summoned shall become and be a member of the Senate and a Senator. of First 25. Such persons shall be first summoned to the Senate Summons as the Queen by Warrant under Her Majesty's Royal Sign body of Manual thinks fit to approve, and their names shall be inserted in the Queen's Proclamation of Union. Senators. of Sena cases. 26. If at any time, on the recommendation of the Addition Governor-General, the Queen thinks fit to direct that three tors in or six Members be added to the Senate, the Governor- certain 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 acccordingly.1 of Senate number. 27. In case of such addition being at any time made, Reduction the Governor-General shall not summon any person to the to normal 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. Senators. 28. The number of Senators shall not at any time Number of exceed seventy-eight.2 29. A Senator shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, Tenure of hold his place in the Senate for life. place. tion of 30. A Senator may by writing under his hand, addressed Resignato the Governor-General, resign his place in the Senate, place in and thereupon the same shall be vacant. 1 This provision was added at the suggestion of the Home Government to meet the case of a possible deadlock between the two Houses of Parliament. In December, 1873, the Canadian Privy Council advised that an application should be made to the Crown to add six members to the Senate. The recommendation was forwarded to the Secretary for the Colonies by the Governor-General. The request was refused on the ground that 'Her Majesty could not be advised to take the responsibility of interfering with the constitution of the Senate except upon an occasion when it had been made apparent that a difference had arisen between the two Houses of so serious and permanent a character that the Government could not be carried on without her intervention, and when it could be shown that the limited creation of senators allowed by the Act would apply an adequate remedy'. Can. Sess. Papers, 1877, No. 68. 2 This section has been in fact repealed by the results of the subsequent law. Senate. Disquali 31. The place of a Senator shall become vacant in any fication of of the following cases : Senators. Summons on va (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 (3) If he is adjudged bankrupt or insolvent, or applies r; (5) If he ceases to be qualified in respect of property or 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. 32. When a vacancy happens in the Senate by resignacancy in tion, death, or otherwise, the Governor-General shall by summons to a fit and qualified person fill the vacancy. Senate. As to 33. If any question arises respecting the qualification qualifica of a Senator or a vacancy in the Senate, the same shall be heard and determined by the Senate. tions, &c. ment of Speaker. I Appoint- 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. Quorum of Voting in 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. 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. tion of 37. The House of Commons shall, subject to the pro- Constituvisions of this Act, consist of one hundred and eighty-one House of Members, of whom eighty-two shall be elected for Ontario, Commons. sixty-five for Quebec, nineteen for Nova Scotia, and fifteen for New Brunswick.1 not to sit 38. The Governor-General shall from time to time, in Summoning of the Queen's name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of House of Canada, summon and call together the House of Commons. Commons. 39. A Senator shall not be capable of being elected or Senators of sitting or voting as a Member of the House of Commons. in House 40. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides,2 of ComOntario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shall, Electoral for the purposes of the Election of Members to serve in the of the House of Commons, be divided into Electoral Districts as Four Profollows: 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.3 1 Under the Representation Acts of 1903 and 1904 Ontario consists of 85 districts returning 86 members, Ottawa having two members. (It is unnecessary therefore to reprint the Schedule of the Act containing the Districts of Ontario at the time of its passing.) Quebec consists of 65 districts; Nova Scotia of 17, Halifax having two members; New Brunswick of 12, St. John's city and county having two members; Prince Edward Island of 3, Queen's district having two members; Manitoba of 10; Saskatchewan and Alberta of 10 and 7 (under their Representation Act of 1907); and British Columbia of 7 districts. These figures will of course be changed after the decennial redistribution of 1911. 2 At the Quebec Conference several of the Prince Edward Island representatives disapproved of the principle of representation by population; but they stood alone in this attitude. (Pope, op. cit., pp. 68-73.) 3 See note 1. mons, Districts vinces. Continuance of existing election laws un ment of provides. 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. 1 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: til Parlia- the qualifications and disqualifications of persons to be Canada elected or to sit or vote as Members of the House of otherwise 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 cases 'On these subsections see preceding note. 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.1 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. first 42. For the first Election of Members to serve in the Writs for House of Commons, the Governor-General shall cause Writs Election. 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 Provinces 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. 1 For many years the Dominion Parliament refrained from establishing a uniform franchise for the Dominion; and the list of voters used in the election of representatives to the Provincial Legislative Assemblies was used at the election of members for the House of Commons. In 1885, however, a Dominion Franchise Bill was passed through Parliament in the face of fierce opposition. The Act was bitterly complained of on the ground of its partisan character, and was repealed in 1898, when the former system was restored. With regard to controverted elections the Canadian practice has closely followed British precedent. At the time of confederation, and for several years after, controverted elections were dealt with by a 'General Committee of Elections', consisting of six members appointed by the Speaker. By Acts passed in 1873 and 1874 the trial of election petitions was transferred to the judges in the several Provinces. An appeal now lies to the Supreme Court. The law with regard to corrupt practices at elections closely resembles the law in force in Great Britain. |