John A. Macdonald Fonds, Drafts of the British North America Act, 1867 – Rough Draft, John A. Macdonald’s Copy [n.d.]
Document Information
Date: n.d.
By: n.a.
Citation: John A. Macdonald Fonds, Drafts of the British North America Act, 1867 – Rough Draft, John A. Macdonald’s Copy, n.d. (MG 26, A, Vol. 48, pp. 18845-18870).
Other formats: Click here to view the original document (PDF).
Notes: The transcription still needs to be verified for accuracy.
18845[118]
[Rough Draft]
CONFIDENTIAL
Be it enacted by THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Lord Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, with the advice of her Privy Council, to declare, [square bracket]or to authorise the Governor-General to declare [square bracket]by proclamation, that the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, upon, from, and after a certain day in such proclamation to be appointed, which day shall be within [blank] calendar months next after the passing of this Act, shall, for the purpose hereof, form and be one Province of Confederation, under the name of [blank] and thenceforth the said several Provinces shall constitute and be one Province or Confederation, under the name aforesaid, [square bracket]upon, from, and after the day so appointed, as aforesaid. [square bracket]
GENERAL GOVERNMENT.
2. The Executive Authority or Government, so far as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act, shall be and continue to be vested in the Queen [Sovereign] of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to be administered either personally or by [a] representatives upon the princip[l]es of the British Constitution.
3. The Queen [Sovereign [illegible]] shall be Commander-in-Chief of the land and naval militia forces.
18846[119]
2
4. There shall be within the said Confederation a Parliament composed of the Queen, Legislative Council, and a House of Commons.
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
5. There shall be 72 Members in the Legislative Council, and for the purpose of constitution such Legislative Council, and for the purpose of constituting such Legislative Council the Confederation shall be deemed to consist of three divisions, each to have an equal representation, that is to say: first, the province of Upper Canada 24; second, Lower Canada 24; third, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 24; being 12 to each.
6. After [Illegible] the admission of Prince Edward Island into the Confederation, the representation of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the Legislative Council shall be reduced to ten each, such reduction only to take place on the occurrence of vacancies by death or otherwise.
7. The colonies of Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, the North Western territory and British Columbia, shall be admitted into the Confederation on such terms and conditions as the Parliament shall deem equitable, and as shall receive the assent of Her Majesty, and in the case of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and British Columbia as shall be agreed upon by their respective Legislatives[ures], but Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, when admitted, shall each be entitled to a representation in the Legislative Council of four Members.
8. The Members of the Legislative Council shall be appointed by Her Majesty under the Great Seal of the Confederation, and hold their seats for life, subject to the provinces hereinafter contained for vacating the same. Every person
18847[120]
3
so appointed shall be a British subject of the age of thirty years or upwards, and shall at the time of such appointment reside in the Province for which he is appointed, and shall be seised in fee to his own use of real estate therein of the value of $4,000 over and above all incumbrances, and shall be worth that sum over and above all his debts and liabilities. Provided, in the case of Lower Canada, every person appointed shall be a resident of the said Province, and shall reside or possess his qualification in the Electoral District he is appointed to represent, as is mentioned in Schedule A, Chapter 1, of the Consolidated Statutes of Canada.
9. Nothing hereinafter contained as to the residence of legislative Councillors shall apply to any person holding an official position which requires his attendance at the seat of Government during the term of his office.
10. If any Legislative Councillor shall, for two successive Sessions of Parliament, fail to give his attendance in the Legislative Council without the permission of the Governor-General, or shall take any oath, or make any declaration or acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to any Foreign Prince or Power, or shall do or concur in or adopt any act whereby he may become a subject or citizen of any Foreign State or Power, or whereby he may become entitled to the rights, privileges, or immunities of a subject or citizen of any Foreign State or Power, or shall cease to reside in the province for which he is appointed, or in the case of Lower Canada in the Electoral District, as herein provided, subject to the exception as to Officers of the Government hereinbefore
18848[121]
4
provided, or shall cease to hold the property qualification hereinbefore mentioned, or shall become bankrupt, or take the benefit of any law relating to Insolvent Debtors, or shall become a public defaulter, or be attainted of felony, or of any infamous crime, his seat in the Legislative Council shall thereby become vacant.
11. Every Member of the Legislative Council before he shall sit or vote therein, shall take the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty before the Governor-General, or some person or persons authorised by him to administer such oath, and shall also make and subscribe a declaration in writing under his hand, and deliver the same to the Clerk of the Council, which declaration shall be as follows: “I, A B, do declare and testify that I am by law duly qualified to be appointed a Member of the Legislative Council of Canada, and that I am duly seised of an estate in fee simple to my own use, in lands or tenements, in (here set forth the place where such lands are situate, and a particular description thereof) of the value of $4,000 over and above all incumbrances affecting the same, and that I am worth that sum over and above all my debts and liabilities, and that I have not collusively or colorably obtained a title to or become possessed thereof, or of any part thereof, for the purpose of enabling me to become a Member of the said Legislative Council.” And every Member who shall sit or vote in the Council before making and filing such declaration as aforesaid, shall be liable for every day he shall so sit to pay the sum of $500, to be recovered by any person who shall sue for the same, and whoever shall wilfully, falsely, and corruptly make any such
18849[122]
5
declaration or affirmation, shall be guilty of perjury, and suffer the pains and penalties therefor.
12. If any question shall arise as to the right of any person to hold his seat in the Legislative Council, it shall be heard and determined by the Legislative Council. But it shall be lawful either for the person respecting whose seat such question shall have arisen, or for Her Majesty’s Attorney General or other principal Law Officer of the said Confederation, to appeal from the determination of the said Council in such case to Her Majesty, and that the judgment of Her Majesty, with the advice of Her Privy Council thereon shall be final and conclusive in the premises.
13. Any Member of the Legislative Council may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Governor General, resign his seat in the said Legislative Council, and upon such resignation the seat of such Legislative Councillor shall become vacant.
14. The Governor General, unless otherwise provided by Parliament, shall appoint during pleasure one of the Members of the Legislative Council to be Speaker thereof.
15. The presence of at least [blank] Members of the Legislative Council, exclusive of the Speaker, shall be necessary to constitute a meeting for the exercise of its powers, and all questions which shall arise therein shall be decided by a majority of voices of the Members present, other than the
18850[123]
6
Speaker; but when the voices are equal, the Speaker shall have the casting voice.
16. The Legislative Council, or the Members thereof, shall be entitled and exercise as a Branch of the Legislature within the Confederation all the powers and privileges, and be subject to all the responsibilities and duties which the House of Lords in England, or the Members thereof enjoy, or are subject to, except as herein provided, and also as to what appertains to the judiciary functions of the House of Lords.
17. The Governor General shall in the first instance appoint the Members of the Legislative Council upon the nomination of the Executive Governments of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, respectively, to be selected from the Legislative Council of each Province but if any Member of such Legislative so nominated shall not accept such nomination, the Executive Government in any Province may nominate in his place a person who is not a Member of the Legislative Council.
HOUSE OF COMMONS.
18. The House of Commons shall be constituted upon the basis of representation by population, and shall consist of 181 Members, distributed as follows:— To Upper Canada, 82; Lower Canada, 65; Nova Scotia, 19; and to New Brunswick, 15; and after the decennial census of 1871, and every decennial census thereafter, upon the termination by a dissolution or otherwise of the Parliament
18851[124]
7
then existing, the representation from each Province shall be readjusted, and for that purpose Lower Canada shall always be assigned 65 Members, and to each of the other Provinces at each readjustment shall be assigned the number of Members to which it will be entitled in the same ratio of representation to population as Lower Canada will have.
19. In the computation at each decennial period of the number of Members to which each Province is entitled, no fractional part shall be considered, except in cases when any such fractional part shall exceed one-half the number which would entitle a Province to a Member on the basis of population, in which case a Member shall be assigned for each such fractional part; and no reduction shall be made in the number of Members to be returned by any Province, unless its population shall have decreased relatively to the population of the whole Union, to the extent of five per centum.
20. The Parliament may at any time increase the number of Members in the House of Commons, but such increase shall be in the proportion to which each Province would be entitled under this Act.
21. Until provision is made by Parliament, all the laws which at the time this Act comes into operation are in force in the Provinces, respectively relating to the qualification and disqualification of the persons elected or entitled to sit and vote as Members of the Assembly of the said Provinces respectively or relating to the qualification or disqualification of Electors, or to the oaths to be
18852[125]
8
taken by Electors, or to returning officers, their powers and duties, or to the proceedings at elections, or to the manner and time of holding and conducting such elections, except as to Electorial Districts, or to the trial of converted Elections; and all proceedings incidental thereto, or relating to the vacating the seat of Members, or to the execution of new writs in case of any seat being vacated otherwise than by a dissolution, shall respectively apply to elections of Members to serve in the House of Commons for those Provinces respectively.
22. The Governor General shall within [blank] after this Act comes into operation, cause writs to be issued in such form as he may prescribe for the election of Members of the House of Commons, and within [blank] after the return thereof, summon Parliament for the despatch of business, and in case any vacancy should occur in the House of Commons before provision is made by Parliament, such vacancy may be filled, and writs therefor may be issued in like manner.
23. No Member of the House of Commons shall be permitted to sit or vote therein until he shall have taken the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty before the Governor General, or other person or persons authorized by him to administer such oath.
24. The House of Commons shall, upon their first assembling after every general election, proceed forthwith to elect one of their Members to be Speaker, and in the case of his death, resigna-
18853[126]
9
tion or removal by a vote, shall forthwith proceed to elect another of such members to be such Speaker, and the Speaker so elected shall preside in the said House of Commons.
25. Upon any general election the House of Commons shall be competent to proceed to the despatch of business at the time appointed by the Governor General, provided that no more than five of the writs of election shall not have been returned, or that in any of the Electoral Districts, the electors shall have failed to elect a Member to serve in the said House of Commons.
26. The presence of at least [blank] Members of the House of Commons, exclusive of the Speaker, shall be necessary to constitute a meeting for the exercise of its powers and all questions which shall arise in such House of Commons, shall be decided by a majority of voices of such Members as shall be present other than the Speaker, and whenever the voices shall be equal the Speaker shall have the casting voice.
27. The House of Commons, and the Members thereof, subject to the provision of this Act, shall enjoy all the powers, privileges, and functions, and be subject to all the duties and responsibilities within the Confederation, as the British House of Commons and the Members thereof.
28. No person, being a Member of the Legislative Council, shall be capable of being elected, or of sitting, or voting as a Member of the House of Commons.
18854[127]
10
PARLIAMENT.
29. Every Parliament shall continue for five years from the day of the return of the writs under which the Members of the House of Commons shall be elected, and no longer, but subject to be sooner prorogued or dissolved by the Governor-General and a Session of the Parliament shall be holden at least once in every year, so that a period of twelve calendar months shall not intervene between any two Sessions.
30. The Governor-General may fix such place or places within the Confederation, and such time for holding the first and every other Session of Parliament as he may deem advisable, and from time to time change or vary the same.
31. Whenever any Bill which has been passed by the Legislative Council and House of Commons shall be presented for the assent of Her Majesty to the Governor-General, he shall declare according to his discretion, but subject, nevertheless, to the provisions of this Act, and to such instructions as may from time to time be given in that behalf by Her Majesty, that he assents to such Bill in Her Majesty’s name, or that he withholds such assent, or that he reserves the Bill for the signification of Her Majesty’s pleasure.
32. No Bill which shall be reserved for the signification of Her Majesty’s pleasure shall have any force or authority until the Governor-General shall signify, either by speech or message to the Legislative Council and House of Commons of the Confederation, or by proclamation, that such Bill has been laid before Her Majesty in Council, and that Her
18855[128]
11
Majesty has been pleased to assent to the same, and an entry shall be made in the journals of the Legislative Council and House of Commons respectively of every such message or speech, and a duplicate thereof, duly attested, shall be delivered to the proper officer, to be kept among the records of the Confederation, and no Bill which shall be so reserved as aforesaid shall have any force or authority unless Her Majesty’s assent shall have been so signified as aforesaid within the space of two years from the day on which such Bill shall have been presented to the Governor-General as aforesaid.
33. Whenever any Bill which shall have been presented for the assent of Her Majesty to the Governor-General shall have been assented to by him, he shall by the first convenient opportunity transmit an authentic copy thereof to one of Her Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State. And Her Majesty may, within two years after such Bill shall have been so received by such Secretary of State, by Order in Council, declare the disallowance of such Bill, and such disallowance, together with a certificate under the hand and seal of such Secretary of State, certifying the day on which such Bill was disallowed as aforesaid, being signified by the Governor-General to the Legislative Council and House of Commons by speech or message or by proclamation, shall make void and annul the same from and after the day of such signification.
34. The Governor General may disallow any Bill passed by the Local Legislature within one year after the passing thereof, and upon the proclamation thereof by the Governor it shall become null and void; and no Bill which shall be reserved by the Governor for the consideration of the
18856[129]
12
Governor-General shall have any force or authority until the Governor-General shall signify his assent thereto and proclamation thereof made within the Province by the Governor of the province for which such Bill has been passed.
APPOINTMENT OF GOVERNORS, &c.
35. The Governor-General may appoint Governors for the respective Provinces, Judges and other officers authorized by Parliament, and also the Judges of the Superior and District and County Courts in each Province. But the Judges of Lower Canada shall be selected from the bar of that Province, and until the consolidation of the laws of the other Provinces the Judges of these provinces shall be selected from their respective benches or bars.
POWERS OF PARLIAMENT.
36. The Parliament shall have power to make laws respecting the following subjects:—
1. The Public Debt and Property.
2. The Regulation of Trade and Commerce.
3. The raising of money by all or any mode or system of Taxation.
4. The borrowing of money on the public credit.
5. Postal Service.
[X] 6. Lines of Steam or other Ships, Railways, Canals, and other works connecting any two or more of the Provinces together, or extending beyond the limits of any Province.
[X] 7. Lines of Steamships between the Confederated Provinces and other countries.
18857[130]
13
8. Telegraphic Communications and the incorporation of Telegraph Companies.
9. All such works as shall, although lying wholly within any Province, be specially declared by the Acts authorizing them to be for the general advantage.
10. The Census and Statistics.
11. Militia—Military and Naval Service and Defence.
12. Beacons, buoys, Light Houses, and Sable Island.
13. Navigation and Shipping.
14. Quarantine.
15. Sea Coast and Inland Fisheries.
16. Ferries between any Province and a Foreign Country, or between any two Provinces.
17. Currency and Coinage.
18. Banking—Incorporation of Banks and the issue of paper money.
19. Savings Banks.
20. Weights and Measures.
21. Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes.
22. Interest.
23. Legal Tender.
24. Bankruptcy and Insolvency.
25. Patents of Invention and Discovery.
26. Copy Rights.
27. Indians and lands reserved for the Indians.
28. Naturalization and Aliens.
29. Marriage and Divorce.
30. The Criminal Law, excepting the Constitution of the Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction but including the procedure on Criminal matters.
31. The establishment, maintenance, and management of Penitentiaries.
32. Rendering uniform all or any of the laws relative to property and civil rights in
18858[131]
14
Upper Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and rendering uniform the procedure of all or any of the Courts in these provinces; but any Statute for this purpose shall have no force or authority in any Province until sanctioned by the Legislature, and when so sanctioned the power of amending, altering, or repealing such laws shall thenceforward be vested in the Parliament only.
33. Immigration.
34. Agriculture.
[X] 35. To establish a General Court of Appeal, and in order to the due execution of the Laws [bracket]of Parliament[bracket] additional Courts when necessary.
36. To fix and provide for the salaries and allowances of the Governors of the several Provinces, and of the Judges all all other Officers of the Confederation, and of the Judges of the Superior, and District, and County Courts, and of the Admiralty Courts, in cases where the Judges thereof are paid by salaries.
37. And also for the peace, welfare and good government of the Confederation respecting all matters of a general character, not specially and exclusively herein reserved for the Legislature; and such laws shall control and supercede any laws in any use [illegible] repugnant thereto or inconsistent therewith which may have been made prior thereto; and any law made by any Legislature in pursuance of the authority hereby conferred upon it in regard to matters and subjects in which concurrent jurisdiction is hereby given to the Parliament shall, so far as the same is repug-
18859[132]
15
nant to or inconsistent with any Act passed by the Parliament, be null and void.
37. The Government of the Confederation and the Parliament shall have and exercise all powers necessary or proper for the performance of the obligations of the Confederation as part of the British Empire to Foreign countries arising under treaties between Great Britain and such countries.
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
38. For each of the Provinces there shall be an Executive Officer styled the Governor, who shall be appointed by the Governor General under the great seal of the Confederation, to hold office during pleasure, such pleasure, however, not to be exercised before the expiration of five years from the date of his appointment, except for cause to be communicated in writing to the Governor immediately after the exercise of the pleasure as aforesaid, and also by message to both Houses of Parliament within the first week of the first Session thereafter.
39. The Governor, subject to the provisions of this Act and any Act of Parliament, and of such instructions as he may from time to time receive from the Governor General, shall administer the Government of the Province for which he is appointed upon the principles of the British Constitution. He shall have power from time to time to prorogue or dissolve the Legislature; he may reserve any Bill passed by the Legislature for the consideration of the Governor-General, and may from time to time, except in
18860[133]
16
[9] capital cases, reprieve or pardon prisoners convicted of crimes, and commute and remit such sentences in whole or in part, which belong of right to the Crown.
40. The Governor General shall from time to time make provision for the administration of the Government of any Province, during the temporary absence or other inability to discharge the duties of his office of the Governor thereof from any cause.
41. The Local Government and Legislature of each Province shall be constructed subject to the provisions of this Act in such manner as the Legislature shall from time to time provide.
42. The Legislature shall have exclusive power to make laws respecting the following subjects, with the exception of Agriculture and Immigration, in regard to which Parliament shall have concurrent jurisdiction.
1. The altering and amending their constitution from time to time.
[illegible] 2. Direct Taxation, and reserving to New Brunswick the right to collect the Lumber dues provided in Chapter 13, Title III. of the Revised Statutes of that Province, and any amendment thereof, made before or after this Act comes into operation, which does not increase the amount, but excepting therefrom the lumber of any other Province.
3. Borrowing money on the credit of the Province.
18861[134]
17
4. The establishment and tenure of Local Offices, and the appointment and payment of Local Officers.
5. Agriculture.
6. Immigration.
[X] 7. Education — saving the rights and privileges which the Protestant or Roman Catholic minority in any Province at the time when this Act comes into operation, and in any Province where a system of separate or dissentient schools by law obtains, or where the Legislature may thereafter adopt a system of separate or dissentient schools, an appeal shall lie to the Governor-General from the acts and decisions of the Local Authorities which affect the rights and privileges of the Protestant or Roman Catholic minority in the matter of education, and the Parliament shall have power, in the last resort, to legislate on the subject.
8. The sale and management of Public Lands, except Lands owned by the General Government.
9. The establishment, maintenance, and management of Public and Reformatory Prisons.
10. The establishment, maintenance, and management of Hospitals, Asylums, Charities, and Eleemosynary Institutions, except Marine Hospitals.
11. Municipal Institutions.
12. Shop, Saloon, Tavern, Auctioneer, and other Licenses for Local Revenue.
13. Local Works.
14. The incorporation of private or local companies, except such as relate to matters assigned to the General Parliament.
18862[135]
18
15. Property and civil rights, including the solemnisation of marriage, excepting those portions thereof assigned to the General Parliament.
16. The infliction of punishment by fine, penalties, imprisonment, or otherwise for the breach of laws passed in relation to any subject within their jurisdiction.
[X] 17. The administration of justice, including the constitution, maintenance, and organisation of the Courts—both of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction, and including also the procedure in Civil Matters.
18. And generally all matters of a private or local nature, not assigned to the Parliament.
43. All the powers, privileges, and duties conferred and imposed upon Roman Catholic separate schools, and school trustees in Upper Canada, shall be extended to the Protestant and Roman Catholic schools in Lower Canada.
MISCELLANEOUS
[X] 44. The English and French language may both be employed in Parliament, and in its [Illegible] proceedings, and in the Legislature and Courts of Lower Canada, and also in the Courts of the Confederation which may be established under this Act.
[X] 45. For the purposes of this Act, Courts, Judges, and Officers of the several Provinces shall be Courts, Judges and Officers of the Confederation.
46. The Judges of the Superior Courts shall hold their offices during good behaviour, and
18863[136]
19
shall be removable on the address of both Houses of Parliament, but not on the address of the Houses of any of the Legislatures.
47. No lands or property of the Confederation or Local Government shall be liable to taxation.
48. All Bills for appropriating any part of the Public Revenue, or for imposing any tax or imposts shall originate in the House of Commons or the House of Assembly, as the case may be.
49. The House of Commons or House of Assembly shall not originate 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 not previously recommended by message of the Governor-General, or the Governor, as the case may be, during the Session in which such vote, resolution, address or bill is moved.
50. The seat of Government of the Confederation shall be Ottawa, subject to the Royal prerogative.
51. Subject to any future action of the respective Local Government, the seat of the Local Government in Upper Canada shall be Toronto, in Lower Canada, in Quebec; and the seat of the Local Governments in the other Provinces shall be as at present.
52. All stocks, cash, bankers’ balances and securities for money belonging to each Province at the time this Act comes into operation, except
18864[137]
20
as hereinafter mentioned, shall become the property and assets of the Confederation.
53. The following works and property of each Province shall become the property of the Confederation:—
1. Canals. [Illegible]
2. Public Harbours.
[Checkmark] 3. Lighthouses, Piers and Salle Island.
4. Steamboats, Dredges and Public Vessels.
5. River 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 may be set aside by the Government of the Confederation for the use of the Local Governments and Legislatures.
9. Property transferred by the Imperial Government, and known as Ordinance Property.
10. Armories, Drill Sheds, Military Clothing and munitions of war, and land set apart for general public purposes.
54. All lands, mines, minerals and royalties vested in Her Majesty in the several Provinces for the use of the Province, or owned by any such Province, and all sums due therefor at the time this Act comes into operation, shall be and continue to be the property of the Province in which the same are or were situate respectively, subject to any trust or other interest that may exist in respect to any such lands, and subject to the rights of the Government of this Confederation to assume, upon equitable terms, any land or public property required for fortifications
18865[138]
21
or the defence of the country, all public property therein.
55. All assets connected with such portions of the Public Debt of any Province as are assumed by the Local Government, shall continue to be the property of those Governments respectively, not exceeding the amount of such assumptions.
56. When this Act comes into operation, all the debts, liabilities, agreements, and obligations of each Province shall become the debts, liabilities, agreements, and obligations of the Confederation, except as hereinafter provided.
57. For the purposes of the Confederation the debt not specially assumed by each Province respectively shall, for Canada, not exceed the sum of $62,500,000; Nova Scotia, $8,000,000; and New Brunswick, $7,000,000.
58. If any of the Provinces, at the time this Act comes into operation, shall not have contracted debts equal to the amount hereinbefore mentioned, such Province shall receive, by half-yearly payments in advance from the Government of the Confederation, interest at the rate of five per centum [Illegible] on the difference between the actual amount of their respective debts, and such stipulated amount of their respective debts, and such stipulated amount until such debts shall have been so contracted to such respective amounts; but nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent any Province from increasing the debt chargeable upon the Confederation at any time until it reaches such amount.
18866[139]
22
59. In consideration of the transfer of the powers of taxation to the Parliament, the Government of the Confederation shall annually pay to each Province, for local purposes, the following sums:—
Upper Canada … $80,000
Lower Canada … $70,000
Nova Scotia … $60,000
New Brunswick … $50,000
and also a sum equal to eighty cents per head of the population as ascertained by the census of the year 1861: and in the case of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, at the same rate per head as ascertained by each subsequent decennial census, until the population of each of these Provinces shall amount to four hundred thousand. Such aid shall be paid half-yearly in advance, by warrant of the Governor-General on the Treasury of the Confederation, in favour of the officer appointed in each Province to receive the same, deducting from any such subsidy all sums paid as interest on the Public Debt of any Province in excess of the amount hereinbefore stipulated, and also in like manner annually pay to the Province of New Brunswick the sum of $63,000 for the period of ten years. But so long as the liability of that Province remains under $7,000,000 a deduction shall be made therefrom equal to the interest on such deficiency.
60. All engagements of any of the Provinces made with the Imperial Government for the defence of the country shall be fulfilled by the Government of the Confederation.
61. Quakers and Moravians may affirm in any case where an oath is required.
18867[140]
23
62. All persons, bodies, politic or corporate, acting under any law in force at the time this Act comes into operation, shall continue until other are appointed under the authority of this Act, and all proceedings taken shall continue when not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, and all penalties and forfeitures may be recovered in the same manner as if this Act had not been passed; and any act done, or any right of action which existed, or had accrued or was accruing when this Act came into operation, shall not be affected thereby, and any offence committed or penalty or forfeiture incurred, or any proceeding thereon or in relation thereto, shall not be affected by the passing of this Act, and judgment may in all cases be pronounced thereafter, and all appointments made, and bonds and securities given by any person or persons, under the authority of any law in force at the time this Act comes into operation, shall not be affected thereby.
63. When this Act comes into operation, and until provision is made therefor by Parliament, all the officers of the several Provinces having duties to discharge connected with the several subjects with which Parliament is empowered to deal, shall thenceforth be and become officers of the Confederation and continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices under the same liabilities, responsibilities, and penalties as are provided by the Acts under the authority of which they have been respectively appointed, or they shall have respectively acted, and all Judges and other officers in the several Provinces shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices in the same manner in all respects, and subject to the same liabilities, responsibilities,
18868[141]
24
and penalties as if this Act had not been passed, and all laws in force in the several Provinces at the time this Act comes into operation not inconsistent herewith, shall continue to be in force and authority within each Province until they are altered, amended, or repealed under the authority of this Act.
64. The first appointments of the Governors of the several Provinces shall be provisional, and they shall hold office during pleasure. The Governor-General of Canada and also the respective Governors or other officers administering the Governments of the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick respectively, in office at the time the Act comes into operation, shall be the Governors of Upper and Lower Canada and of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick respectively, and shall continue to exercise the functions and discharge the duties of their respective offices subject to the provisions of this Act until a Governor shall be appointed for each Province, and shall receive the same pay and allowances as they shall then be severally receiving; and the Government of Canada shall exercise the functions of the Governments of Upper and Lower Canada respectively, and the Governments of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick shall continue to exercise the functions of the Governments of those Provinces respectively until Local Governments are formed under the provisions of this Act. The Legislature of New Brunswick shall continue for the period for which it was elected, unless sooner dissolved, and the Constitution of the said Province, and of Nova Scotia, shall continue as now established, subject to the provisions of this Act until altered or amended under the authority of this Act.
18869[142]
25
65. Until otherwise provided, the Province of Nova Scotia, for the purposes of the election of Members to serve in Parliament, is hereby divided into eighteen electoral districts, of which the county of Halifax, including the City of Halifax, shall be one, [(]and shall be entitled to elect two Members, [)] and each of the other seventeen counties into which the Province is divided is hereby constituted an electoral district, and shall be entitled to elect one Member. [+ [illegible]]
66. Unless otherwise provided by the Legislature, for the purpose of the first election of Members to serve in the first Parliament, each of the counties into which the Province of New Brunswick is divided, and the City of Saint John, shall constitute an electoral district, and be respectively entitled to elect a Member.
INTERPRETATION
67. In the construction of this Act the following rules shall be observed with respect to the following terms, unless otherwise expressly provided for, or such construction would be inconsistent with the manifest intention of the Act, or repugnant to the context—that is to say:—
Her Majesty or the Queen shall include Her Heirs and Successors.
Governor-General shall include the Chief Executive Officer or other Administrator of the Government for the time being appointed by Her Majesty, by whatever name designated, and when any act is herein required to be done by the Governor-General, it shall be meant and intended that
18870[143]
26
such act shall be done by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the Confederation.
Legislature shall mean the Local Legislature of any Province before or after this Act comes into operation.
Governor shall include Administrator of the Government of any Province for the time being, and whenever any act is herein required to be done by the Governor, it shall be meant and intended that such act shall be done by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the Province.
Parliament shall mean the Parliament of the Confederation.
Person may include an body corporate, company, or society not corporate.
Every word importing the singular number may extend to several persons or things as well as to one person or thing; and importing the plural number to one person or thing, as well as to several persons or things; and importing the masculine gender, to females as well as males.
REPEALING.
68. [Blank] and all other Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent herewith or repugnant hereto shall be and are hereby repealed when this Act comes into operation.