THE CANADIAN CONSTITUTION.*
WHAT with Stock Exchange speculation in Grand Trunks and Canadian Pacifies, with scientific interest in the speculations of the leaders of the British Association, and last, not least, the - speculations of politicians on the federation of the Colonies and the Mother-country, this book, which directs attention to the Parliamentary institutions of the Dominion of Canada, has appeared at an auspicious moment. The authorship of the book and its contents, particularly the historical introduction, form one of the most striking of literary testimonies to the utility and the necessity of representative government, placed on a broadly popular basis. Mr. Bourinot, the author, is the Sir Erskine May of Canada. To judge from his name, he would appear to be a French Canadian,—a member, in fact, of that portion of the Canadian population a section of which, at the time of the Federation of Canada, was supposed to be bent on separation, and which a generation earlier Lord Durham had found carrying on a kind of civil war against British supremacy. Yet to-day, under the quieting influence of a Democratic Constitution and free self-government, there is not, so far as we can judge from this work, a firmer supporter of British institutions and the British connec- tion than this Anglicised scion of a Gallic stock. The history of the Government of Canada is most instructive. As long as Canada was governed in the fancied interests of Eng- land, and in disregard of the interests and the wishes of the bulk of the population, so long did she remain a thorn in the side of England, while she herself lagged behind in the de- velopment of civilisation. Moreover, so long as England was ruled in the interests of the upper classes, and the bulk of the people were denied a share in the management of affair:7, so long was Canada sacrificed to England, and the people of Canada to an oligarchical clique of Canadians. As soon as England began to govern herself, she let Canada govern her- self, to the great advantage of both countries. The annexation of Canada to Great Britain in 1760 was an immense advantage to Canada. Till that date it had been governed for a century in so absolutely despotic a manner by the King of France, that not even "a meeting of parishioners, held under the eye of a cure, to estimate the cost of a new church," could be held with- out a licence from the "intendant ;" and the country was par- celled out in feudal lordships, in which the droits de seigneur). appear to have been as lordly, or even more so, over the inhabitants than in France. One of the first acts of the British Government, as soon as the annexation was complete, was to issue a Constitu- tion, including a Representative Assembly ; but as the Test Oath was to form part of it, and the great bulk of the inhabitants were French Roman Catholics, the Constitution proved a dead- letter. In 1774, however, the seeds of a Constitution were sown by the introduction of a Privy Council, consisting of some twenty-three members, to advise the Governor. After the con- clusion of the War of Independence, one result of which was a large influx of English loyalists from the American colonies into Canada, the province of New Brunswick being founded, and the province afterwards called Upper Canada being largely peopled by them, a more Anglican constitution was established. In 1797 Canada was divided into Upper and Lower Canada, representing the English and French sections, with Parlia- mentary institutions in each, consisting of a Council or Upper House, nominated by the Crown for life, and an Assembly with a liberal franchise. At first, in Lower Canada, and under the increased freedom it enjoyed, the French population was prosperous and contented. But the levying of custom-duties was reserved to the English Parliament, and the powers of the Governor and of the Upper House were so arbitrary that, not being tempered by unwritten law as in England, after a few years the Colony became the scene of incessant Constitutional conflicts. Similar results followed from similar causes in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Affairs were reduced to a deadlock, in which arbitrary government pre- vailed; and eventually the discontent culminated in 1837, in the Parliamentary Procedure and Practice. With an Introductory Account of Parliamentary Institutions in the Dominion of Camila. By John George Bonrinot. Montreal: Dawson Brothers, 1884. rebellion which Lord Durham was sent out to appease. He "expected to find a contest between the Government and a people ; he found two nations warring in the bosom of a single State ; he found a struggle not of principles, but of races." The French and the English were opposed to one another, and both to the Mother-country. In all the provinces he found "repre- sentative government, coupled with an irresponsible Executive, —the same abuse of the powers of the representative bodies, owing to the anomaly of their position, aided by the want of good municipal institutions, and the same constant interference of the Imperial Administration in matters which should be left wholly to the Provincial Governments." The result of Lord Durham's report was the Union Act of 1840, which reunited the two provinces of Canada under one Legislatures while, by a. mere alteration in the Governor's instructions as to the exercise of his functions, proper Constitutional government on the English model was established, though the constitution of the , Upper House was still one of nomination. In the first seven years of the new Constitation, though affairs were more settled than before, yet severe struggles took place, amongst others, on the use of the French language as well as English in the Legislature ; on the complete control of the tariff by Canada ; on the question of Church and State ; and, lastly, on the consti- tution of the Upper House,—all of whicli were eventually decided in the Liberal sense.
But in the Union Act a greater defect remained, in that, though Lower, that is, French Canada, was at first far the most populous, yet it only had a representation in the United Legisla- ture equal to that of Upper Canada ; while afterwards the reverse was the case, and English Upper Canada had only equal repre- sentation with Lower Canada, though every year outgrowing it more and more in population. The result was growing dis- content, which grew so great that in two years, from 1862 to 1864, there were no less than five different Ministries in charge of public business. At last a happy way out of the deadlock was found, thanks to the fact that the Lower or Maritime Provinces were then considering a maritime union in the Federation of all the Provinces in the present Dominion of Canada.
The present Constitution of Canada is a happy combination of the English and American Constitutions. The Dominion consists of a Federation, not a Union, of Provinces, which are autonomous like the States of the American Union, and powers are taken to create new " Territories " and States from time to time out. of the unsettled regions. As inaugurated in 1867, the Dominion consisted only of the four provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. In 1869 Rupert's Land and the North-West Territories were taken over from the Hudson's Bay Company ; but it was not till 1870, when Colonel Wolseley put down the rising of the French half-breeds on the Red River, that they were incorporated in the Dominion, the Province of Manitoba being carved out of them and erected into a separate province. In 1871 British Columbia came in, in 1873 Prince Edward's Island, but Newfoundland still remains in isolation.
The general system of government by the Dominion Parliament is practically the same as that of England, the Governor representing the Crown and being a roi faineant, the Privy Council constituting the Cabinet, and the functions of the Upper House or Senate and the Lower House or House of Commons being similar to the Houses of Lords and Commons in England, but with the important difference that the Members of both Houses are paid, and that the Senate, though not an elective body, being nominated by the Governor-General for life, is yet a representative body. The Senate, in fact, resembles rather the Senate of the States than the House of Lords, repre- senting the different provinces of the Dominion as such, and being equally divided, at first irrespective of population,-24. Members being allotted to Ontario, 24 to Quebec, 24 to the Maritime Provinces—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island—but as three each have since been allotted to Manitoba and British Columbia, the principle of the equality of the various divisions has to some extent been trenched upon. When Newfoundland joins, the Senate will be increased proportionately, but to prevent its being swamped for party purposes its maximum is fixed at 82. The House of Commons is constituted by direct election by the people of the -several provinces, members being assigned to each province according to population, as shown by the last census. There is an ingenious provision for fixing the number of mem-
hers so as to prevent the House becoming too numerous with increase of population, by fixing the number for Quebec at .65, while the other provinces are to have as many members as the number of times 65 "goes into" the number of people in each State. Under this principle, the numbers vary from .92 Members for Ontario to five for Manitoba. The franchise varies as settled by the Provincial Legislature of each province. The Dominion Parliament sits for five years, unless previously dissolved. Its functions are strictly defined by the Union Act, but it differs substantially from that of Congress in the States, in that every power not expressly reserved to the Provincial Legislatures belongs to it. Further, it has a power of disallow- ance of local Acts for certain specified reasons, among which is the very wide one of "affecting the interests of the Domin- ion generally," which might easily result in a very pretty Constitutional quarrel. Some estimate may be formed at once of the activity of the Provincial Legislatures and the pru- dence of the Dominion Parliament, that out of 6,000 Acts, only 31 have been disallowed. Happily, a way is given out of any deadlock by the device, adopted from the States, of re- ferring Constitutional questions for decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, from whence an appeal lies to the Privy Council of England.
The constitution of the local Legislatures varies, that of Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba consisting of only one House, called a Legislative Assembly, and a Lieutenant- Governor, while Quebec has a Legislative Council of life nominees and a Legislative Assembly, and in Prince Edward Island there are two elective Assemblies. In respect of the more immediate subject of the book, the procedure in the Dominion Parliament itself, there is little to be said. As a rule, the English procedure has been followed only too closely down to the smallest details, including even the use of that silly bauble, the mace, and that antiquated functionary, Black Rod ; and in the wretched practice of having three readings to every Bill, and the permission of unlimited talk in Committee, a privilege, however, which in Canada has not hitherto been abused. In ,practice, the Dominion Parliament appears to work very much as in England; and an Englishman settling in Canada would have nothing to learn as to his Constitutional rights and duties, including even the right of the Senate to reject the Bills "sent down" to them (the expression significantly varies from that in use here) by the Commons. But as the Senate is not composed • of a permanent committee of hereditary landlords, he would not find that the Bills "sent down" by his elected representatives were in danger of mutilation and rejection, on grounds of mere obstruction and prejudice.
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