Author Entries: International (265)

Supreme Court Administration in Canada Answering directly to the Chief Justice, the Registrar is responsible for all administrative work in […]

The Judiciary in Canada All members of the judiciary in Canada, regardless of the court, are drawn from the legal […]

Legal System of Canada The Canadian Judicial System The Canadian Judicial System recived an analysis here. Organization of Courts The […]

Puisne Judges Judges of the Court: List of Puisne Judges Names of Judges, with date of appointment and date of […]

History: Cradle of Canadian Parliamentary Government In 1713, under the Treaty of Utrecht, France ceded Nova Scotia to England but kept Île Royale (Cape Breton Island) and Île Saint-Jean (Prince Edward Island). The following year, a small British garrison was established at Port-Royal, Nova […]

New Brunswick New Brunswick, one of the three Maritime provinces, and included as one of the four Atlantic provinces, of […]

History of Nova Scotia in Canada History: Cradle of Canadian Parliamentary Government In 1713, under the Treaty of Utrecht, France […]

Foreign Corruption Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act Bribing a foreign public official happens, according to this piece of legislation, […]

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has a statutory mandate to apply the Canadian Human Rights […]

Prescription Charges in Canada Background The national healthcare system in Canada is Medicare. This funds all healthcare services (including primary […]

The only general Canadian law report series reporting cases in all subject areas from the two federal courts as well as from all provincial courts is the Dominion Law Reports, cited D.L.R. The manner in which the D.L.R. is cited has changed somewhat as new series have been added: 68 […]

Since 1867, the number, names and boundaries of federal electoral districts have changed repeatedly. In successive elections, voters in each electoral district have chosen a candidate to represent them in the House of Commons. Parliament Date the writs were issued Election date […]

Boundary Redistribution For the democratic process to be truly representative, a system for maintaining the fair and balanced distribution of constituency boundaries is essential. The Fathers of Confederation addressed this requirement in the Constitution Act, 1867, by adopting the basic […]

Introduction to this former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, born in 1959, Canadian politician, 22nd prime minister of Canada and leader of the country’s Conservative Party. In 2003 Harper helped engineer a merger of two right-wing parties in Canada, a move that paved the way for the […]

The Political System of Canada Canada’s political system is based on that of the United Kingdom. It is a constitutional monarchy, composed of the Queen of Canada, who is officially represented by the Governor General (or by a lieutenant-governor at the provincial level), the Senate and the […]

Political Contributions Contribution Limits Major changes to the political financing regime that came into effect in 2004 and 2007 set […]

Tax Credits Tax Credits for Political Contributions Although contributions can take the form of money, goods or services, only a […]

Between general elections, when a seat in the House of Commons becomes officially vacant, the Speaker must inform the Chief Electoral Officer without delay with a Speaker’s warrant for the issue of a writ for the election of a new member. Between the 11th and the 180th day after the Chief […]

Background The right to vote expanded gradually until the First World War and then the electorate doubled when women gained the franchise. By 1920, nearly all adults had the right to vote, although many individuals were still disqualified on racial, religious or economic grounds. […]

Electoral History of British Columbia: The Importance of Being English When it was founded in 1849, the colony of Vancouver Island had virtually no independent settlers; it was still just a fur trading post inhabited by employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Under the circumstances, the […]

History of New Brunswick: A Fragmented Colony When the British took Louisbourg in 1758, several small Acadian communities lay scattered across the vast territory of New Brunswick. Some, situated along the southern shore of the Baie des Chaleurs, would become towns like Caraquet, Shippegan […]

History of Cape Breton: A Colony Without Voters With the capitulation of the fortress of Louisbourg in July 1758, Île Royale came under the control of the British. Five years later, after the Treaty of Paris, London joined Cape Breton with the colony of Nova Scotia; now Nova Scotia’s […]

Evolution of the Federal Electoral System In 1867 the main milestone was: In the first general election after Confederation in 1867, only a small minority of the population, composed largely of male British subjects with real property of a certain value, can vote in a country that has […]

A dissolution of Parliament terminates all business in the Senate and in the House of Commons and is followed by a general election. Unless Parliament is dissolved earlier, the date of a general election is set in accordance with the provisions of the Canada Elections Act which stipulates […]

Election Administration and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms Elections Canada ushered in the era of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms with Jean-Marc Hamel as Chief Electoral Officer, who began the process of responding to the Charter’s rapidly burgeoning impact on the Canada […]

Background No doubt the most significant influence on electoral law in the post-war years was the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which came into effect on April 17, 1982. Sections 2 to 5 of the Charter set out fundamental freedoms and democratic rights. Under […]

Reforming Electoral Finance Before 1974, only the finances of candidates were regulated under electoral legislation, leaving all others free to promote the party or candidate of their choice to whatever extent they saw fit. In the opinion of the 1966 Committee on Election Expenses (Barbeau), […]

Political Parties History Introduction Political history in Canada, as distinct from constitutional history, may be described as the history of political parties. In a sense, there have been political parties in Canada ever since, in 1608, some of Champlain’s men plotted to murder him, and […]

Prisoners and the Vote Prisoners had not been allowed to vote since 1898 – although according to at least one MP, Lucien Cannon, some inmates appear to have found a way around the rules: I know a case where the prisoners were allowed, under a sheriff’s guard, to go and register their votes […]

The Dominion Elections Background The right to vote expanded gradually until the First World War and then the electorate doubled when women gained the franchise. By 1920, nearly all adults had the right to vote, although many individuals were still disenfranchised by administrative […]

Minimum Conditions Required to Vote in Federal Elections: 1885 Under the terms of the Electoral Franchise Act of 1885, voting qualifications were the same in all provinces except Prince Edward Island and British Columbia. In those two provinces, where no provincially established […]

Introduction Canada became a country, the Dominion of Canada, in 1867. Before that, British North America was made up of a few provinces, the vast area of Rupert’s Land (privately owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company), and the North-Western Territory. By 1864, many leaders felt that it would be […]

History: A Landless Colony In 1758, the British succeeded in taking possession of Île Saint-Jean, where it followed the same policy as had been pursued in Nova Scotia a few years earlier. Some 4,000 French and Acadian colonists were deported, but several hundred evaded capture by seeking […]

Structure of Bills in the Legislative Process A bill is composed of a number of elements, some of which, such as the title, are essential, while others, such as the preamble, are optional. The following is a description of the various elements of a bill. Number When a bill is introduced in […]

Types of Bills in the Legislative Process There are two main categories of bills: public bills and private bills. While public bills deal with matters of national interest (jus generale publicum),[1] the purpose of private bills is to grant special powers, benefits or exemptions to a person […]

Forms of Bills in the Legislative Process The enactment of a statute by Parliament is the final step in a long process that starts with the proposal, preparation and drafting of a bill. The drafting of a bill is a vital stage in this process—one which challenges the decision makers and […]

In the early colonial days, before the concession of an elected Assembly, the governors of the several colonies were assisted and advised by an appointed Council whose functions were both executive and legislative. The earliest of these Councils, in what is now Canada, was that of Nova […]

Legislative Union Lord Durham, in his Report, in discussing the proposed union of Upper and Lower Canada, says: Two kinds of union have been proposed – federal and legislative. By the first, the separate legislature of each province would be preserved in its present form and retain almost […]

Historical comntext of the Rebellion Losses Bill, and the Montreal riots of 1849 The Bill which caused the trouble had been introduced to complete a scheme of compensation for all those who had suffered loss in the late Rebellion, whether French or English, and had been passed by majorities […]

The Supply Bill The Supply Bill or Appropriation Act Concurrence in the estimates or in interim supply is an order of the House to bring in an appropriation bill or bills giving effect to the spending authority (amounts and their destinations) that the House has approved.[327] Once adopted, […]

The Royal Recommendation The Royal Recommendation in Financial Procedures Under the Canadian system of government, the Crown alone initiates all public expenditure and Parliament may only authorize spending which has been recommended by the Governor General.[54] This prerogative, referred […]

Historical Perspective of supply proceedings The supply procedures established in 1867 remained basically unchanged for the first hundred years following Confederation. Deriving from a long‑standing rule of the British House of Commons,[106] the business of supply was considered in a […]

Should the amounts voted under the main estimates prove insufficient, or should new funding or a reallocation of funds between already authorized budgetary items be required during a fiscal year, the government may ask Parliament to approve additional expenditures or the reallocations, that […]

The Public Business of Supply The business of supply is the process by which the government asks Parliament to appropriate the funds required to meet its financial obligations and to implement programs already approved by Parliament. The Crown, acting on the advice of its responsible […]

The government exercises its borrowing authority when there is a shortfall between its expenditures, as authorized by Parliament in the main and supplementary estimates and in interim supply, and its revenues, whose projected levels are also approved by Parliament. The government borrows […]

Special Warrants Governor General’s Special Warrants In special circumstances, the Financial Administration Act allows the Governor in Council to ask the Governor General to issue a Special Warrant[1] permitting the government to make charges on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, not otherwise […]

The Business of Ways and Means The business of “ways and means” is the process by which the government sets out its economic policy through the presentation of a budget and obtains parliamentary approval to raise the necessary revenues through taxation. The most important revenue‑raising […]

The development of parliamentary procedure is closely bound up with the evolution of the financial relationship between Parliament and the Crown. As the executive power,[1] the Crown is responsible for managing all the revenue of the state, including all payments for the public service.[2] […]

A new means of measuring social hierarchy is emerging that, unlike our current tools (that are based around credit status), have a far more comprehensive and nuanced means of assigning value to citizens and consumers. By measuring social capital as a form of reputation management, new […]

Definition of Journalism In June 2012, the Ethics Advisory Committee of the Canadian Association of Journalists published a report titled, “What is Journalism?”Footnote 6 This report looked to respond to questions around the “increasingly elusive definition of journalism.” The report […]

Model Policy for Access to Court Records In September 2005, the Canadian Judicial Council (the “CJC”)’s Judges Technology Advisory Committee posted its Model Policy for Access to Court Records in CanadaFootnote 4 (the “Model Policy”). This document was the result of a public consultation […]

The Privacy Act The Privacy Act is a first generation privacy law that has not been substantially amended since its passage in 1982. The privacy challenges posed today in contemporary government are compounded by increased globalization and heightened concerns over national security, […]

In a modern, information-based economy, a solid, efficient regime for the protection of personal information is vitally important for both consumers and businesses. Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) In May 2007, the Parliament´s Standing Committee on […]

Classically understood as the “right to be left alone,” privacy in today’s high-tech world has taken on a multitude of dimensions. To experts in this area, privacy is equated with the right to enjoy private space, to conduct private communications, to be free from surveillance and to have the […]

The rising participation of women in paid work has heightened demands for affordable, high-quality child care programs. At the same time, developments in neurobiology and the social sciences have highlighted the importance of the early childhood period in setting the stage for long-term […]

Canada Legislation Coming into Force Canada Federal Legislation Coming into Force Once a bill has been adopted by the Senate and the House of Commons, and has been given Royal Assent by the Governor General, it becomes an Act of Parliament and, as such, part of the Laws of Canada. An Act, […]

Deputy Chairs of Committees of the Whole House since 1938 On February 11, 1938, the Standing Orders of the House were amended to provide for the appointment of a Deputy Chairman of Committees of the Whole. The tenure of this office is for a single session rather than for a Parliament. […]

List of Constitutional Amendment Committee Reports House of Commons Committee Report on the British North America Act, 1935. This report had little to no support outside the federal government to participate or contribute. The report would eventually lead to the creation of the Royal […]

The Order Paper and the Notice Paper are published together daily when the House sits. The Order Paper is the complete and authoritative agenda of all items of business which may be considered by the House of Commons; unless otherwise provided for in the Standing Orders, only those items may […]

The House of Commons produces many documents for the use of its Members, their staff and the general public. These documents enable all interested parties to follow parliamentary business; they also provide a permanent record of debate, decisions taken and other business coming before the […]

Simply defined, a petition is a formal request to an authority for redress of a grievance. Public petitions, addressed to the House of Commons and presented to the House by its Members, constitute one of the most direct means of communication between the people and Parliament. Certainly, it […]

For the first 15 years of its existence, the Committee had statutory power to scrutinize delegated legislation, but no power to revoke a subordinate law. The Special Committee on Statutory Instruments did not propose a general disallowance procedure,[48] and no such procedure was provided for […]

Concept of Delegated Legislation A definition of Delegated Legislation may be the following: Legislation made not by Parliament but by persons or bodies on whom Parliament has conferred power to legislate on specified subjects (The Oxford Companion to Law by David M. Walker, 1982, p. 347). […]

An election may be contested (i.e., challenged) if there are allegations that irregularities affected the outcome of the election in a particular riding or if there are grounds to believe a candidate was not eligible to seek election.[1] Prior to Confederation, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick […]

Administrative Compliance Policy for Political Financing Policy statement This policy recognizes that instances of non-compliance with requirements of the Canada Elections Act (the Act) need to be addressed in a manner that adequately reflects the seriousness of the non-compliance and its […]

List of Registered Political Parties and Parties Eligible for Registration List of Registered Political Parties Alliance of the North Animal Protection Party of Canada Bloc Québécois Christian Heritage Party of Canada Communist Party of Canada Conservative Party of Canada Green Party […]

List of Federal Electoral Districts Newfoundland and Labrador Avalon Bonavista–Burin–Trinity Coast of Bays–Central–Notre Dame Labrador Long Range Mountains St. John’s East St. John’s South–Mount Pearl Prince Edward Island Cardigan Charlottetown […]

Writs of Election Issue of the Writs of Election for a General Election The Prime Minister begins the process of calling a general election by presenting the Governor General with an Instrument of Advice recommending that Parliament be dissolved. Once the proclamation dissolving Parliament […]

Electoral Boundaries: Suspension of the Readjustment Process In each decade between 1960 and 2000, Parliament adopted legislation either to suspend or to amend the redistribution process for one reason or another. After both the 1971 and 1981 censuses, the readjustment process was suspended […]

Electoral Boundaries in Canada While section 51 of the Constitution Act, 1867 sets out the formula for the allocation of seats in the […]

Definition of Parliament Privilege The classic definition of parliamentary privilege is found in Erskine May’s Treatise on The Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament: Parliamentary privilege is the sum of the peculiar rights enjoyed by each House collectively … and by Members […]

Fathers of Confederation Title given to the parliamentarians of the United Province of Canada (Quebec and Ontario), Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland that attended at least one of the three constitutional conferences held to hammer out the federal constitution […]

Legislation Online Resources Statutes and Regulations:Statutes and Regulations Senate and House Bills, Progress of Legislation and Coming into Force Information. Gazettes:Canada Gazette. Hansard:House of Commons Debates (searchable from 39th Parl.). Orders in Council:Orders […]

List of Canadian Law Journals List of Canadian Law Journals in General Canada and the United Nations. Ottawa, Dept. of External Affairs. Library of Congress Call Number: K3 .A4214 from 1946, no.3 to 1966 Canada Law Journal: Toronto: Canada Law Book Company. Old Series: Vols. 1-10 […]

How to Locate Canadian Legislation In Hardcopy Legislation includes statutes passed by federal or provincial lawmakers. For federal legislation, search the English Index to the Revised Statutes of Canada (1985). For Ontario legislation, search the Index to the Revised Statutes of Ontario […]

History of Public Protest in Canada Irina Ceric wrote in the International Encylopedia of Revolution and Protest on the history of law and protest in Canada: Moments of protest and rebellion have always challenged systems of power and authority, but particularly since the rise of the […]

Background: The London Conference (December 1866 – March 1867) Once New Brunswick and Nova Scotia had passed union resolutions in 1866 (the Province of Canada — later Ontario and Quebec — had already done so), it was time to meet to draft the text of the British North America Act. It was […]

History Treaty of Utrecht (1713) The uncertain territorial distinction between Nova Scotia and Acadia was both a result and a source of decades of conflict between France and England. Beginning with the settlement of Port-Royal in 1605, Acadia evolved primarily as a French colonial […]

In 1988, each of the territories was governed by a legislative assembly that operates on a similar basis to the provincial legislatures. There was a Cabinet system and the Commissioner of each territory, notwithstanding the sweeping powers conferred on him by federal legislation, in practice […]

Constitutional History of Canada There are four well-defined periods in the constitutional development of Canada. The first of these was the period of arbitrary government, covering the whole of the French régime and the first third of a century of British rule in Canada proper. The second […]

Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory Order Main Issues The actual Royal Order declaring that Rupert’s Land become a part of Canada, effective July 15, 1870. Contained resolutions of the House of Commons and the Senate of Canada petitioning for the admission of the territories […]

Constitutional Documents The Constitutional, Legal, and Political History of Newfoundland and Labrador in chronological order: 18th Century Treaty of Utrecht, 1713: By which France ceded its claim to Newfoundland, with the exception of fishing rights along the coast from Cape […]

Schedule of the Alberta Act, 1905 (Formerly The Alberta Act, 1905) Main issues: Created the province of Alberta. This law created the administration and the government and designated Edmonton as its capitol. Allowed the province to abolish the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of […]

Alberta Act, 1905 (Formerly The Alberta Act, 1905) Main issues: Created the province of Alberta. This law created the administration and the government and designated Edmonton as its capitol. Allowed the province to abolish the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the North-west […]

It is well known that New Brunswick was created in 1784 by the partition of Nova Scotia, but the exact day of separation is difficult to define. This is because there were many steps involved in establishing New Brunswick, beginning with the deliberations of the Privy Council in London in May […]

The following documents are related to the evolution of a province, legally, politically and historically: Newfoundland and Labrador These include: The Constitutions of Newfoundland and Labrador: The base documents of each of the various stages in the the constitutional evolution of […]

Newfoundland and Labrador Terms of Union 43. Suitable provision will be made for the extension of the Canadian citizenship laws to the Province of Newfoundland. Newfoundland (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1950 14. Geo 6 ch. 5 (U.K.) 2. For the purposes of the British Nationality […]

Emblems of Newfoundland and Labrador The following Acts establish the official provincial emblems of Newfoundland and Labrador: The Coat of Arms Act, 1980 The Provincial Flag Act The Provincial Anthem Act, 1980 The Floral Emblem Act The Mineral Emblem Act The Avian Emblem Act […]

The Human Rights Code Note: see also the entry about the human rights in Canada legislation. Newfoundland and Labrador Excerpted sections from the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Code, outlining prohibited discriminatory conduct. Important Note: This is an abridged version of the […]

The House of Assembly In Newfoundland and Labrador The following Acts concern the evolution, constitution and powers of the House of Assembly: The Independence Legislative Council Act, 1874: Probited Members of the appointed Upper House, or Legislative Council, from running for […]

The French and American Shores in Newfoundland and Labrador: Documents The origin, development, and abolition of French and American fishing rights on the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador. Treaty of Utrecht, 1713: By which France ceded its claim to Newfoundland, with the exception of […]

Newfoundland and Labrador Term 17: Documents The history of Term 17 of the 1949 Terms of Union, concerning education rights in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Newfoundland Act, 1949 and Terms of Union of Newfoundland with Canada: Brought Newfoundland and Labrador into Confederation as […]

The Labrador Boundary Dispute: Documents The Acts and Orders which trace the evolution of the Labrador boundary and its resolution by a decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1927, and two Acts concerning Labrador’s place within the province. Commission Appointing […]

In Newfoundland History: Documents Staggering under the weight of its accumulated debt, Newfoundland gave up self-government in 1934, and until Confederation in 1949 was ruled by an appointed Commission of Government. Report of the Royal Commission on Newfoundland, 1933: Commonly known […]

The Constitutions of Newfoundland and Labrador The base documents of each of the various stages in the the constitutional evolution of Newfoundland and Labrador. Treaty of Utrecht, 1713: By which France ceded its claim to Newfoundland, with the exception of fishing rights along the coast […]

Extract from the Report of the Royal Commission on Newfoundland, 1933 Note: Commonly known as the Amulree report, it recommended the suspension of self-government and the creation of a Commission of Government to administer the affairs of Newfoundland and Labrador until self-government […]

Resolutions adopted at a Conference of Delegates from the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, held at the Westminster Palace Hotel, London, December 4, 1866 1. The best interests and present and future prosperity of British North America will be promoted by a Federal Union […]

Constitutional Amending Formulas Note: see also the information about regional vetoes. There are five amending processes laid out in Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982. The amending formulas (procedure for amending the Constitution) set out in Part V of the Constitution Act, 1982, are […]

Regional Vetoes Note: there are details in the Constitutional Amendments Act, called An Act respecting constitutional amendments. The federal government enacted legislation in 1996 that effectively places a new amending process on top of the 7 & 50 formula of s.38 of the Constitution Act, […]

Constitution Amendment 2001 (Newfoundland and Labrador) [SI/2001-117 – 6 December 2001] By Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada To All to Whom these Presents shall come, A Proclamation Whereas section 43 of the […]