–shall respectively apply to Elections of Members to serve in the respective Legislative Assemblies of Ontario and Quebec.

   Provided that, until the Legislature of Ontario otherwise provides, at any Election for a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for the District of Algoma, in addition to Persons qualified by the Law of the Province of Canada to vote, every Male British Subject, aged Twenty-one Years or upwards, being a Householder, shall have a Vote.

Marginal note:
Duration of Legislative Assemblies

85. Every Legislative Assembly of Ontario and every Legislative Assembly of Quebec shall continue for Four Years from the Day of the Return of the Writs for choosing the same (subject nevertheless to either the Legislative Assembly of Ontario or the Legislative Assembly of Quebec being sooner dissolved by the Lieutenant Governor of the Province), and no longer.

Marginal note:
Yearly Session of Legislature

86. There shall be a Session of the Legislature of Ontario and of that of Quebec once at least in every Year, so that Twelve Months shall not intervene between the last Sitting of the Legislature in each Province in one Session and its first Sitting in the next Session.

Marginal note:
Speaker, Quorum, &c.

87. The following Provisions of this Act respecting the House of Commons of Canada shall extend and apply to the Legislative Assemblies of Ontario and Quebec, that is to say,–the Provisions relating to the Election of a Speaker originally and on Vacancies, the Duties of the Speaker, the Absence of the Speaker, the Quorum, and the Mode of voting, as if those Provisions were here re-enacted and made applicable in Terms to each such Legislative Assembly.

4. — NOVA SCOTIA AND NEW BRUNSWICK.

Marginal note:
Constitutions of Legislatures of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

88. The Constitution of the Legislature of each of the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick shall, subject to the Provisions of this Act, continue as it exists at the Union until altered under the Authority of this Act; and the House of Assembly of New Brunswick existing at the passing of this Act shall, unless sooner dissolved, continue for the Period for which it was elected.

5. — ONTARIO, QUEBEC AND NOVA SCOTIA.

Marginal note:
First Elections

89. Each of the Lieutenant Governors of Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia shall cause Writs to be issued for the First Election of Members of the Legislative Assembly thereof in such Form and by such Person as he thinks fit, and at such Time and addressed to such Returning Officer as the Governor General directs, and so that the First Election of Member of Assembly for any Electoral District or any Subdivision thereof shall be held at the same Time and at the same Places as the Election for a Member to serve in the House of Commons of Canada for that Electoral District.

6. — THE FOUR PROVINCES.

Marginal note:
Application to Legislatures of Provisions respecting Money Votes, &c.

90. The following Provisions of this Act respecting the Parliament of Canada, namely, — the Provisions relating to Appropriation and Tax Bills, the Recommendation of Money Votes, the Assent to Bills, the Disallowance of Acts, and the Signification of Pleasure on Bills reserved,– shall extend and apply to the Legislatures of the several Provinces as if those Provisions were here re-enacted and made applicable in Terms to the respective Provinces and the Legislatures thereof, with the Substitution of the Lieutenant Governor of the Province for the Governor General, of the Governor General for the Queen and for a Secretary of State, of One Year for Two Years, and of the Province for Canada.

VI. — DISTRIBUTION OF LEGISLATIVE POWERS.

Powers of the Parliament.

Legislative Authority of Parliament of Canada

91. It shall be lawful for the Queen, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate and House of Commons, to make Laws for the Peace, Order, and good Government of Canada, in relation to all Matters not coming within the Classes of Subjects by this Act assigned exclusively to the Legislatures of the Provinces; and for greater Certainty, but not so as to restrict the Generality of the foregoing Terms of this Section, it is hereby declared that (notwithstanding anything in this Act) the exclusive Legislative Authority of the Parliament of Canada extends to all Matters coming within the Classes of Subjects next hereinafter enumerated; that is to say, —

  1. The Public Debt and Property.
  2. The Regulation of Trade and Commerce.
  3. The raising of Money by any Mode or System of Taxation.
  4. The borrowing of Money on the Public Credit.
  5. Postal Service.
  6. The Census and Statistics.
  7. Militia, Military and Naval Service, and Defence.
  8. The fixing of and providing for the Salaries and Allowances of Civil and other Officers of the Government of Canada.
  9. Beacons, Buoys, Lighthouses, and Sable Island.
  10. Navigation and Shipping.
  11. Quarantine and the Establishment and Maintenance of Marine Hospitals.
  12. Sea Coast and Inland Fisheries.
  13. Ferries between a Province and any British or Foreign Country or between Two Provinces.
  14. Currency and Coinage.
  15. Banking, Incorporation of Banks, and the Issue of Paper Money.
  16. Savings Banks.
  17. Weights and Measures.
  18. Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes.
  19. Interest.
  20. Legal Tender.
  21. Bankruptcy and Insolvency.
  22. Patents of Invention and Discovery.
  23. Copyrights.
  24. Indians, and Lands reserved for the Indians.
  25. Naturalization and Aliens.
  26. Marriage and Divorce.
  27. The Criminal Law, except the Constitution of Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction, but including the Procedure in Criminal Matters.
  28. The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Penitentiaries.
  29. Such Classes of Subjects as are expressly excepted in the Enumeration of the Classes of Subjects by this Act assigned exclusively to the Legislatures of the Provinces.

And any Matter coming within any of the Classes of Subjects enumerated in this Section shall not be deemed to come within the Class of Matters of a local or private Nature comprised in the Enumeration of the Classes of Subjects by this Act assigned exclusively to the Legislatures of the Provinces.

Exclusive Powers of Provincial Legislatures.

Subjects of exclusive Provincial Legislation

92. In each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to Matters coming within the Classes of Subjects next hereinafter enumerated, that is to say,

  1. The Amendment from Time to Time, notwithstanding anything in this Act, of the Constitution of the Province, except as regards the Office of Lieutenant Governor.
  2. Direct Taxation within the Province in order to the raising of a Revenue for Provincial Purposes.
  3. The borrowing of Money on the sole Credit of the Province.
  4. The Establishment and Tenure of Provincial Offices and the Appointment and Payment of Provincial Officers.
  5. The Management and Sale of the Public Lands belonging to the Province and of the Timber and Wood thereon.
  6. The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Public and Reformatory Prisons in and for the Province.
  7. The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Hospitals, Asylums, Charities, and Eleemosynary Institutions in and for the Province, other than Marine Hospitals.
  8. Municipal Institutions in the Province.
  9. Shop, Saloon, Tavern, Auctioneer, and other Licences in order to the raising of a Revenue for Provincial, Local, or Muni-cipal Purposes.
  10. Local Works and Undertakings other than such as are of the following Classes,–
    1. Lines of Steam or other Ships, Railways, Canals, Telegraphs, and other Works and Undertakings connecting the Province with any other or others of the Provinces, or extending beyond the Limits of the Province:
    2. Lines of Steam Ships between the Province and any British or Foreign Country:
    3. Such Works as, although wholly situate within the Province, are before or after their Execution declared by the Parliament of Canada to be for the general Advantage of Canada or for the Advantage of Two or more of the Provinces.
  11. The Incorporation of Companies with Provincial Objects.
  12. The Solemnization of Marriage in the Province.
  13. Property and Civil Rights in the Province.
  14. The Administration of Justice in the Province, including the Constitution, Maintenance, and Organization of Provincial Courts, both of Civil and of Criminal Jurisdiction, and including Procedure in Civil Matters in those Courts.
  15. The Imposition of Punishment by Fine, Penalty, or Imprisonment for enforcing any Law of the Province made in relation to any Matter coming within any of the Classes of Subjects enumerated in this Section.
  16. Generally all Matters of a merely local or private Nature in the Province.

Education.

Legislation respecting Education

93. In and for each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to Education, subject and according to the following Provisions:

  • (1.) Nothing in any such Law shall prejudicially affect any Right or Privilege with respect to Denominational Schools which any Class of Persons have by Law in the Province at the Union:
  • (2.) All the Powers, Privileges, and Duties at the Union by Law conferred and imposed in Upper Canada on the Separate Schools and School Trustees of the Queen’s Roman Catholic Subjects shall be and the same are hereby extended to the Dissentient Schools of the Queen’s Protestant and Roman Catholic Subjects in Quebec:
  • (3.) Where in any Province a System of Separate or Dissentient Schools exists by Law at the Union or is thereafter established by the Legislature of the Province, an Appeal shall lie to the Governor General in Council from any Act or Decision of any Provincial Authority affecting any Right or Privilege of the Protestant or Roman Catholic Minority of the Queen’s Subjects in relation to Education:
  • (4.) In case any such Provincial Law as from Time to Time seems to the Governor General in Council requisite for the due Execution of the Provisions of this Section is not made, or in case any Decision of the Governor General in Council on any Appeal under this Section is not duly executed by the proper Provincial Authority in that Behalf, then and in every such Case, and as far only as the Circumstances of each Case require, the Parliament of Canada may make remedial Laws for the due Execution of the Provisions of this Section and of any Decision of the Governor General in Council under this Section.

Uniformity of Laws in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

Legislation for Uniformity of Laws in three Provinces

94. Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Parliament of Canada may make Provision for the Uniformity of all or any of the Laws relative to Property and Civil Rights in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and of the Procedure of all or any of the Courts in those Three Provinces, and from and after the passing of any Act in that Behalf the Power of the Parliament of Canada to make Laws in relation to any Matter comprised in any such Act shall, notwithstanding anything in this Act, be unrestricted; but any Act of the Parliament of Canada making Provision for such Uniformity shall not have effect in any Province unless and until it is adopted and enacted as Law by the Legislature thereof.

Agriculture and Immigration.

Concurrent Powers of Legislation respecting Agriculture, &c.

95. In each Province the Legislature may make Laws in relation to Agriculture in the Province, and to Immigration into the Province; and it is hereby declared that the Parliament of Canada may from Time to Time make Laws in relation to Agriculture in all or any of the Provinces, and to Immigration into all or any of the Provinces; and any Law of the Legislature of a Province relative to Agriculture or to Immigration shall have effect in and for the Province as long and as far only as it is not repugnant to any Act of the Parliament of Canada.

VII. — JUDICATURE

Marginal note:
Appointment of Judges

96. The Governor General shall appoint the Judges of the Superior, District, and County Courts in each Province, except those of the Courts of Probate in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Marginal note:
Selection of Judges in Ontario, &c.

97. Until the Laws relative to Property and Civil Rights in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the Procedure of the Courts in those Provinces, are made uniform, the Judges of the Courts of those Provinces appointed by the Governor General shall be selected from the respective Bars of those Provinces.

Marginal note:
Selection of Judges in Quebec

98. The Judges of the Courts of Quebec shall be selected from the Bar of that Province.

Marginal note:
Tenure of Office of Judges of Superior Courts

99. The Judges of the Superior Courts shall hold office during good Behaviour, but shall be removable by the Governor General on Address of the Senate and House of Commons.

Marginal note:
Salaries, &c. of Judges

100. The Salaries, Allowances, and Pensions of the Judges of the Superior, District, and County Courts (except the Courts of Probate in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick), and of the Admiralty Courts in Cases where the Judges thereof are for the Time being paid by Salary, shall be fixed and provided by the Parliament of Canada.

Marginal note:
General Court of Appeal, &c.

101. The Parliament of Canada may, notwithstanding anything in this Act, from Time to Time, provide for the Constitution, Maintenance, and Organization of a General Court of Appeal for Canada, and for the Establishment of any additional Courts for the better Administration of the Laws of Canada.

VIII. — REVENUES; DEBTS; ASSETS; TAXATION.

Marginal note:
Creation of Consolidated Revenue Fund

102. All Duties and Revenues over which the respective Legislatures of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick before and at the Union had and have Power of Appropriation, except such Portions thereof as are by this Act reserved to the respective Legislatures of the Provinces, or are raised by them in accordance with the special Powers conferred on them by this Act, shall form One Consolidated Revenue Fund, to be appropriated for the Public Service of Canada in the Manner and subject to the Charges in this Act provided.

Marginal note:
Expenses of Collection, &c.

103. The Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada shall be permanently charged with the Costs, Charges, and Expenses incident to the Collection, Management, and Receipt thereof, and the same shall form the First Charge thereon, subject to be reviewed and audited in such Manner as shall be ordered by the Governor General in Council until the Parliament otherwise provides.

Marginal note:
Interest of Provincial Public Debts

104. The annual Interest of the Public Debts of the several Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick at the Union shall form the Second Charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada.

Marginal note:
Salary of Governor General

105. Unless altered by the Parliament of Canada, the Salary of the Governor General shall be Ten thousand Pounds Sterling Money of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada, and the same shall form the Third Charge thereon.

Marginal note:
Appropriation from Time to Time

106. Subject to the several Payments by this Act charged on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada, the same shall be appropriated by the Parliament of Canada for the Public Service.

Marginal note:
Transfer of Stocks, &c.

107. All Stocks, Cash, Banker’s Balances, and Securities for Money belonging to each Province at the Time of the Union, except as in this Act mentioned, shall be the Property of Canada, and shall be taken in Reduction of the Amount of the respective Debts of the Provinces at the Union.

Marginal note:
Transfer of Property in Schedule

108. The Public Works and Property of each Province, enumerated in the Third Schedule to this Act, shall be the Property of Canada.

Marginal note:
Property in Lands, Mines, &c.

109. All Lands, Mines, Minerals, and Royalties belonging to the several Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick at the Union, and all Sums then due or payable for such Lands, Mines, Minerals, or Royalties, shall belong to the several Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick in which the same are situate or arise, subject to any Trusts existing in respect thereof, and to any Interest other than that of the Province in the same.

Marginal note:
Assets connected with Provincial Debts

110. All Assets connected with such Portions of the Public Debt of each Province as are assumed by that Province shall belong to that Province.

Marginal note:
Canada to be liable for Provincial Debts

111. Canada shall be liable for the Debts and Liabilities of each Province existing at the Union.

Marginal note:
Debts of Ontario and Quebec

112. Ontario and Quebec conjointly shall be liable to Canada for the Amount (if any) by which the Debt of the Province of Canada exceeds at the Union Sixty-two million five hundred thousand Dollars, and shall be charged with Interest at the Rate of Five per Centum per Annum thereon.

Marginal note:
Assets of Ontario and Quebec

113. The Assets enumerated in the Fourth Schedule to this Act belonging at the Union to the Province of Canada shall be the Property of Ontario and Quebec conjointly.

Marginal note:
Debt of Nova Scotia

114. Nova Scotia shall be liable to Canada for the Amount (if any) by which its Public Debt exceeds at the Union Eight million Dollars, and shall be charged with Interest at the Rate of Five per Centum per Annum thereon.

Marginal note:
Debt of New Brunswick

115. New Brunswick shall be liable to Canada for the Amount (if any) by which its Public Debt exceeds at the Union Seven million Dollars, and shall be charged with Interest at the Rate of Five per Centum per Annum thereon.

Marginal note:
Payment of Interest to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick

116. In case the Public Debts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick do not at the Union amount to Eight million and Seven million Dollars respectively, they shall respectively receive by half-yearly Payments in advance from the Government of Canada Interest at Five per Centum per Annum on the Difference between the actual Amounts of their respective Debts and such stipulated Amounts.

Marginal note:
Provincial Public Property

117. The several Provinces shall retain all their respective Public Property not otherwise disposed of in this Act, subject to the Right of Canada to assume any Lands or Public Property required for Fortifications or for the Defence of the Country.

Marginal note:
Grants to Provinces

118. The following Sums shall be paid yearly by Canada to the several Provinces for the Support of their Governments and Legislatures:

Ontario:…………………….Eighty thousand.
Quebec:……………………Seventy thousand.
Nova Scotia:………………Sixty thousand.
New Brunswick:……………Fifty thousand.

Two hundred and sixty thousand;

and an annual Grant in aid of each Province shall be made, equal to Eighty Cents per Head of the Population as ascertained by the Census of One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and in the Case of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, by each subsequent Decennial Census until the Population of each of those Two Provinces amounts to Four hundred thousand Souls, at which Rate such Grant shall thereafter remain. Such Grants shall be in full Settlement of all future Demands on Canada, and shall be paid half-yearly in advance to each Province; but the Government of Canada shall deduct from such Grants, as against any Province, all Sums chargeable as Interest on the Public Debt of that Province in excess of the several Amounts stipulated in this Act.

Marginal note:
Further Grant to New Brunswick

119. New Brunswick shall receive by half-yearly Payments in advance from Canada for the Period of Ten Years from the Union an additional Allowance of Sixty-three thousand Dollars per Annum; but as long as the Public Debt of that Province remains under Seven million Dollars, a Deduction equal to the Interest at Five per Centum per Annum on such Deficiency shall be made from that Allowance of Sixty-three thousand Dollars.

Marginal note:
Form of Payments

120. All Payments to be made under this Act, or in discharge of Liabilities created under any Act of the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick respectively, and assumed by Canada, shall, until the Parliament of Canada otherwise directs, be made in such Form and Manner as may from Time to Time be ordered by the Governor General in Council.

Marginal note:
Canadian Manufactures, &c.

121. All Articles of the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of any one of the Provinces shall, from and after the Union, be admitted free into each of the other Provinces.

Marginal note:
Continuance of customs and excise Laws

122. The Customs and Excise Laws of each Province shall, subject to the Provisions of this Act, continue in force until altered by the Parliament of Canada.

Marginal note:
Exportation and Importation as between Two Provinces

123. Where Customs Duties are, at the Union, leviable on any Goods, Wares, or Merchandises in any Two Provinces, those Goods, Wares, and Merchandises may, from and after the Union, be imported from one of those Provinces into the other of them on Proof of Payment of the Customs Duty leviable thereon in the Province of Exportation, and on Payment of such further Amount (if any) of Customs Duty as is leviable thereon in the Province of Importation.

Marginal note:
Lumber Dues in New Brunswick

124. Nothing in this Act shall affect the Right of New Brunswick to levy the Lumber Dues provided in Chapter Fifteen of Title Three of the Revised Statutes of New Brunswick, or in any Act amending that Act before or after the Union, and not increasing the Amount of such Dues; but the Lumber of any of the Provinces other than New Brunswick shall not be subject to such Dues.

Marginal note:
Exemption of Public Lands, &c.

125. No Lands or Property belonging to Canada or any Province shall be liable to Taxation.

Marginal note:
Provincial Consolidated Revenue Fund

126. Such Portions of the Duties and Revenues over which the respective Legislatures of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick had before the Union Power of Appropriation as are by this Act reserved to the respective Governments or Legislatures of the Provinces, and all Duties and Revenues raised by them in accordance with the special Powers conferred upon them by this Act, shall in each Province form One Consolidated Revenue Fund to be appropriated for the Public Service of the Province.

IX. — MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

General.

Marginal note:
As to Legislative Councillors of Provinces becoming Senators

127. If any Person being at the passing of this Act a Member of the Legislative Council of Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick, to whom a Place in the Senate is offered, does not within Thirty Days thereafter, by Writing under his Hand addressed to the Governor General of the Province of Canada or to the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick (as the Case may be), accept the same, he shall be deemed to have declined the same; and any Person who, being at the passing of this Act a Member of the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, accepts a Place in the Senate shall thereby vacate his Seat in such Legislative Council.

Marginal note:
Oath of Allegiance, &c.

128. Every Member of the Senate or House of Commons of Canada shall before taking his Seat therein take and subscribe before the Governor General or some Person authorized by him, and every Member of a Legislative Council or Legislative Assembly of any Province shall before taking his Seat therein take and subscribe before the Lieutenant Governor of the Province or some Person authorized by him, the Oath of Allegiance contained in the Fifth Schedule to this Act; and every Member of the Senate of Canada and every Member of the Legislative Council of Quebec shall also, before taking his Seat therein, take and subscribe before the Governor General, or some Person authorized by him, the Declaration of Qualification contained in the same Schedule.

Marginal note:
Continuance of existing Laws, Courts, Officers, &c.

129. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, all Laws in force in Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick at the Union, and all Courts of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction, and all legal Commissions, Powers, and Authorities, and all Officers, Judicial, Administrative, and Ministerial, existing therein at the Union, shall continue in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick respectively, as if the Union had not been made; subject nevertheless (except with respect to such as are enacted by or exist under Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,) to be repealed, abolished, or altered by the Parliament of Canada, or by the Legislature of the respective Province, according to the Authority of the Parliament or of that Legislature under this Act.

Marginal note:
Transfer of Officers to Canada

130. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, all Officers of the several Provinces having Duties to discharge in relation to Matters other than those coming within the Classes of Subjects by this Act assigned exclusively to the Legislatures of the Provinces shall be Officers of Canada, and shall continue to discharge the Duties of their respective Offices under the same Liabilities, Responsibilities, and Penalties as if the Union had not been made.

Marginal note:
Appointment of new Officers

131. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, the Governor General in Council may from Time to Time appoint such Officers as the Governor General in Council deems necessary or proper for the effectual Execution of this Act.

Marginal note:
Treaty Obligations

132. The Parliament and Government of Canada shall have all Powers necessary or proper for performing the Obligations of Canada or of any Province thereof, as Part of the British Empire, towards Foreign Countries, arising under Treaties between the Empire and such Foreign Countries.

Marginal note:
Use of English and French Languages

133. Either the English or the French Language may be used by any Person in the Debates of the Houses of the Parliament of Canada and of the Houses of the Legislature of Quebec; and both those Languages shall be used in the respective Records and Journals of those Houses; and either of those Languages may be used by any Person or in any Pleading or Process in or issuing from any Court of Canada established under this Act, and in or from all or any of the Courts of Quebec.
The Acts of the Parliament of Canada and of the Legislature of Quebec shall be printed and published in both those Languages.

Ontario and Quebec

Marginal note:
Appointment of Executive Officers for Ontario and Quebec

134. Until the Legislature of Ontario or of Quebec otherwise provides, the Lieutenant Governors of Ontario and Quebec may each appoint under the Great Seal of the Province the following Officers, to hold Office during Pleasure, that is to say,–the Attorney General, the Secretary and Registrar of the Province, the Treasurer of the Province, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works, and in the Case of Quebec the Solicitor General, and may, by Order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, from Time to Time prescribe the Duties of those Officers, and of the several Departments over which they shall preside or to which they shall belong, and of the Officers and Clerks thereof, and may also appoint other and additional Officers to hold Office during Pleasure, and may from Time to Time prescribe the Duties of those Officers, and of the several Departments over which they shall preside or to which they shall belong, and of the Officers and Clerks thereof.

Marginal note:
Powers, Duties, &c. of Executive Officers

135. Until the Legislature of Ontario or Quebec otherwise provides, all Rights, Powers, Duties, Functions, Responsibilities, or Authorities at the passing of this Act vested in or imposed on the Attorney General, Solicitor General, Secretary and Registrar of the Province of Canada, Minister of Finance, Commissioner of Crown Lands, Commissioner of Public Works, and Minister of Agriculture and Receiver General, by any Law, Statute, or Ordinance of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, or Canada, and not repugnant to this Act, shall be vested in or imposed on any Officer to be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor for the Discharge of the same or any of them; and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works shall perform the Duties and Functions of the Office of Minister of Agriculture at the passing of this Act imposed by the Law of the Province of Canada, as well as those of the Commissioner of Public Works.

Marginal note:
Great Seals

136. Until altered by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the Great Seals of Ontario and Quebec respectively shall be the same, or of the same Design, as those used in the Provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada respectively before their Union as the Province of Canada.

Marginal note:
Construction of temporary Acts

137. The Words “and from thence to the End of the then next ensuing Session of the Legislature,” or Words to the same Effect, used in any temporary Act of the Province of Canada not expired before the Union, shall be construed to extend and apply to the next Session of the Parliament of Canada if the Subject Matter of the Act is within the Powers of the same, as defined by this Act, or to the next Sessions of the Legislatures of Ontario and Quebec respectively, if the Subject Matter of the Act is within the Powers of the same as defined by this Act.

Marginal note:
As to Errors in Names

138. From and after the Union the Use of the Words “Upper Canada” instead of “Ontario,” or “Lower Canada” instead of “Quebec,” in any Deed, Writ, Process, Pleading, Document, Matter, or Thing, shall not invalidate the same.

Marginal note:
As to Issue of Proclamations before Union, to commence after Union

139. Any Proclamation under the Great Seal of the Province of Canada issued before the Union to take effect at a Time which is subsequent to the Union, whether relating to that Province, or to Upper Canada, or to Lower Canada, and the several Matters and Things therein proclaimed shall be and continue of like Force and Effect as if the Union had not been made.

Marginal note:
As to Issue of Proclamations after Union

140. Any Proclamation which is authorized by any Act of the Legislature of the Province of Canada to be issued under the Great Seal of the Province of Canada, whether relating to that Province, or to Upper Canada, or to Lower Canada, and which is not issued before the Union, may be issued by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario or of Quebec, as its Subject Matter requires, under the Great Seal thereof; and from and after the Issue of such Proclamation the same and the several Matters and Things therein proclaimed shall be and continue of the like Force and Effect in Ontario or Quebec as if the Union had not been made.

Marginal note:
Penitentiary

141. The Penitentiary of the Province of Canada shall, until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, be and continue the Penitentiary of Ontario and of Quebec.

Marginal note:
Arbitration respecting Debts, &c.

142. The Division and Adjustment of the Debts, Credits, Liabilities, Properties, and Assets of Upper Canada and Lower Canada shall be referred to the Arbitrament of Three Arbitrators, One chosen by the Government of Ontario, One by the Government of Quebec, and One by the Government of Canada; and the Selection of the Arbitrators shall not be made until the Parliament of Canada and the Legislatures of Ontario and Quebec have met; and the Arbitrator chosen by the Government of Canada shall not be a Resident either in Ontario or in Quebec.

Marginal note:
Division of Records

143. The Governor General in Council may from Time to Time order that such and so many of the Records, Books, and Documents of the Province of Canada as he thinks fit shall be appropriated and delivered either to Ontario or to Quebec, and the same shall thenceforth be the Property of that Province; and any Copy thereof or Extract therefrom, duly certified by the Officer having charge of the Original thereof, shall be admitted as Evidence.

Marginal note:
Constitution of Townships in Quebec

144. The Lieutenant Governor of Quebec may from Time to Time, by Proclamation under the Great Seal of the Province, to take effect from a Day to be appointed therein, constitute Townships in those Parts of the Province of Quebec in which Townships are not then already constituted, and fix the Metes and Bounds thereof.

X. — INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY

Marginal note:
Duty of Government and Parliament of Canada to make Railway herein described

145. Inasmuch as the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have joined in a Declaration that the Construction of the Intercolonial Railway is essential to the Consolidation of the Union of British North America, and to the Assent thereto of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and have consequently agreed that Provision should be made for its immediate Construction by the Government of Canada: Therefore, in order to give effect to that Agreement, it shall be the Duty of the Government and Parliament of Canada to provide for the Commencement within Six Months after the Union, of a Railway connecting the River St. Lawrence with the City of Halifax in Nova Scotia, and for the Construction thereof without Intermission, and the Completion thereof with all practicable Speed.

XI. — ADMISSION OF OTHER COLONIES

Marginal note:
Power to admit Newfoundland, &c. into the Union

146. It shall be lawful for the Queen, by and with the Advice of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council, on Addresses from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada, and from the Houses of the respective Legislatures of the Colonies or Provinces of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and British Columbia, to admit those Colonies or Provinces, or any of them, into the Union, and on Address from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada to admit Rupert’s Land and the North-western Territory, or either of them, into the Union, on such Terms and Conditions in each Case as are in the Addresses expressed and as the Queen thinks fit to approve, subject to the Provisions of this Act; and the Provisions of any Order in Council in that Behalf shall have effect as if they had been enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Marginal note:
As to Representation of Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island in Senate

147. In case of the Admission of Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, or either of them, each shall be entitled to a Representation in the Senate of Canada of Four Members, and (notwithstanding anything in this Act) in case of the Admission of Newfoundland the normal Number of Senators shall be Seventy-six and their maximum Number shall be Eighty-two; but Prince Edward Island when admitted shall be deemed to be comprised in the third of the Three Divisions into which Canada is, in relation to the Constitution of the Senate, divided by this Act, and accordingly, after the Admission of Prince Edward Island, whether Newfoundland is admitted or not, the Representation of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the Senate shall, as Vacancies occur, be reduced from Twelve to Ten Members respectively, and the Representation of each of those Provinces shall not be increased at any Time beyond Ten, except under the Provisions of this Act for the Appointment of Three or Six additional Senators under the Direction of the Queen.

THE FIRST SCHEDULE.

Electoral Districts of Ontario.

A. Existing Electoral Divisions.

Counties.
  1. Prescott.
  2. Glengarry.
  3. Stormont.
  4. Dundas.
  5. Russell.
  6. Carleton.
  7. Prince Edward.
  8. Halton.
  9. Essex.
Ridings of Counties
  1. North Riding of Lanark.
  2. South Riding of Lanark.
  3. North Riding of Leeds and North Riding of Grenville.
  4. South Riding of Leeds.
  5. South Riding of Grenville.
  6. East Riding of Northumberland.
  7. West Riding of Northumberland (excepting therefrom the Township of South Monaghan).
  8. East Riding of Durham.
  9. West Riding of Durham.
  10. North Riding of Ontario.
  11. South Riding of Ontario.
  12. East Riding of York.
  13. West Riding of York.
  14. North Riding of York.
  15. North Riding of Wentworth.
  16. South Riding of Wentworth.
  17. East Riding of Elgin.
  18. West Riding of Elgin.
  19. North Riding of Waterloo.
  20. South Riding of Waterloo.
  21. North Riding of Brant.
  22. South Riding of Brant.
  23. North Riding of Oxford.
  24. South Riding of Oxford.
  25. East Riding of Middlesex.
Cities, Parts of Cities, and Towns.
  1. West Toronto.
  2. East Toronto.
  3. Hamilton
  4. Ottawa
  5. Kingston
  6. London
  7. Town of Brockville, with the Township of Elizabethtown thereto attached.
  8. Town of Niagara, with the Township of Niagara thereto attached.
  9. Town of Cornwall, with the Township of Cornwall thereto attached.

B. New Electoral Divisions.

  1. The Provisional Judicial District of ALGOMA.
  2. The County of BRUCE, divided into Two Ridings, to be called respectively the North and South Ridings:–
    1. The North Riding of Bruce to consist of the Townships of Bury, Lindsay, Eastnor, Albermarle, Amabel, Arran, Bruce, Elderslie, and Saugeen, and the Village of Southampton.
    2. The South Riding of Bruce to consist of the Townships of Kincardine (including the Village of Kincardine), Greenock, Brant, Huron, Kinloss, Culross, and Carrick.
  3. The County of HURON, divided into Two Ridings, to be called respectively the North and South Ridings:–
    1. The North Riding to consist of the Townships of Ashfield, Wawanosh, Turnberry, Howick, Morris, Grey, Colborne, Hullett, including the Village of Clinton, and McKillop.
    2. The South Riding to consist of the Town of Goderich and the Townships of Goderich, Tuckersmith, Stanley, Hay, Usborne, and Stephen.
  4. The County of MIDDLESEX, divided into three Ridings, to be called respectively the North, West, and East Ridings:–
    1. The North Riding to consist of the Townships of McGillivray and Biddulph (taken from the County of Huron), and Williams East, Williams West, Adelaide, and Lobo.
    2. The West Riding to consist of the Townships of Delaware, Carradoc, Metcalfe, Mosa and Ekfrid, and the Village of Strathroy.
    3. [The East Riding to consist of the Townships now embraced therein, and be bounded as it is at present.]
      1. The County of LAMBTON to consist of the Townships of Bosanquet, Warwick, Plympton, Sarnia, Moore, Enniskillen, and Brooke, and the Town of Sarnia.
      2. The County of KENT to consist of the Townships of Chatham, Dover, East Tilbury, Romney, Raleigh, and Harwich, and the Town of Chatham.
      3. The County of BOTHWELL to consist of the Townships of Sombra, Dawn, and Euphemia (taken from the County of Lambton), and the Townships of Zone, Camden with the Gore thereof, Orford, and Howard (taken from the County of Kent).
  5. The County of GREY, divided into Two Ridings, to be called respectively the South and North Ridings:–
    1. The South Riding to consist of the Townships of Bentinck, Glenelg, Artemesia, Osprey, Normanby, Egremont, Proton, and Melancthon.
    2. The North Riding to consist of the Townships of Collingwood, Euphrasia, Holland, Saint-Vincent, Sydenham, Sullivan, Derby, and Keppel, Sarawak and Brooke, and the Town of Owen Sound.
  6. The County of PERTH, divided into Two Ridings, to be called respectively the South and North Ridings:–
    1. The North Riding to consist of the Townships of Wallace, Elma, Logan, Ellice, Mornington, and North Easthope, and the Town of Stratford.
    2. The South Riding to consist of the Townships of Blanchard, Downie, South Easthope, Fullarton, Hibbert, and the Villages of Mitchell and Ste. Marys.
  7. The County of WELLINGTON, divided into Three Ridings, to be called respectively North, South and Centre Ridings:–
    1. The North Riding to consist of the Townships of Amaranth, Arthur, Luther, Minto, Maryborough, Peel, and the Village of Mount Forest.
    2. The Centre Riding to consist of the Townships of Garafraxa, Erin, Eramosa, Nichol, and Pilkington, and the Villages of Fergus and Elora.
    3. The South Riding to consist of the Town of Guelph, and the Townships of Guelph and Puslinch.
  8. The County of NORFOLK, divided into Two Ridings, to be called respectively the South and North Ridings:–
    1. The South Riding to consist of the Townships of Charlotteville, Houghton, Walsingham, and Woodhouse, and with the Gore thereof.
    2. The North Riding to consist of the Townships of Middleton, Townsend, and Windham, and the Town of Simcoe.
  9. The County of HALDIMAND to consist of the Townships of Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga North, Cayuga South, Raynham, Walpole, and Dunn.
  10. The County of MONCK to consist of the Townships of Canborough and Moulton, and Sherbrooke, and the Village of Dunnville (taken from the County of Haldimand), the Townships of Caistor and Gainsborough (taken from the County of Lincoln), and the Townships of Pelham and Wainfleet (taken from the County of Welland).
  11. The County of LINCOLN to consist of the Townships of Clinton, Grantham, Grimsby, and Louth, and the Town of St. Catherines.
  12. The County of WELLAND to consist of the Townships of Bertie, Crowland, Humberstone, Stamford, Thorold, and Willoughby, and the Villages of Chippewa, Clifton, Fort Erie, Thorold, and Welland.
  13. The County of PEEL to consist of the Townships of Chinguacousy, Toronto, and the Gore of Toronto, and the Villages of Brampton and Streetsville.
  14. The County of CARDWELL to consist of the Townships of Albion and Caledon (taken from the County of Peel), and the Townships of Adjala and Mono (taken from the County of Simcoe).
  15. The County of SIMCOE, divided into Two Ridings, to be called respectively the South and North Ridings:–
    1. The South Riding to consist of the Townships of West Gwillimbury, Tecumseth, Innisfil, Essa, Tosorontio, Mulmur, and the Village of Bradford.
    2. The North Riding to consist of the Townships of Nottawasaga, Sunnidale, Vespra, Flos, Oro, Medonte, Orillia and Matchedash, Tiny and Tay, Balaklava and Robinson, and the Towns of Barrie and Collingwood.
  16. The County of VICTORIA, divided into Two Ridings, to be called respectively the South and North Ridings:–
    1. The South Riding to consist of the Townships of Ops, Mariposa, Emily, Verulam, and the Town of Lindsay.
    2. The North Riding to consist of the Townships of Anson, Bexley, Carden, Dalton, Digby, Eldon, Fenelon, Hindon, Laxton, Lutterworth, Macaulay and Draper, Sommerville, and Morrison, Muskoka, Monck and Watt (taken from the County of Simcoe), and any other surveyed Townships lying to the North of the said North Riding.
  17. The County of PETERBOROUGH, divided into Two Ridings, to be called respectively the West and East Ridings:–
    1. The West Riding to consist of the Townships of South Monaghan (taken from the County of Northumberland), North Monaghan, Smith, and Ennismore, and the Town of Peterborough.
    2. The East Riding to consist of the Townships of Asphodel, Belmont and Methuen, Douro, Dummer, Galway, Harvey, Minden, Stanhope and Dysart, Otonabee, and Snowden, and the Village of Ashburnham, and any other surveyed Townships lying to the North of the said East Riding.
  18. The County of HASTINGS, divided into Three Ridings, to be called respectively the West, East, and North Ridings:–
    1. The West Riding to consist of the Town of Belleville, the Township of Sydney, and the Village of Trenton.
    2. The East Riding to consist of the Townships of Thurlow, Tyendinaga, and Hungerford.
    3. The North Riding to consist of the Townships of Rawdon, Huntingdon, Madoc, Elzevir, Tudor, Marmora, and Lake, and the Village of Stirling, and any other surveyed Townships lying to the North of the said North Riding.
  19. The County of LENNOX to consist of the Townships of Richmond, Adolphustown, North Fredericksburg, South Fredericksburg, Ernest Town, and Amherst Island, and the Village of Napanee.
  20. The County of ADDINGTON to consist of the Townships of Camden, Portland, Sheffield, Hinchinbrooke, Kaladar, Kennebec, Olden, Oso, Anglesea, Barrie, Clarendon, Palmerston, Effingham, Abinger, Miller, Canonto, Denbigh, Loughborough, and Bedford.
  21. The County of FRONTENAC to consist of the Townships of Kingston, Wolfe Island, Pittsburg and Howe Island, and Storrington.
  22. The County of RENFREW, divided into Two Ridings, to be called respectively the South and North Ridings:–
    1. The South Riding to consist of the Townships of McNab, Bagot, Blithfield, Brougham, Horton, Admaston, Grattan, Matawatchan, Griffith, Lyndoch, Raglan, Radcliffe, Brudenell, Sebastopol, and the Villages of Arnprior and Renfrew.
    2. The North Riding to consist of the Townships of Ross, Bromley, Westmeath, Stafford, Pembroke, Wilberforce, Alice, Petawawa, Buchanan, South Algona, North Algona, Fraser, McKay, Wylie, Rolph, Head, Maria, Clara, Haggerty, Sherwood, Burns, and Richards, and any other surveyed Townships lying North-westerly of the said North

Every Town and incorporated Village existing at the Union, not especially mentioned in this Schedule, is to be taken as Part of the County or Riding within which it is locally situate.

THE SECOND SCHEDULE

Electoral Districts of Quebec specially fixed.

Counties of–

  • Pontiac.
  • Ottawa.
  • Argenteuil.
  • Huntingdon.
  • Missisquoi.
  • Brome.
  • Shefford.
  • Stanstead.
  • Compton.
  • Wolfe and Richmond.
  • Megantic.
  • Town of Sherbrooke.

THE THIRD SCHEDULE

Provincial Public Works and Property to be the Property of Canada.

  1. Canals, with Lands and Water Power connected therewith.
  2. Public Harbours.
  3. Lighthouses and Piers, and Sable Island.
  4. Steamboats, Dredges, and public Vessels.
  5. Rivers and Lake Improvements.
  6. Railways and Railway Stocks, Mortgages, and other Debts due by Railway Companies.
  7. Military Roads.
  8. Custom Houses, Post Offices, and all other Public Buildings, except such as the Government of Canada appropriate for the Use of the Provincial Legislatures and Governments.
  9. Property transferred by the Imperial Government, and known as Ordnance Property.
  10. Armouries, Drill Sheds, Military Clothing, and Munitions of War, and Lands set apart for general Public Purposes.

THE FOURTH SCHEDULE

Assets to be the Property of Ontario and Quebec conjointly.

  • Upper Canada Building Fund.
  • Lunatic Asylums.
  • Normal School.
  • Court Houses, in Aylmer.
  • Lower Canada.
  • Montreal.
  • Kamouraska.
  • Law Society, Upper Canada.
  • Montreal Turnpike Trust.
  • University Permanent Fund.
  • Royal Institution.
  • Consolidated Municipal Loan Fund, Upper Canada.
  • Consolidated Municipal Loan Fund, Lower Canada.
  • Agricultural Society, Upper Canada.
  • Lower Canada Legislative Grant.
  • Quebec Fire Loan.
  • Temiscouata Advance Account.
  • Quebec Turnpike Trust.
  • Education–East.
  • Building and Jury Fund, Lower Canada.
  • Municipalities Fund.
  • Lower Canada Superior Education Income Fund.

THE FIFTH SCHEDULE.

Oath of Allegiance.

I A.B. do swear, That I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

Note. — The Name of the King or Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the Time being is to be substituted from Time to Time, with proper Terms of Reference thereto.

Declaration of Qualification.

I A.B. do declare and testify, That I am by Law duly qualified to be appointed a Member of the Senate of Canada [or as the Case may be], and that I am legally or equitably seised as of Freehold for my own Use and Benefit of Lands or Tenements held in Free and Common Socage [or seised or possessed for my own Use and Benefit of Lands or Tenements held in Franc-alleu or in Roture (as the Case may be),] in the Province of Nova Scotia [or as the Case may be] of the Value of Four thousand Dollars over and above all Rents, Dues, Debts, Mortgages, Charges, and Incumbrances due or payable out of or charged on or affecting the same, and that I have not collusively or colourably obtained a Title to or become possessed of the said Lands and Tenements or any Part thereof for the Purpose of enabling me to become a Member of the Senate of Canada [or as the Case may be], and that my Real and Personal Property are together worth Four thousand Dollars over and above my Debts and Liabilities.

Confederation examined in the light of reason and common sense

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“It is my purpose, in the following pages, to expose the fallacies of a Pamphlet on Confederation, “by a Nova Scotian,” which has been widely circulated, and, though shallow in the extreme, is calculated to mislead the unwary. It bears strong evidence, of being the work of one of the unauthorized individuals, who pretend to have visited London, clothed with authority, to overturn all our political institutions.

Although the author complains, in reference to imputations cast on their spotless reputations, that “no one ventures under his signature in open day to prefer a charge, &c,” he has not mustered courage to put his own name to this tissue of mere sophistries. When the delegates returned to the Province they did not meet with a very flattering reception. They had no ovation; and no illuminations, bonfires, and other demonstrations of felicitous welcome hailed their return. They were not escorted to their homes with torches and banners, and through triumphal arches; no cannon thundered forth a noisy welcome. They were received in solemn, sullen, and ominous silence. No happy smiles greeted them; but they entered the Province as into the house of mourning.

Conscious that they had forfeited the confidence of their fellow subjects, they found it necessary to solicit approbation, and have put forth this pamphlet; but not one of them dared to put his name to the tricky and deceitful electioneering manifesto.

It is well known that they had no part in the preparation of the scheme of Confederation which was manufactured in Canada; for D’Arcy McGee, at a public dinner at Kingston, with imprudent candor, probably under the inspiration of champagne and claret, boasted that it was the work of John A. McDonald, the Canadian Attorney General. ‘The whole plot was contrived in Canada, the Nova Scotia Delegates are rot entitled to the unenviable merit of the least participation in its composition, and it is but charity to suppose that they bad not even sense enough to understand it

It would therefore scarcely do for one of the political adventurers to present himself to the people, in person, and ask them “one and all to hail it as they would a deliverer, and to close with it as a boon of priceless value, and to feel that a debt of gratitude is due to the men whose untiring efforts at length secured it, and handed  over to their country an enduring proof of their ability, and pledge Of their patriotism.”

As the author of this attempt to procure approval under false pretenses comes begging for favor anonymously, I will, for the sake of convenience, call him Lazarus, the most characteristic name I can think of. He opens with a rodomontading homily on union. The old hackneyed truism “union is strength” is the text. Every social and political beatitude is made to flow from union. There would be no civilization without union, and we have any amount of philosophical twaddle on this indispensable principle in human affairs. Well, we are ready to admit that men could not get along very well without union; for, indeed, and it is a wonder his sagacity had not detected the curious fact, we should have had no human family at all if it had not been for the union of Adam and Eve. But I can scarcely admit that all social and political unions are conducive to peace and happiness. When a tender, confiding girl gives her affections to a man, and they marry; is this social union necessarily productive of happiness? What if he should turn out a very brute in his conduct, and treat her with every species of cruelty and inhumanity? Has this social union produced the peace and happiness she anticipated?

In like manner, if a small Colony of a few hundred thousand people enters into a political marriage with one or two larger Colonies, having millions of people, does it necessarily follow that this union must produce peace and happiness? What if the larger Colonies should combine to rob the small one of her independence, should tyrannize over her, and trample on her rights and liberties: how much has the suffering Colony gained by this union?

Union may be good, or it may be evil, profitable or unprofitable. The elements of union may be beneficent or malevolent. There may be a union of angels, and there may be a union of devils. To which of these classes shall we refer that ill-fated or auspicious union, as it may hereafter prove, between the leaders of our Government and the leaders of the Opposition, which has excited the admiration of the Province ? Was this union angelical or diabolical ? Was it like the noble friendship of Brutus and Cassius, inspired by an undying love of country, or was it like the selfish, crafty and ambitious conspiracy of Anthony, Lepidus, and Augustus, against the life of Rome?

There is nothing like union! Men, he says, unite to make railroads, telegraphs, and steam navigation. So we would remind him, they sometimes unite to rob, to defraud, and to betray. Nations also, like individuals, may unite for good, or they may unite for evil. They may unite to defend, or they may unite to destroy, the liberty of their neighbors. England, Russia, Prussia, and Austria united, to preserve the liberty of the European nations from the ambitious grasp of Napoleon. Russia, Austria, and Prussia united to rob the Poles, and divide their country among themselves; and if we allow them, Ontario and Quebec will unite to rob and oppress Nova Scotia.

……..

I will not follow the example of Lazarus, and deal in mere declamation, but will establish the following propositions, by arguments logical, conclusive, and irrefragable.

That the Colonies were sufficiently united, and that, if a closer political connection was desirable, Confederation is the worst system by which they can be combined.

That the Constitution provided for the Colonies by the British North American Act, would, if adopted, rob Nova Scotia of every particle of independence, and reduce her to the degraded position of a dependency of Canada.

That the British North American Act is unconstitutional and void, and until it is ratified by a Provincial Statute, in no manner binds Nova Scotia.

That the Province, under Confederation, would, in a financial point of view, be reduced to ruin. That the Canadas would dispose of our fisheries to obtain commercial advantages to themselves from the United States.

That the Canadas, if Confederation be accepted by Nova Scotia, will sell our Railroads to pay off our public debt, and will keep our money into the bargain.

That Confederation is a Canadian Scheme, carefully prepared for the subjugation of Nova Scotia, and adopted by our Delegates from motives of personal interest.

That the delegates had not a shadow of authority from the Legislature, to procure an English Statute, for the Confederation of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and that what little authority they had, they most grossly abused.

That the people have it in their power to reject Confederation in a constitutional manner, and that whether it is accepted or rejected, depends on their own conduct, at the next general election.”

Wilkins, Martin I., “Confederation examined in the light of reason and common sense, and the British N.A. Act shewn to be unconstitutional”. Halifax, N.S. : Z.S. Hall, 1867. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.23420

League of the Maritime Provinces

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Untitled-25

Executive Officers:
President: Hon. Joseph Howe
Vice Presidents: W.J. Stairs, Esq., Patrick Power, Esq.
Secretaries: Mr William Garvie,
Robt. L. Weatherbee Esq.,
Treasurer: Robt. Boak, Jr, Esq.

The Maritime Provinces of British America now enjoy all the blessings of self-government, controlling their own revenues, forming, controlling and removing their own Cabinets; appointing their own Judges, Councillors, and Public Officers; regulating her own Trade, training their own Militia, and discharging all the duties of loyal British Subjects in due subordination and steadfast allegiance to the Crown.

The people of these Provinces have lived in harmony with each other — have no disputes with neighboring States — no controversies with the Mother Country, have ever been prone to mutual sympathy and protection, and are ready to uphold the honor of the national flag, and the integrity of the Empire.

They are willing to promote well-considered measures for the joint construction of railways, and the establishment of Inter colonial lines of steamers— for the interchange of staple and of domestic manufactures; for the adjustment of a uniform currency; the general extension of Free Trade, and for the arrangement of such measures of mutual defence as shall place, in time of war; all the physical force of the Provinces under the control of the Military and Naval Commanders-in-chief appointed by the Queen.

But they are opposed to rash innovation and revolutionary changes. They are specially opposed to the scheme of Confederation arranged by certain gentlemen at Quebec in 1864, without any authority from the people they profess to represent; and they are equally opposed to the measure now in contemplation, by which it is intended to overthrow the established institutions of these Provinces by an Act of Parliament prepared by a secret committee, without the sanction of the loyal People, whose future it is intended to bind, and whose interests and wishes it is designed, in a most high-handed and unconstitutional manner, to override and disregard.

This League is formed to protect the institutions of the Maritime Provinces from such rash innovation — to assert the right of the people to be consulted before their revenues are swept away; and a distant authority, which they can never influence, is invested with powers of dictation and control which the Queen’s Government, for a quarter of a century, has not pretended to exercise.

The undersigned pledge themselves, each to the other, to protect the Maritime Provinces from radical changes by all lawful means and agencies, and, with this simple end in view, enroll themselves as members of this League.

League of the Maritime Provinces. Executive Officers of the League: President, Hon. Joseph Howe .. [S.l.: s.n., 186?] https://hdl.handle.net/2027/aeu.ark:/13960/t9k37059t

Nova Scotia—British North American Confederation

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Mr. Bright: “Sir, about a month ago—on the 15th of May last—I presented a petition to the House from the representatives of the colony of Nova Scotia, and I now rise for the purpose of calling attention to that petition, and to statements made in it, and of proposing what appears to me to be a judicious course in regard to it. The Resolution which I have given Notice of consists of two parts—first, the statement of a fact which is easily proved; and, secondly, a statement of the mode in which the Government would do wisely to meet the difficult questions which have arisen. I am sorry to see that the right hon. Gentleman who has charge in this House of colonial affairs is not here; but in the course of my argument he may come upon that Bench.

The petition which I presented to the House makes what to all Englishmen must or ought to be considered a very serious complaint. It complains that the Parliament of this country, by an Act passed in the last Session, overthrew the constitution of the colony of Nova Scotia, and destroyed a description—nay, in fact, a reality—of independence which had existed in that colony for nearly 100 years; that it handed over the Government and the destiny of the colony mainly to another colony—namely, that of Canada; and, taking from the people of Nova Scotia the management of their own affairs, the appointment of their own officials, the collection and expenditure of their own revenues, transferred the whole of these to a Parliament created by the Bill, which was to sit at Ottawa, distant not less than 800 miles from Nova Scotia.

Now the petition declares—and I think it is capable of proof—that the House of Commons and the Parliament of the United Kingdom did all they could, not only without the consent of the colonists of Nova Scotia, but directly in the face of their pronounced disapproval; and I think it would be easy to show that what has been done was in reality done as a great surprise to the people of Nova Scotia, and that it was in some degree—though I am afraid to use a word that may seem harsh—a fraud upon the Imperial Parliament. At least, if it were not a fraud—and perhaps I had better withdraw that word—the Act was passed upon representations which were extravagantly coloured, if they were not absolutely untrue.

The Bill that passed last year did not include the colonies of Prince Edward’s Island and Newfoundland and for a very good reason, but for only one reason—namely, that the people of those two colonies did not take part in the discussion on this matter, and refused to be united to the other British North American Provinces. A clause was inserted in the Bill which would enable them at any future time to enter on its consideration—a clause which was perfectly wise, and would have been still better if it had included Nova Scotia. It is quite clear that, for the very same reasons, if they have a real existence, Nova Scotia ought to have been excluded; and I shall ask the attention of the House while I show them that Nova Scotia had as much right to be excluded as the other two colonies, and as much right to complain of being included as they would have had if they had been included in the Bill.

The petition which I presented to the House describes itself as a petition from the representatives of the people of Nova Scotia, and was signed as I shall state. Out of nineteen Members who were elected last September to represent the Province of Nova Scotia in the Parliament at Ottawa, seventeen Members had given their assent to the petition, and had declared themselves opposed to the Confederation. But of the thirty-eight Members elected last September to the Nova Scotian Parliament or House of Assembly, not fewer than thirty-six have signed the petition.

I think that if 640 or 650 out of the Members of this House signed a declaration on some great public question, it would be difficult to say, especially if it were a question of subverting our Constitution, and handing us over to somebody else, that that was not a very fair, satisfactory, and complete expression of the will of the people of the United Kingdom in regard to that matter. The case appears to me to have been on the part of Parliament simply one of great error—an error of haste and precipitation; but to the colony, if their opinions are as I believe them to be, it is one of very serious wrong. I know exactly beforehand what the right hon. Gentleman will say upon this matter. He will say, “We have had the assent of the colony, and it is impossible for anybody to argue now that after what was done by the Legislature of Nova Scotia that the Province was wrongfully included in the Act of last year.” I should be very glad to have the matter placed on that footing; because, if it were once concluded by the House that the Bill, so far as Nova Scotia was concerned, was wrong, and ought to be repealed, and that the people of Nova Scotia were not consenting parties to it, then I think I should be able to prevail on the House to exclude Nova Scotia from the operation of the Bill. I say that not only did they not consent, but the Government of this country knew perfectly well that they did not consent.

In the debate that took place last year in the other House, where the Bill was first introduced, there was a very able and comprehensive speech delivered by the Earl of Carnarvon, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, in which he referred to the question, and admitted its difficulty. Referring to the case of Nova Scotia, he said there was no petition against the Bill on the table of the House of Lords. He said he believed there were petitions, and he insinuated something rather against them, for he added that though they were drawn with considerable ability, yet they had about them the mark of some single hand. He said it was admitted that there were petitions, apparently from public meetings, signed chiefly by the chairman, no numbers of those who attended the meetings being given.

He referred to what was done in 1861, when a Resolution, generally favourable to some kind of Confederation was passed in the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia; but, as he said, it was in very general terms, and therefore no one could say fairly that it had anything to do with this particular Bill or this particular form of Confederation. He referred also to what took place in 1863, when the Parliament of Nova Scotia was dissolved—that the Parliament existing at the moment had agreed to vote in favour of Confederation, and that the British Government and Parliament could not go back beyond that vote, assuming that the Colonial Parliament was perfectly competent to do what it did, and that what it did must be admitted, even if the people did not agree with it.

He instanced the example of the Assembly of Jamaica two or three years ago, when that frightful catastrophe took place, and the Assembly was admitted by the Parliament of this country to be competent to destroy itself as a constitutional instrument of government. We know well that the Jamaica Assembly was a doomed body the moment those transactions took place, and that, in point of fact, it only “committed suicide to save itself from slaughter,” since if it had not done that, the very first act of the Imperial Parliament would have been to make some substantial change in the government of Jamaica.

This is the sentence in which the Earl of Carnarvon expresses his feelings on the matter— The plea for delay is in reality a plea for indefinite postponement, and to this I do not believe that Parliament will lend its ear. This measure has been purchased at the cost of great personal and local interests, and if we now remit it—I care not on what pretence—to the further consideration of the Province, we deliberately invite opposition, and we may be sure that many years will pass over before another such proposal for Confederation is submitted to Parliament”—[3 Hansard, clxxxv. 572.] It is quite clear from that expression that he knew perfectly well what was going on in the colony; how entirely dissatisfied the people were with the proceedings of this Parliament; and he feared that if there were any delay—for the Bill would not pass if Nova Scotia was not included—and the question was remitted to the decision of the people of Nova Scotia, the idea of the Federation of all the colonies would not be carried out for many years to come. I think that supports the proposition I am submitting to the House.

If the House determines—whether the people of Nova Scotia wish it or not—that that Province should be included in the Confederation, then I have no more to say on the matter. I should argue it no longer, and should leave Parliament and the Government to take the consequences of a policy which in my opinion would be so foolish and so monstrous. What is the course which the House of Assembly and the people of the colony took on this matter? I ask hon. Gentlemen who may fancy there is really nothing in the question to consider it carefully, because in all probability this will not be the last occasion of its being brought before us. In 1861 there had been very naturally a good deal of talk in the British North American Provinces as to the propriety of a Confederation of the colonies, and in that year the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia passed a Resolution of a general character, which referred to a general or partial Confederation or union of the maritime Provinces, and which appointed delegates to consider the question, and to correspond with others who might be concerned in it. In 1862 certain delegates were appointed to meet the Executive Council of Canada, and another deputation from New Brunswick at Quebec. The whole matter was discussed and the determination come to by the conference was that the consideration of the question was premature, and that, until the intercolonial railway was made, and until the colonies were brought into that kind of amalgamation which would arise from the general establishment of free trade among them, nothing could be done, and therefore no further steps were taken by that conference.

The next year a General Election occurred, but it is not asserted by anyone that the question of Confederation was referred to the decision of the constituencies. Two important questions were referred to them—one was that of retrenchment, some thinking that the Government had been very expensive; the other was a proposed limitation of the franchise. The result of the election was a change of Government—a result that sometimes follows a General Election in this country—and a Minister of great authority being deposed, a Minister who has since had great authority—namely, Dr. Tupper—ascended the Nova Scotian ministerial throne. In 1864, soon after Dr. Tupper came to the Premiership, the new Parliament met, and went into the question of Confederation, appointing delegates to consider the propriety of a union between Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward’s Island; but I believe that on no occasion has Nova Scotia shown any disposition to unite in any Confederation from which New Brunswick and Prince Edward’s Island were excluded. In the same year there was what is called a “deadlock” in the administration of affairs in Canada.

The House will bear in mind that for many years past it is not Nova Scotia that has troubled the English Parliament and Government, but any difficulty in connection with the British North American provinces has arisen from embarrassments in Canada. The dead-lock in Canada was such that men looked across the table at each other in the House of Assembly, and asked how things were to go on. It was ultimately agreed that there should be a coalition; that men who had fought violently in Parliament for years before should form a coalition Government, and that its policy should he to combine all the Provinces in a Federal union; or, if that was impracticable, to apply Federal principles to Canada alone, by forming a central Parliament, in which representation should be based upon population, which would give dominance to Upper Canada, and so in all probability get rid of a dead-lock. This was the means by which they proposed to extricate themselves from the embarrassment in which they were placed, and to set their governmental carriage running on its four wheels again.

The delegates who had been appointed to consider the desirableness of a union of the maritime Provinces—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward’s Island—met, in August 1864, at Charlottetown, the capital of Prince Edward’s Island, and they discussed the question for some time; but whilst so doing they were interrupted by the advent of a powerful delegation from Canada, the Canadian politicians being afraid that the maritime Provinces would get up a more limited Federation of their own. The result was, that these gentlemen having no increased authority from the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia, whatever they had from New Brunswick or Prince Edward’s Island, some delay took place, and the delegates met again in Quebec, in October 1864, the result of their deliberations being the formation of what was known as the Quebec scheme, and which really formed the basis of the Bill which the Parliament passed here last year.

The delegates from Nova Scotia and from the other Provinces did not agree to the Confederation. There is no proof that Nova Scotia has ever in any way countenanced a Confederation in which all the maritime Provinces should not be included. Bear in mind that up to this moment the policy of complete Confederation was entirely Canadian. It was not Nova Scotian—it was not even Imperial. Judging from the despatches of the right hon. Member for Oxford (Mr. Cardwell), the Colonial Office looked at it with great shyness, and probably did not think it was in a position to give immediate and distinct sanction to it. When this scheme became known in Nova Scotia, there arose a spontaneous excitement on the part of the whole people; meetings were held almost everywhere; petitions in great numbers numerously signed were presented to the House, objecting to the scheme; and objecting—as they have done all along—that anything should be done which was not referred to the constituencies at the elections.

The Nova Scotian House met in February 1865, and in his opening speech the Governor referred to the Quebec scheme, promising to bring the question before the House; but he did not do so because it was felt that the opinion in Nova Scotia was so entirely against it that it would be in vain to ask the support of the House of Assembly for the scheme that had been contrived and developed at Quebec, The House did, however, in fact revive, not this scheme, but the smaller scheme of a Confederation of the maritime Provinces, to which the Nova Scotians had all along been greatly attached, though they do not appear to have in the least favoured a scheme to submerge them, as it were, in the Canadian power. They revived the Resolution of 1864, which referred only to the Confederation of the maritime Provinces; and to show how determined the House was to do nothing more than that, it actually rejected the Preamble to the Resolutions, which seemed to give some kind of semblance to the idea that under some circumstances they would consent to union with Canada. They thus showed in a very remarkable manner how watchful they were that they should not be committed to a general Confederation in which Canada was included with them.

In the Session of 1865 there were 183 petitions, signed by more than 15,000 persons, presented to the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia, complaining of any attempt whatsoever to deal with the question of Confederation until it had been referred for the opinion of the people to be constitutionally expressed at a General Election. There were 183 petitions against any such proceeding, and only one solitary petition—the number of names I have not found stated in the petition—in favour of Confederation. Well, now we come to the Session of 1866. The House met in February. There was not a single word in the Governor’s speech on the question of Confederation. If it had been referred to the constituencies—if the people of Nova Scotia were wishing for it—if it was for its consideration Parliament had been assembled, I think we should have had something about it in the Governor’s speech. The question had been considered as one virtually settled—the minds of the people of Nova Scotia had been so far drawn from it that the whole matter was supposed to be at an end.

What happened two months after? This extraordinary thing—the First Minister of Nova Scotia, Dr. Tupper, brought in a Resolution that a scheme of Confederation should be proceeded with, and delegates were appointed to arrange the scheme. No time was given for public meetings, petitions, or demonstrations of public opinion, and, in fact, the whole proceeding was carried on with an indecent haste, such as I should think there is no example of in a Legislative Assembly that was about, contrary to the will of its constituents, to subvert and overthrow its own power. The Session before there was no majority for doing anything; but in the Session of 1866 there was a majority for this proceeding. How it was obtained I know not; but there are modes of dealing with Oppositions, as we have had any number of times in this House, by which a minority sometimes becomes a majority.

Dr. Tupper is a man of whom I will say nothing that is disrespectful. He is a man, I should say, of rather a subtle intellect, and he has what is an admirable thing in a Prime Minister—a persuasive tongue; and, what is more, he appears to me to have an ambition which is not willing to be confined within the comparatively narrow limits of the Province of Nova Scotia; and, somehow or other, Dr. Tupper managed to convert the minority of the year before into the majority of the year 1866, and succeeded in having this Resolution passed and these delegates appointed. Then these delegates came to England, where they were joined by those of Canada and New Brunswick, Prince Edward’s Island and Newfoundland taking no part in the matter, and sending no delegates; so that, happily or unhappily as the case may turn out—for I am not arguing for or against Confederation as a principle—their legislation did not subvert their Constitution, and they are free as they were before. But there came to England whilst this question was under discussion a counter delegation sent by the people—not the Assembly—of Nova Scotia. The delegates from the people brought a petition signed, not in favour of Confederation, by 31,000 male inhabitants of Nova Scotia, protesting against the Imperial Parliament giving its assistance to the subversion of the Constitution of Nova Scotia and to uniting that colony to Canada, and till the people should have had an opportunity of declaring their opinion upon that proposal at the General Elections in the Colony.

In the month of March last year I protested against the right hon. Gentleman the Under Secretary for the Colonies proceeding with the Bill, telling him that in three months, according to the ordinary custom of the colony, there would be a General Election, and this question would then be referred to the whole of the constituencies affected by it. But the right hon. Gentleman was very sharp on me, and thought I was stepping in and interfering with a great transaction of his. I pointed out that in reference to English corporations this House does not put men within the circuit of a municipality until you have ascertained what is the opinion of those who are to be included within it; but here is a whole colony of 400,000 persons—a colony that I venture to say is, for its numbers, the noblest colony probably that England has; a colony that has given us less trouble; a colony having a people of most remarkable qualities; and yet they are handed over to this new Confederation not only without their consent, but absolutely in the teeth of their protestations against it.

To show the House that I am not now taking up the question merely for the purpose of stimulating any difficulty that may have arisen, or of making this question embarrassing to the Government, I will state some few of the things I said when I spoke on the subject last year. I said that I had never before known any measure affecting any considerable part of the population hurried through Parliament with the unseemly haste which we witnessed last year; and I referred to the fact that two colonies were left out, and I said I presumed they were left out because it was quite clear that they did not want to come in, The right hon. Gentleman (Mr. Adderley) interrupted me, and said: “I am glad I can inform the hon. Gentleman that they are—one of them at least—on the point of coming in,” I have not heard of their coming in, but they were left out because they did not wish to come in, and that is all I propose with regard to the colony of Nova Scotia.

Further, I described what had been done with that petition of 31,000 signatures; and I asked the House not to bind Nova Scotia until the opinion of the constituency of that colony had been ascertained, which would have been within a few months of the time at which I was speaking. I said further— If, at a time like this, when you are proposing a union which we all hope is to last for ever, you create a little sore it will in all probability become a great sore in a short time, and it may be that the intentions of Parliament will be almost entirely frustrated by the haste with which this measure is being pushed forward.”—[3 Hansard, clxxxv. 1182] The right hon. Gentleman had spoken of the case as one of great exigency, and I pointed out that if we had the feeling of the people of Nova Scotia with us we might go forward in the hope that the transaction would be advantageous to the colony and honourable to the mother-country.

The petition to which I have referred was disregarded; the opinions of 31,000 persons were considered not nearly so important as the representations of Dr. Tupper and his friends; my warning with regard to the little sore was considered of no use and not in the slightest degree judicious; and the Bill, being pushed forward, was passed. Now there came on in September, later than usual, a General Election for the Province of Nova Scotia, and it was no longer possible to keep the subject from discussion and decision by the constituencies. The result was, that of the thirty-eight Members returned to the local Nova Scotian Parliament meeting at Halifax, only two were returned in favour of Confederation, and of the nineteen sent to represent the Province in the Parliament meeting at Ottawa, only two were returned in favour of Confederation, and one of these has, I believe, given his assent to the petition I have presented to the House.

Thus it will be seen that of fifty-seven Members, only three are in favour of the Bill which was passed with so much haste and so much unstatesmanlike obstinacy last year. The House is landed in this difficulty, that you have been professing to confer a great benefit on your colony—you did it without their consent, and that colony turns upon you, and asks you to take back the gift. The House should bear in mind, when this election took place there were not wanting those means by which Government and officials interfere with the freedom of elections. It was said more than once by persons in authority, that if the people of Nova Scotia voted against the Confederation it would be displeasing to the Queen. The Colonial Office also exercised its authority. The Governor of the colony at the time exercised all the influence he could bring to bear on the matter and the case. The military gentlemen who lived outside barracks, and who never before voted at elections, came forward and Toted, and brought all the force of their opinion, example, and suffrage in support of what they supposed was the intention of the Government at home and of the colony. And the Canadian officials, they were also to exercise whatever influence they possessed. Well, all this was done, and we know how it is done here, and we can guess how it is done in Nova Scotia. But, notwithstanding all this battery and machining against the popular cause, it failed, and failed completely, as I have shown.

The House elected last September met in February of this year, and immediately turned their attention to the question of the destruction of their Constitution and their forced union with Canada; and they sent delegates to England to ask for the restoration of the Constitution as it existed previously to the passing of the British North American Confederation Act, and they instructed their delegates they were not to accept any alteration or amendment of that Act. I do not say this for the purpose of saying I agree with or approve of it, or that I think it absolutely necessary for them to stand by those words. I state it for the sake of showing what at the present moment is the unanimous judgment of the whole local Legislature of Nova Scotia.

In the eighteen counties of the colony great public meetings were held, and one was held in Halifax, the capital city, and under the eye of the Government. They say the Act of Union has no claim upon the loyalty of the people of Nova Scotia, and that any obedience to it is a matter of coercion, and not given by a free people. There are 48,000 electors in Nova Scotia, and I think only 13,000 voted for the Confederation candidates, with all the influence that could be brought to bear upon them. But in some counties there was no control; in others, the majorities were so great and the minorities so small that the poll was over at a very early hour of the day, and a great number of the electors did not vote. I state this in order to show that the number of electors who voted on the occasion ought not to be regarded in a consideration of this question.

I must refer once more to the speech of the Earl of Carnarvon. I say it expresses a fear of public opinion in Nova Scotia, and a consciousness that he was taking a course, in moving the second reading of the Bill, which had not the sanction of the people of the colony. If that be so I put it to the House whether it is not a question of more than ordinary seriousness, and whether the proposition I make for an inquiry—that a Commission should be sent out—is not a rational and statesmanlike proposition? If the House or the Government be disposed to disregard the question, then I assure them it is understood to be a serious question in Canada; and that, although Dr. Tupper is anxious the Confederation should work well, and that all the colonies should adopt it, the present aspect of affairs in Nova Scotia is perilous.

In Canada, I am told, the Canadian oath has been altered, because it will not be taken by the people of Nova Scotia. They were required to take an oath that they would defend their dominions. The people of Nova Scotia were not prepared to take the oath, and it was therefore altered. More than that, I believe the Nova Scotia Militia will not be called out for drill this year, because it is felt that the people of Nova Scotia are unwilling to do anything that will put them into action with, or independence upon, or in submission to the Government of Canada. The right hon. Gentleman (Mr. Adderley) will tell the House—I wish I could say what he will doubtless say—that the whole thing will blow over.

Well, some things do blow over; some do not: and if they do, it is only with a very rough blast. It is not a very statesmanlike conclusion, after last year committing a great error or wrong, to sit down and refuse to inquire into it, or remedy it, and say it is a momentary passion, and will blow over, and that the opposition will soon be at an end. You have bound them together, and you say there is no remedy in this Parliament which did them the injustice. You tell them, if a wrong has been done, they must go to Canada and get it remedied. If they go to the Parliament of Ottawa they would tell them by a majority of 6 to 1 they could nothing for them. They would say, “You are part of the Confederation, and if any wrong has been done you must go to the Parliament in London.” I beg to tell the House that if that is the principle on which we are to net—to allow them to go to Canada for a remedy, and if we undertake to interfere in no way in the matter, and withdraw the troops from Nova Scotia, and leave Nova Scotia and Canada to settle the matter, it will he settled very easily, or perhaps I should say without much difficulty.

Canada cannot coerce Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia would know that she cannot be coerced; and therefore either she would secede and revert to her ancient Constitution, which she has by no means forgotten, or Canada would immediately appoint a Commission to inquire into the whole matter, and to offer to Nova Scotia such amendments of the Act, and such changes or concessions in the mode of Confederation, as Nova Scotia might—I do not say it is likely she would—but such as she might ultimately be willing to accept. There is another point which the House should bear in mind—that Nova Scotia is next to New Brunswick, and although New Brunswick has, by her General Election, confirmed the proposition of Confederation, yet there is a growing feeling in New Brunswick, since the Canadian Parliament met, that the Confederation is not a good thing for them. Every day, I believe, a stronger sympathy with Nova Scotia is being created.

The other day, in the city of St. John, the principal mercantile city of New Brunswick, a candidate strong against Confederation was returned, and so strong was the party supporting him that no candidate in favour of Confederation could be brought forward to oppose him. I venture to say, if the Government refuse any inquiry into this matter, they will only add to the folly of their haste of last year the greater folly of a more perilous obstinacy this year. It is not a safe course that the Government is going to pursue, if I have rightly heard what is in their mind. It is said that the right hon. Gentleman and the Duke of Buckingham, his Chief at the Colonial Office, propose that by and-by a new Governor General shall be sent to Canada; that the matter shall then be inquired into; that he shall try to ascertain the grounds of discord, stopping a day or so at Halifax; and that, when he arrives at Ottawa, he shall propose something to reconcile Nova Scotia to the Government of Canada. I believe that any such inquiry will be utterly futile. The Governor General going out there will not be the most impartial man to consider the question; and when he gets to Ottawa, and is there surrounded by his Ministers in the Canadian Parliament, who will all be on the other side, it is quite clear he will be in a position of the greatest difficulty. And I think a man must be sanguine beyond what is wise to suppose that any good could arise from a proceeding like that.

I think that we have committed a certain wrong. We have done it through error, or in haste; and it is very unstates-manlike to shut the door of Parliament against the prayer of the petitioners, which may be said to represent nearly, if not quite, half the population of Nova Scotia. I think the sending out of a Commission, or Commissioners, would be more considerate to the colony Such Commission might take into view all the circumstances of the case; and it would be more soothing to the 300,000 or 400,000 inhabitants who are dissatisfied with the course taken last year. Our colonial experience has not been very satisfactory to us in some things. We fancy that people 3,000 or 4,000 miles off are as tractable or as easily governed as people in a neighbouring colony. It is quite a mistake. They have ideas which Englishmen have not. The tie which binds them to this House, though strong, is very much less strong than the ties which bind our English counties to the sovereignty of this House.

It is only about 100 years ago that the wise men in this House proposed in a single Session to pass three coercive Acts against the North American colonies. I have no doubt that there were many men in those days who stood up to object to those Acts, and were deemed fools or something worse for their pains. And yet their folly turned out the greatest wisdom, and the almost unanimous wisdom of Parliament turned out to be the greatest folly; and this is now pointed at by every historian as one of the most remarkable transactions of unwisdom that ever occurred in the English Parliament.

It is not now a question of mere stamps, or of 3d. or 6d. a pound on tea. It is a question of the absolute subversion and abolition of an ancient, honoured, and valued Constitution.

I consider it quite likely that the people of Nova Scotia, who have been free, happy, independent, and prosperous for so long a time, may have just as strong a love for the Constitution of their comparatively small population, as any of us may have for the Constitution under which we live.

The noble Lord who moved the second reading of the Bill in the other House said we were now laying the foundation of a great State. Last year we all hoped so. I hoped so myself although I confess I had not much faith in it. But to build up a great State by making a victim of this colony, and to make a victim of this colony in order to meet certain difficulties in Canada or in the Colonial Office, does not appear to me to be wise; and to endeavour to build up a great State from those discordant materials, partly from fear, and partly from jealousy of the United States, is a far more objectionable feature in the matter.

I know very well there is an idea that this union with Canada is one mode of preventing the North American colonies from annexation to the United States. The motive is hardly wise, and in the mode of accomplishing it there is no wisdom whatever; for you are attempting now to build a great State on a foundation which shakes under you the very moment you are beginning to build; and when you passed your Bill of Federation last year for the foundation of a great State, you were putting together materials which were not in accord, and out of which the moment they were brought together would arise something like we have now seen. We know what the official view of things is. It, we generally find, is to do nothing; and it goes on doing nothing until the case gets so bad that nothing can be done. And that is precisely what the Colonial Office tonight will ask the House of Commons to do in this matter.

It would not do anything last year but contradict me when I said the Nova Scotians were against that Bill, and the right hon. Gentleman was positive and rather insolent, and thought I was meddling where I did not understand it. And now, when I ask him to inquire, he will tell the House that inquiry would only make the difficulties greater, and would hear the appearance of a concession which the House does not intend to make. Now, I hope the House and the Colonial Office will beware of saying anything like that. You do not know yet that you will not have to make concession. And therefore I say to the right hon. Gentleman and to his Colleagues not to agree to any statement like that, because next year we may look upon a state of things far less palatable than those of today. What is the difficulty of inquiry? There have been Commissions of Inquiry before of an important character, and there may be one now. The result would be this—that all the Canadian people would say—”Well, the English Parliament have behaved to us, after all, in a certain degree of moderation and reasonableness. What they did was through misapprehension, and when we represented it to them they were ready to inquire. They have sent out a Commission, and we will go fairly into the question with them, and we will see if the difficult question can be adjusted.” Now, there are several things which could be done. There could be a Confederation of all the Provinces, as at present proposed, but with certain modifications, and this might possibly meet the views of the Nova Scotians; there might be a Confederation of the maritime Provinces only, which would be probable most likely to meet the views of the Nova Scotians; or you might take the alternative scheme proposed by the Canadian Executive Government—apply the Federal principle to the two Canadas with a central Parliament. So that, after all, there are two ways out of this difficulty, and the proper way would be discovered by a Commission sent to Nova Scotia to inquire into it.

But whatever you do, I say to have no inquiry, but to stand on the Bill passed last Session—to shut the door of the House in the face of that new colony—would be one of those acts, not of statesmanship, but of madness, which statesmen and Ministers ought on all occasions to avoid. If you shut the door of hope, what will be the effect upon the minds of this population who are so agitated? They will feel that they are made the victims of Canadian ambition and of Imperial policy in which they do not in the least sympathize. I am afraid, Sir, to treat this question in one part of it, because it will lead me to say, though it will be false in detail, what will be likely to increase the difficulty I point out. If you propose a union at all hazards, the danger to my mind is apparent.

From the moment that resolution reaches Nova Scotia there will be created a deeper hostility to Canada. I do not know why it is that the smaller Provinces have no love of Canada, They do not believe in her political system. They have no faith in the wisdom and morality of her statesmen. They go there with nineteen Members to a House of 180 Members, and they think they will be lost when they get there, and that their own complete government will be gone. They are not placed under the Imperial Parliament, but under what is only a Colonial Government, in which they have no faith and for which they have no love.

I say therefore if you turn them from this House, not only without remedy, but without inquiry, you will create a deeper hostility to Canada. You will create also a growing estrangement from England, and what is perhaps dreaded by some more than anything else, you will create and increase the sympathy with the neighbouring New England States of North America.

When men are irritated, as the Nova Scotians are now irritated, and when nothing is done to soothe the irritation—when you will not inquire—when you will not remedy-when you will not listen—it takes a very little thing indeed where a colony is 3,000 or 4,000 miles away from the mother country, to turn its eyes in the direction of the government of a great country—of its own race and with institutions as free—and probably willing, when the colonies are willing, to receive them within its ample borders. This is what I am afraid may happen.

Your scheme must break down if the Nova Scotians resolve they will not have it, It is impossible for you to coerce them. I do not think there is the temper in the English House of Commons, nor amongst Englishmen in the United Kingdom, that would allow the Government by force to coerce the population of Nova Scotia into the subversion of her very government, and into annexation with Canada. But if you are not prepared to coerce, then I say the proper course for the Government to take—and I never gave any Government an opinion with more conscientious belief in its reasonableness and its propriety—the course which the Government should take is to select one or two men of high position and character in this country, who would go and give two or three months to this question this autumn, to examine into the whole matter in Nova Scotia. They would also see something of the state of public opinion in Canada; because they would necessarily see the Governors and the authorities there, and possibly—probably—I will not say certainly—they may propose some plan which would relieve the colonies from this difficulty, and would show the House of Commons and the Government here a path out of a difficulty which I think every day we tread in it becomes more difficult, and which may land us in disasters which are fearful to contemplate.

The other day the right hon. Gentleman at the head of the Government met the deputation upon Ireland. It was not upon this question—it was upon a question which has been much discussed in the House during the present Session—and he made an observation to them which would have been very wise under certain circumstances, but, as it was not true, it was not very wise under the circumstances in which it was spoken, He made this observation. He said—”we have secured this for the people of this country, that the Constitution shall not be subverted without an appeal to them.” But you have subverted the Constitution of Nova Scotia without any appeal to the people of Nova Scotia. You did it from what I think an exaggerated statement of persons connected with the then Government of Nova Scotia, and the House did on the representation of the right hon. Gentleman opposite, who certainly was very much more sanguine than he had any right to be.

You have done to the people of Nova Scotia what I maintain is one of the greatest wrongs that despotism in any form can do to any people. You have power to maintain it so long as Nova Scotia has no assistance from outside its own borders, But there is no statesman in England who will venture to bring about the shedding of one drop of blood upon that Continent. No man in this House more entirely hopes that such a thing is absolutely impossible than I do. Yet these questions may be driven to a point where difficulties will arise which the English Parliament will be utterly unable to settle. And whilst we have been endeavouring to bring about important arrangements for the Federation of our fellow-subjects in the British North American Colonies, we may possibly have been taking the step that will thrust them into the United States.

Only the other day I met an Englishman who has lived in the United States, and who is familiar with everything there, and he asked me whether I thought the Government intended to refuse my claim. I said, “I think they do. They generally refuse everything, and I understand they are going to refuse this.” “Well,” he said, “I am very glad to hear that;” which rather struck me with surprise, and, indeed, with pain; and I said, “Why are you glad?” He said, “I believe nothing can prevent the absorption of these colonies within the Republic of the United States;” and he added “There is no step the Government could take so certain to hasten it as to object to your Motion and refuse the Commission of Inquiry which you propose.”

Now, Sir, I cannot say what he says, because I am not glad of it—I regret it, and regret it sincerely, because I think nothing could be more unfortunate for these colonies and this country than that we should do anything to hasten the accession of these colonies to the United States. Our duty is, so far as we can in legislating for them and in governing for them, to do it all freely, honourably, and generously to them, with their consent in every step; and to the last moment that these colonies shall be dependent on the British Crown, that every person within them shall feel that that Crown has not been a Crown of tyranny, but the Crown of just government to them.

Now, Sir, I have submitted this ease. I do not know that it is necessary to say anything more about it. I submit it as I see it, and as it commends itself to my view. It is a case not for opposition nor for obstinacy. It is a case which calls for statesmanship and for justice. Last year the House legislated in error and in the dark. Tonight I hope, after the simple narrative I have given of these transactions, it can never be said that the House can act otherwise than in the broad light of day with respect to this question. I advised the right hon. Gentleman last year, as he knows, not to be precipitate with that Bill. If he had taken my advice this difficulty would not have occurred.

The right hon. Gentleman made a mistake. He placed too much reliance on evidence which was not trustworthy. Now, in this matter I have no party or personal interest to serve. We ought all to be alike anxious that what is just and what is generous should be done to the colony of Nova Scotia, and that fair inquiry should be made into the grievances of which complaint is made. And if the right hon. Gentleman refuses this course, and if difficulties should come of it, the responsibility must rest with the right hon. Gentleman and with his Colleagues; not with me. The hon. Gentleman concluded by moving his Resolution.”

Mr. Baxter in seconding the Motion, expressed a hope that it would be acceded to by the Government. He believed that if a petition so influentially signed and so effectually worded as that presented by his hon. Friend were entirely disregarded by the Imperial Parliament, consequences must ensue most humiliating and disastrous to this great Empire. If his hon. Friend had proposed that the House should adopt any Resolution or affirm any measure to carry out the views of the delegates of Nova Scotia, then he could understand why the House and Her Majesty’s Government should feel great hesitation in doing anything of the sort. He believed that any Gentleman who had carefully looked at the Papers that had been circulated with regard to this question must admit that the delegates from Nova Scotia bad made out a very strong case.

But his hon. Friend did not ask the House to repeal the Union Act nor to pronounce any opinion on any branch of the subject; all that he asked for was, that having regard to the universal dissatisfaction which prevailed in Nova Scotia, there should be an inquiry into the cause of that dissatisfaction, with a view to its removal. He could scarcely conceive that this House would refuse so reasonable a request, whatever view they might take of the Confederation of Canada.

His hon. Friend had, perhaps, seen the delegates from Nova Scotia; but he (Mr. Baxter) stood in a totally different position. He had not had any communication with those delegates, either direct or indirect. But he had taken the trouble of making inquiry into this matter. He received the other day from a friend long resident in the colony, a gentleman in business at Halifax, and having no connection with the party politics of the colony, a letter which fully confirmed the statements made by the delegates sent over by Nova Scotia, In that letter it was stated that the whole population of the Province was opposed to the union; that the Imperial Government had been entirely deceived as to the feeling of the Nova Scotians themselves; and that the people would resist the change.

It should not be said that, in consequence of our legislation, we had driven a loyal and influential State to take a step of that sort. The letter went on to say that Nova Scotia had already experienced the disastrous effects of the union in the increase of the duties imposed upon most commodities. The Nova Scotians ridiculed, too, the idea, of our giving an Imperial guarantee in connection with the construction of an intercolonial railway, on the ground that they were perfectly able and willing to raise the money themselves.

The colony was one which had been loyal and true, and the people complained that the Act had been passed without seeking their opinion upon it. The people of the colony deserved the utmost consideration at the hands of the Imperial Parliament, and he quite agreed with the hon. Member for Birmingham, that if the House took the strong stop of refusing any inquiry into the case, the people of Nova Scotia might come to the conclusion that the present generation of Englishmen had forgotten the lesson of the American War of Independence. He had much pleasure in seconding the Motion”

§ “Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House is informed, by a Petition presented on the 15th day of May last, signed by 36 out of 38 Members of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia, and by 16 out of 19 Members elected by that Colony to the House of Commons at Ottawa, that great dissatisfaction prevails in Nova Scotia with the Act passed in the last Session of Parliament, intituled ‘An Act for the Union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick:’ And that an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that She will be graciously pleased to appoint a Commission or Commissioners to proceed to Nova Scotia for the purpose of examining into the causes of the alleged discontent, with a view to their consideration and removal.”—(Mr. Bright.)“

Mr. Aytoun said, he hoped the hon. Member for Birmingham (Mr. Bright) would divide the House on his very moderate proposal. He believed the subject to be one of the greatest importance. The union of Nova Scotia with Canada had occasioned very widespread dissatisfaction; and he believed there were good grounds for this discontent. The evil consequences that had arisen were certainly greater than any prospective good that could be anticipated from it.

The duties on the commerce of Nova Scotia had been increased and the control over their own revenue had been taken from them. These evils might be counterbalanced by some prospect of future good; but what could Nova Scotia expect from its union with Canada? All it could hope to derive was an increase of security from aggression on the land side. 1688 It was notorious that in the event of Canada being attacked by the United States, no efficient defence could be made, so that even this benefit was rather imaginary than real.

The main question was this—whether the union had been effected in a way to give the people of Nova Scotia reasonable ground for dissatisfaction? He thought it had. The hon. Member for Birmingham had shown how entirely the Earl of Carnarvon had failed to establish the position that Nova Scotia had been properly consulted on the question; they had not expressed their concurrence in it; and when, on the third reading, Lord Campbell proposed that the Bill should be delayed for a month, to enable the people of Nova Scotia to express their opinion in regard to it at the elections about to be held, the proposal was rejected, and the suggestion that a petition signed by 30,000 upon the subject was ignored because it happened to be presented in “another place.”

Even the right hon. Gentleman the Member for South Lancashire had admitted, speaking on the question of the guarantee for the intercolonial railways, that the Bill had been passed in a manner which, had it related to a matter of legislation affecting ourselves would have been termed precipitancy. The House was, he believed, to a great extent ignorant of the facts of the case; and he thought it would be wise, by granting a Commission, to enable them to judge whether it would not be expedient to reverse the decision taken last year.

The Under Secretary for the Colonies had talked of the expense to which these small colonies had put us; but the expense seemed to be as much since Confederation as before. Whether these Provinces remained united with us or joined the United States, it was of the utmost importance to retain their good-will, and we could only do this by consulting their feelings and by doing them justice. With that view he hoped the Motion of the hon. Member for Birmingham would be assented to by the Government, and if pressed to a division he should support it.”

Admiral Erskine having presented on a former occasion a petition from 31,000 inhabitants of Nova Scotia, wished to say, he believed their disinclination for Confederation was founded, not upon any apprehension of increased burdens or damage to material interests; but rather on a fear lest their connection with this country should he imperilled, for they were distinguished by a rational loyalty based upon identity of feeling and sympathy with ourselves. After the conflicting statements that had been made, it would be unreasonable to refuse the request for inquiry.

Mr. Karslake said, he thought the last letter of the Duke of Buckingham to the colony, dated the present month, showed that the Government intended to consult the interests of Nova Scotia in the future.

Mr. Bright: “I shall make only one or two observations on the speech of the right hon. Gentleman the Under Secretary for the Colonies. His principal objection to my proposition was that the issue of the proposed Commission would, in point of fact, be a direct insult to the whole of the Canadian Dominion. My right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford (Mr. Card well) at the same time said that the Colonial Office, through its new Governor General, and that the Crown through him, would exercise certain influences as far as they might upon the Government at Ottawa for the purpose of adjusting the differences of Nova Scotia.

It appears to me that if my proposition would be held to be an insult, the continual and repeated interferences of the Colonial Office, and of the Crown, through the Governor General, would be liable to the same description. Now, the difference between the Treasury Bench and the right hon. Member for Oxford and myself is this—that they do not regard the present state of things in Nova Scotia as at all as serious as I regard it. Of course, if the thing will blow over, and you can, through the Governor General coming into the harbour at Halifax, and seeing leading men there, rub away everything that is unpleasant, then my Motion is in no degree necessary; but I believe that the state of things is far more serious than either the Under Secretary for the Colonies or my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford seems to suppose.

My own impression is that the right hon. Gentleman the Under Secretary has made a speech about the most injudicious that could possibly have been made on the question for any Member of this House holding his office; and I believe that when his speech reaches America he will find that it will have a very injurious effect in Nova Scotia, and will not tend in the slightest degree to allay the gathering discontent which is felt in New Brunswick. The right hon. Gentleman, as he does upon other occasions, did me an injustice with regard to what I said last year. He said that when the North American Confederation Bill was under discussion, I approved everything in it which would make the Confederation like America, and condemned everything in it which would] make the Confederation resemble England.

Now, what I condemned in the Bill was the putting a Province into it whose population had not consented; and next I called in question the wisdom of nominating a Legislative Council, or Upper House, for the whole dominion of Canada. The first part of my objection to the Bill, I think, is justified by what has taken place. Although there is no complaint now with regard to the other part of my objection, I have every reason to believe that before we are many years older we shall find that that Council will not be satisfactory to the people of the dominion.

Now, with regard to dividing on this question, I have this to say—If I were to divide with a very small minority, the impression on the other side of the Atlantic would be this—that the House of Commons has emphatically shut the door in the face of the petitioners whose petition I have presented, and whose case I have endeavoured to represent to the House. At the same time, the speech of the right hon. Gentleman the Under Secretary for the Colonies holds out no hope whatsoever that the Government will even fairly consider the question. His speech is a speech of indignation positively at the Canadian people coining here to lay their case before this House.

As this House passed the Bill last Session, and the Nova Scotian people came here to lay their complaints before the House, surely they have a right to be treated with great consideration. The course which the right hon. Gentleman has taken forces me to ask the House to divide upon the Motion. I do not at all conceal from myself that the House may not agree to my Motion; but possibly, if they do not, they may, in the course of another year, make an inquiry into this question, and they will then probably discover that it is as serious as I have endeavoured to describe it. The speech which my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford made was temperate and conciliatory; and but for the speech of the right hon. Gentleman the Under Secretary I should not have asked the House to divide.”

Question put. The House divided:—Ayes 87; Noes 183: Majority 96.

MOTION FOR AN ADDRESS, House of Commons Debate 16 June 1868 vol 192 cc1658-96 https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1868/jun/16/motion-for-an-address

Nova Scotia in 1862: papers relating to the two great exhibitions in London of that year

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“List of Contributors: … P. McNab, Dartmouth – barley and oats.”

“On the east side of the harbor is situated the town of Dartmouth, settled in 1750. The town is well situated, and is admirably adapted to the employment of ship-building. It is connected with the city by steamboats.”

“Prior to 1719 (at which time Annapolis was the seat of government) the management of the civil affairs of the province was vested solely in the Governor; and, in his absence, in the Lieutenant-Governor or the Commander-in-Chief. In 1719, Governor Phillips, who succeeded Mr. Nicholson, received instructions from the British Ministry to choose a Council from amongst the principal English inhabitants, and, until an Assembly could be formed, to regulate himself by the instructions of the Governor of Virginia. This Council was composed of twelve members, principally officers of the garrison and the public departments. The Governor and Council, from the necessity of the circumstances, combined both the legislative and judicial authority, which, except in so far as they were restrained by the general principles of law, was absolute in all cases. In 1749 the seat of government was transferred to Halifax, where Governor Cornwallis formed a Council somewhat similar in its functions to the one at Annapolis. This method of administration continued until after the conquest of Louisburg in 1758, when Governor Lawrence, who had before the sailing of the expedition, received an order to issue writs for the election of representatives, but which was delayed because of the unsettled state of public affairs, proceeded to constitute a House of Assembly. This Assembly was composed of 16 members, eleven of whom formed a quorum for the transaction of business. The province at this time was not divided into counties. Lunenburg township was allowed to send two representatives, and the township of Halifax four. The representatives entered upon their duties with zeal and intelligence. The most important manner which they adopted were the confirming the past proceedings of the Courts of Judicature, the establishing a form of religious worship, the granting the security of full liberty of conscience, …

The civil constitution which now existed, continued without any fundamental change, until the concession by the Crown, of the modern form of administration called “Responsible Government,” which Nova Scotia received in the year 1841. The way was in some measure prepared for this latest reform, in 1838, when two Councils were created, an Executive and a Legislative; and the deliberations of the Legislative Council were for the first time made open to the public.

The present political constitution of Nova Scotia may be briefly described as follows: The highest authority is vested in the Lieutenant Governor, who is styled His Excellency (as the Queen’s Representative.) The Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia is nominally subordinate to the “Governor General of British North America.” It is, however, only a distinction of rank, as the administration of the respective colonies is in no respect connected.

The Lieutenant Governor is surrounded by an Executive Council, chosen from the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly, and appointed by the Crown, who are his sworn advisers in the exercise of his administrative and legislative duties, and who are responsible to the people for the acts of his administration. Five of the members of the Executive are, in accordance with the principles of Responsible Government, heads of public departments, viz : the Attorney General, Solicitor General, Provincial Secretary, Financial Secretary and Receiver General.

The Legislative Council, which is analogous in its legislative functions to the House of Lords, consists of twenty-one members, one of whom is President. They are appointed by the Crown, upon the recommendation of the Executive, and hold their seats for life. The House of Representatives, or more frequently called the House of Assembly, consists of fifty-five members, representing counties and townships, who are elected every four years. The elective franchise is granted to every male of twenty-one years of age, who is a natural-born or naturalized subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and who has been for one year a resident of the county or township in which he votes. In its mode of procedure the House of Assembly, ss far as possible, conforms to the usages of the lower house of the British Parliament.”

London International Exhibition. Nova Scotia In 1862: Papers Relating to the Two Great Exhibitions In London of That Year .. [Halifax, N.S.?: s.n.], 1864. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/aeu.ark:/13960/t2w38br0g

Confederation Considered On Its Merits: Being an Examination Into the Principle, Capabilities, And Terms of Union, As Applicable to Nova Scotia

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“We have witnessed the tremendous struggle and sacrifice made by our Republican neighbors, rather than suffer the disintegration of their common country.”

“Nova Scotia, then, is a British Province, enjoying the priceless privilege of British laws, British connection, and a free Constitution.”

“The consequence has been that our progress has been one incessant struggle, and the youth of our population, unable to find employment at home, have been obliged to seek it in a foreign country.”

“It may be asked, in what respect will confederation affect this for the better? …It will strike down forever all inter-Provincial tariffs; every port in all the Provinces will admit productions of each, free of duty. An esprit, or pride of country, will be created.”

“The port of Halifax will be the great point of entry for the Confederacy. It will be connected with every part of the continent by railway; it will be the efflux and influx of an ever growing trade and commerce.

“If then there are such prospects before us, why, it may be asked, is it that so many men of large means, and of high intelligence, look upon the approach of Confederation with undisguised apprehension?”

Marshall, John G. (John George), 1789-1880. Confederation Considered On Its Merits: Being an Examination Into the Principle, Capabilities, And Terms of Union, As Applicable to Nova Scotia. Halifax: R.T. Muir, 1867. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.hni3x1

Rambles among the Blue-noses; or, Reminiscences of a tour through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia during the summer of 1862

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“On the east side of the harbor opposite the city is situated the town of Dartmouth; between which places a semi-hourly communication is kept up by steam-boats.”

Spedon, Andrew Learmont. Rambles Among the Blue-noses: Or, Reminiscences of a Tour Through New Brunswick And Nova Scotia During the Summer of 1862. Montreal: Lovell, 1863. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951002286200x

Facts and reasons against New Brunswick and Nova Scotia confederating with Canada

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“Every man who is invited or proposes to enter into any partnership or agreement, naturally thinks of the advantages and disadvantages it will involve or produce to himself.”

Marshall, (Judge) John George. “Facts And Reasons Against New Brunswick And Nova Scotia Confederating With Canada: Addressed to the Electors of New Brunswick”. [S.l.: s.n., 1866. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/aeu.ark:/13960/t41r80t31

On the diurnal and annual variations of temperature at Halifax, Nova Scotia

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temps weather

Monthly mean normal temperatures, at Halifax, for each of the twenty four hours, from Bi-hourly observations in the years 1867-1869 (°F):

HourJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Midn18.8320.9024.1233.0542.7352.7558.7958.9754.0742.7834.8523.6338.79
1am18.2420.3223.1132.1542.1151.9257.7858.0453.5342.5134.6523.4738.15
2am17.4019.7422.0931.3641.4450.8956.6457.1352.8241.8634.1423.2837.40
3am16.7019.2821.5530.8540.7350.06°F55.88°F56.6352.2741.1633.5923.0636.81
4am16.49°F19.09°F21.3930.70°F40.49°F50.1555.9656.61°F52.04°F40.83°F33.34°F23.05°F36.68°F
5am16.6319.1221.35°F31.0641.3351.5157.0157.0952.2140.9733.3823.2737.08
6am16.7219.2321.6432.1243.2653.6958.7758.3253.0641.4933.4823.4537.94
7am16.7519.5822.8333.9445.7156.0861.0360.5754.7942.5233.7023.5239.25
8am17.2020.5424.9836.2448.2158.4663.7863.6157.2144.3634.4523.8841.08
9am18.4720.2627.6538.5850.6660.9366.7266.7059.8546.9435.9024.9143.30
10am20.3924.3030.2440.5953.0263.3069.2369.1762.3049.5637.6026.3845.50
11am22.0726.0932.3042.7754.9565.1470.9070.7864.2151.4238.9127.7447.27
Noon23.3827.4433.5743.8356.0466.2371.9971.8365.3652.2939.6128.7048.36
1pm24.1628.4434.1044.9156.24°F66.6572.8172.5465.9252.6239.86°F29.17°F48.95
2pm24.38°F29.03°F34.15°F45.19°F55.9666.66°F73.30°F72.88°F66.22°F52.77°F39.7329.0449.11°F
3pm23.9628.9033.7544.5755.5566.4973.1772.6566.0652.3539.1328.2848.74
4pm23.0127.9032.6843.3154.8766.0872.3371.6564.7850.8838.1127.1947.73
5pm21.8826.3530.9741.7353.4665.0470.8169.8462.2748.6537.0326.1746.18
6pm20.9824.8329.1539.8451.1462.9568.5367.3759.4846.6936.2925.3844.39
7pm20.3723.7427.6737.7648.4959.9865.6664.6357.4445.6535.9224.8142.68
8pm19.9523.0926.5235.9346.3857.0862.8962.1956.2245.1035.6424.4542.29
9pm19.6022.6025.6134.8045.1055.0760.9660.5755.3744.3735.3024.2740.30
10pm19.3422.0725.0334.2444.2653.9960.0059.8754.7243.5134.9924.1039.68
11pm19.1321.4824.6833.3243.4753.3859.4559.5254.3642.9534.8623.8539.20
Mean19.83°F23.1827.1337.248.1558.5264.35°F64.1358.1946.0136.0225.2142.33°F

Kingston, G. T. (George Templeman), 1817-1886, and F Allison. On the Diurnal And Annual Variations of Temperature At Halifax, Nova Scotia. [S.l.: s.n., 1871. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/aeu.ark:/13960/t70v9860r

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