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Date: 1867-04-24
By: The Montreal Herald
Citation: “Meeting of Parliament”, The Montreal Herald (24 April, 1867)
Other formats: TBA

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT. 

— There is of course a good deal of speculation going forward as to the time when the Legislature will be called together, and as to whether the Legislature when called will be that of Canada, as now existing, or of the new and more widely extended Canada, which has been created by act of Parliament. Professing to have no special information, we can only judge, as others may judge, from the circumstances of the case; but reasoning in that manner it seems to us very likely that it will be still found necessary to have another session of the Parliament of Canada as it is. Of course if there were any dependence to be placed on the pledges of Canadian Ministers, there could be no question on the subject, for these gentlemen would not allow one jot or tittle of the Quebec constitution, as at first agreed upon, to be altered by the representatives of our people, and they made a solemn promise that they would permit no alteration in England, unless it were made conditional on a subsequent confirmation and ratification in Canada. But first of all no one is foolish enough to suppose that any pledge can bind consciences such as are owned by the men who entered into the obligation; and secondly, to be honest, we think that, if there be nothing else to influence the decision, that particular promise was of a kind from which they may be fairly enough absolved. The truth is that any meeting of the Legislature, for the purpose of ratifying what has been done in England, would be a mere waste of time, since in the present state of affairs, at all events, no one can suppose it to be desireable to delay or embarrass a measure which can no longer be prevented by disputing about mere details, none of them of any great importance, if the principle be admitted, and the mode in which it has been carried be approved. But there are other reasons of a more practical and material kind, which seems to make it probable that there will be another session of the present Canadian Legislature, irrespective of the advantages to the members which would flow from that source. Persons who have had to make any great change in their domestic arrangements, say a moving when the household is large, and the furniture plentiful, know how many things require to be done at the very last moment, which had not been thought of before, in spite of the care which had been bestowed upon considering the subject. This rule, which is found to apply so generally to mutations in human affairs, is, we think, likely enough to find its exemplification in our own history of the next few months. When our Ministers return from serving their country and enjoying themselves in Europe, they may very probably find some screws loose, which must be adjusted before our new condition of political existence can be entered upon. Some of the difficulties of escaping from another session of the present legislature readily suggest themselves, though we do not say that it would be impossible to surmount them by other methods. Among these we may mention the Custom House laws now existing between the Provinces. After the royal proclamation by which the new Province of Canada shall be constituted, some weeks or even months must elapse before the new Parliament can assemble. Now during that time it may be a question whether the present tariff will be applicable to importations from one of the existing Colonies to the other. It may also be a question, which of the tariffs now in existence is to apply to importations from foreign countries. It would plainly be convenient, and it may be necessary for the several Provinces to agree ad interim to some one scale, no matter which, until the joint Legislature shall have met and regulated the whole subject; for unless that be so, we may expect that goods will be shipped to that Province in which the duties are lowest, in expectation of that change in circumstances, which will place them within the larger jurisdiction, without any physical transfer. This line of action would seem to offer some inducements even before the proclamation, if it is taken for granted that the proclaiming of the new dominion abolishes the intercolonial Custom houses ; for in that case goods entered at comparatively lower rates in the other Provinces will find themselves entered in Canada proper by the mere operation of law ; and, less the cost of transhipment, their owners will derive a profit equal to the difference between the tariff of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick and that of Canada. We mention these things to show that there are arrangements to be made before the organic change now approaching can be consummated, which may make farther legislation necessary before that event. These arrangements, however, may perhaps be managed in some other way ; but if they are it will probably require a good deal of office work, and perhaps negotiation, between the different parts of the new dominion, and will thus considerably delay, the meeting of the new Parliament.