may secure the rights and liberties and promote the interests of all classes of her Majesty's subjects within the same: And whereas to this end it is expedient that the said Provinces be reunited to form one Province for the purposes of executive government and legislation: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in the present Parliament assembled, and by authority of the same, that it shall Declaration be lawful for her Majesty, with the advice of her Privy Council, to declare, of Union. or to authorize the Governor-General of the said two Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada to declare by proclamation that the said Provinces upon, from, and after a certain day in such proclamation to be appointed, which day shall be within fifteen calendar months next after the passing of this Act, shall form and be one Province under the name of the Province of Canada, and thenceforth the said Provinces shall constitute and be one Province under the name aforesaid upon, from and after the day so appointed, as aforesaid.

c. 9.

II. And be it enacted that so much of an Act' passed in the session Repeal of Acts, 31 G. 3, of Parliament held in the thirty-first year of the reign of George the Third, c. 31. intituled, “An Act to repeal certain parts of an Act passed in the fourteenth year of His Majesty's Reign, intituled 'An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America,' and to make further Provision for the Government of the said Province," as provides for constituting and composing a Legislative Council and Assembly within each of the said Provinces respectively, and for the making of laws; and also the whole of an Act passed in the session of Parliament held in the first and second years of the reign of her present 1 and 2 Vict., Majesty, intituled "An Act to make Temporary Provision for the Government of Lower Canada;" and also the whole of an Act passed in the session of Parliament held in the second and third years of the reign of her 2 and 3 Vic., present Majesty, intituled "An Act to Amend an Act of the last Session of c. 53. Parliament for making Temporary Provision for the Government of Lower Canada;" and also the whole of an Act passed in the session of Parliament held in the first and second years of the reign of his late Majesty, King William the Fourth, intituled "An Act to amend an Act of the fourteenth1 and 2 W. 4, year of His Majesty, King George the Third, for establishing a fund towards defraying the Charges of the Administration of Justice and the Support of the Civil Government in the Province of Quebec in America;” 14 G. 3, c. 88. shall continue and remain in force until the day on which it shall be declared by proclamation, as aforesaid, that the said two Provinces shall constitute and be one Province as aforesaid, and shall be repealed on, from and after such day: Provided always that the repeal of the said several Acts of Parliament shall not be held to revive or give any force or effect to any enactment which has by the said Acts, or any of them, been repealed or determined.

c. 23.

III. And be it enacted that from and after the reunion of the said Composition and powers of two Provinces there shall be within the Province of Canada one Legislative Legislature. Council and one assembly to be severally constituted and composed in the manner herein-after prescribed, which shall be called "The Legislative Council and Assembly of Canada;" and that within the Province of Canada her Majesty shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the said Legislative Council and Assembly, to make laws for the peace, welfare, and good government of the Province of Canada, such laws not being repugnant to this Act, or to such parts of the said Act passed in the thirty-first year of the reign of his said late Majesty as are not hereby repealed, or to any Act of Parliament made or to be made and not hereby repealed, which does or shall by express enactment or by necessary intendment extend to the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, or to either of

them, or to the Province of Canada; and that all such laws being passed by the said Legislative Council and Assembly and assented to by her Majesty, or assented to in her Majesty's name by the Governor of the Province of Canada, shall be valid and binding to all intents and purposes within the Province of Canada.

Appointment IV. And be it enacted that for the purpose of composing the Legisof Legislative lative Council of the Province of Canada it shall be lawful for her Majesty, Councillors. before the time to be appointed for the first meeting of the said Legislative Council and Assembly, by an instrument under the sign manual, to authorize the Governor in her Majesty's name, by an instrument under the Great Seal of the said Province, to summon to the said Legislative Council of the said Province such persons, being not fewer than twenty, as her Majesty shall think fit; and that it shall also be lawful for her Majesty from time to time to authorize the Governor in like manner to summon to the said Legislative Council such other person or persons as her Majesty shall think fit, and that every person who shall be so summoned shall thereby become a member of the Legislative Council of the Qualification Province of Canada: Provided always, that no person shall be summoned of Legislative to the said Legislative Council of the Province of Canada who shall not be Councillors.

Tenure of office of

Councillor.

Resignation of Legislative Councillor.

Vacating seat by absence.

Trial of questions.

of the full age of twenty-one years, and a natural-born subject of her Majesty, or a subject of her Majesty naturalized by Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, or by Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or by an Act of the Legislature of either of the Provinces of Upper or Lower Canada, or by an Act of the Legislature of the Province of Canada.

V. And be it enacted that every member of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada shall hold his seat therein for the term of his life, but subject nevertheless to the provisions hereinafter contained for vacating the same.

VI. And be it enacted that it shall be lawful for any member of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada to resign his seat in the said Legislative Council, and upon such resignation the seat of such Legislative Councillor shall become vacant.

VII. And be it enacted that if any Legislative Councillor of the Province of Canada shall for two successive sessions of the Legislature of the said Province fail to give his attendance in the said Legislative Council, without the permission of her Majesty or of the Governor of the said Province signified by the said Governor to the Legislative Council, or shall take any oath or make any declaration or acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to any foreign prince or power, or shall do, concur in, or adopt any Act whereby he may become entitled to the rights, privileges, or immunities of a subject or citizen of any foreign state or power, or shall become bankrupt, or take the benefit of any law relating to insolvent debtors, or become a public defaulter, or be attainted of treason, or be convicted of felony or of any infamous crime, his seat in such Council shall thereby become vacant.

VIII. And be it enacted that any question which shall arise respecting any vacancy in the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada, on occasion of any of the matters aforesaid, shall be referred by the Governor of the Province of Canada to the said Legislative Council, to be by the said Legislative Council heard and determined: Provided always that it shall be lawful, either for the person respecting whose seat such question shall have arisen, or for her Majesty's Attorney-General for the said Province on her Majesty's behalf, to appeal from the determination of the said Council in such case to her Majesty, and that the judgment of her Majesty, given with the advice of her Privy Council thereon, shall be final and conclusive to all intents and purposes. Appointment IX. And be it enacted that the Governor of the Province of Canada of Speaker. shall have power and authority from time to time, by an instrument under the Great Seal of the said Province, to appoint one member of the said Legislative Council to be Speaker of the said Legislative Council, and to remove him and appoint another in his stead.

X. And be it enacted that the presence of at least ten members of Quorum. the said Legislative Council, including the Speaker, shall be necessary to constitute a meeting for the exercise of its powers; and that all questions Division. which shall arise in the said Legislative Council shall be decided by a majority of voices of the members present other than the Speaker, and Casting vote. when the voices shall be equal the Speaker shall have the casting vote.

XI. And be it enacted that for the purpose of constituting the Legis- Convoking the lative Assembly of the Province of Canada it shall be lawful for the Assembly. Governor of the said Province, within the time hereinafter mentioned and thereafter from time to time as occasion shall require, in her Majesty's name and by an instrument or instruments under the Great Seal of the said Province, to summon and call together a Legislative Assembly in and for the said Province.

tives for each

XII. And be it enacted that in the Legislative Assembly of the Pro-Representavince of Canada, to be constituted as aforesaid, the parts of the said Province. Province which now constitute the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada respectively, shall, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained, be represented by an equal number of representatives to be elected for the places and in the manner hereinafter mentioned.

XIII. And be it enacted that the County of Halton in the Province County of of Upper Canada shall be divided into two ridings, to be called respectively Halton. the East Riding and the West Riding; and that the East Riding of the said County shall consist of the following townships, namely: Trafalgar, Nelson, Esquesing, Nassagaweya, East Flamborough, West Flamborough, Ering, Beverley; and that the West Riding of the said County shall consist of the following townships, namely: Garafraxa, Nichol, Woolwich, Guelph, Waterloo, Wilmot, Dumfries, Puslinch, Eramosa; and that the East Riding and West Riding of the said County shall each be represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

Northumber

XIV. And be it enacted that the County of Northumberland in the County of Province of Upper Canada shall be divided into two ridings, to be called land." respectively the North Riding and the South Riding; and that the North Riding of the last-mentioned County shall consist of the following_townships, namely: Monaghan, Otonabee, Asphodel, Smith, Douro, Dummer, Belmont, Methuen, Burleigh, Harvey, Emily, Gore, Ennismore; and that the South Riding of the last-mentioned County shall consist of the following townships, namely: Hamilton, Haldimand, Cramak, Murray, Seymour, Percy; and the North Riding and South Riding of the last-mentioned County shall each be represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

XV. And be it enacted that the County of Lincoln in the Province of County of Upper Canada shall be divided into two ridings, to be called respectively Lincoln. the North Riding and the South Riding; and that the North Riding shall be formed by uniting the First Riding and Second Riding of the said County, and the South Riding by uniting the Third Riding and Fourth Riding of the said County; and that the North and South Ridings of the last-mentioned County shall each be represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

XVI. And be it enacted that every county and riding, other than those Other county herein-before specified, which at the time of the passing of this Act was of Upper constituency by law entitled to be represented in the Assembly of the Province of Upper Canada. Canada, shall be represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

Town conXVII. And be it enacted that the City of Toronto shall be represented stituency of by two members, and the towns of Kingston, Brockville, Hamilton, Corn-Upper Canada. wall, Niagara, London, and Bytown shall each be represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

County con

XVIII. And be it enacted that every county which before and at the stituency of time of the passing of the said Act of Parliament', intituled "An Act to Lower Canada. make temporary provision for the Government of Lower Canada" was 1 and 2 Vict., entitled to be represented in the Assembly of the Province of Lower Can- c. 9.

1 See No. CXXVIII.

Further provision as to

constituency of

ada, except the Counties of Montmorency, Orleans, L'Assomption, La Chesnaye L'Acadie, Laprairie, Dorchester and Beauce hereinafter mentioned, shall be represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

XIX. And be it enacted that the said counties of Montmorency and Orleans shall be united into and form one county to be called the County of Montmorency; and that the said Counties of L'Assomption and La Lower Canada. Chesnaye shall be united into and form one county to be called the County of Leinster; and that the said Counties of L'Acadie and Laprairie shall be united into and form one county to be called the County of Huntingdon; and that the Counties of Dorchester and Beauce shall be united into and form one county to be called the County of Dorchester; and that each of the said Counties of Montmorency, Leinster, Huntingdon, and Dorchester shall be represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly of the said Province of Canada.

Town constituency of

XX. And be it enacted that the Cities of Quebec and Montreal shall Lower Canada, each be represented by two members, and the Towns of Three Rivers and Sherbrooke shall each be represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.

Boundaries of cities and towns to be

settled by the Governor.

Returning
Officers.

Term of office

Officer.

XXI. And be it enacted that for the purpose of electing their several representatives to the said Legislative Assembly, the cities and towns hereinbefore mentioned shall be deemed to be bounded and limited in such manner as the Governor of the Province of Canada, by letters patent under the Great Seal of the Province to be issued within thirty days after the union of the said Provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada shall set forth and describe; and such parts of any such city or town (if any), which shall not be included within the boundary of such city or town respectively by such letters patent for the purposes of this Act, shall be taken to be a part of the adjoining county or riding for the purpose of being represented in the said Legislative Assembly.

XXII. And be it enacted that for the purpose of electing the members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada it shall be lawful for the Governor of the said Province from time to time to nominate proper persons to execute the office of Returning Officer in each of the said counties, ridings, cities, and towns, which shall be represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, subject nevertheless to the provisions hereinafter contained.

XXIII. And be it enacted that no person shall be obliged to execute of Returning the said office of Returning Officer for any longer term than one year, or oftener than once, unless it shall be at any time otherwise provided by some Act or Acts of the Legislature of the Province of Canada.

Writs of election.

XXIV. And be it enacted that writs for the election of members to serve in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada shall be issued by the Governor of the said Province within fourteen days after the sealing of such instrument, as aforesaid, for summoning and calling together such Legislative Assembly; and that such writs shall be directed to the returning officers of the said counties, ridings, cities and towns respectively; and that such writs shall be made returnable within fifty days at farthest from the day on which they shall bear date, unless it shall at any time be otherwise provided by any Act of the Legislature of the said Province; and that writs shall in like manner and form be issued for the election of members in the case of any vacancy which shall happen by the death or resignation of the person chosen, or by his being summoned to the Legislative Council of the said Province, or from any other legal cause; and that such writs shall be made returnable within fifty days at farthest from the day on which they shall bear date, unless it shall be at any time otherwise provided by any Act of the Legislature of the said Province; and that in any case of any such vacancy which shall happen by the death of the person chosen, or by reason of his being so summoned as aforesaid, the writ for the election of a new member shall be issued within six days after notice thereof shall have been delivered to or left at the office of the proper officer for issuing such writs of election.

XXV. And be it enacted that it shall be lawful for the Governor of Time and place of the Province of Canada for the time being to fix the time and place of holding holding elections of members to serve in the Legislative Assembly of the elections. said Province, until otherwise provided for as hereinafter mentioned, giving not less than eight days' notice of such time and place.

new

XXVI. And be it enacted that it shall be lawful for the Legislature Power to alter system of the Province of Canada, by any Act or Acts to be hereafter passed, to of representa alter the divisions and extent of the several counties, ridings, cities, and tion. towns which shall be represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, and to establish new and other divisions of the same, and to alter the appointment of representatives to be chosen by the said counties, ridings, cities, and towns respectively, and make a and different apportionment of the number of representatives to be chosen in and for those parts of the Province of Canada which now constitute the said Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada respectively, and in and for the several districts, counties, ridings, and towns in the same, and to alter and regulate the appointment of returning officers in and for the same, and make provision in such manner as they may deem expedient for the issuing and return of writs for the election of members to serve in the said Legislative Assembly, and the time and place of holding such elections; Provided always that it shall not be lawful to present to the Proviso. Governor of the Province of Canada for her Majesty's assent any bill of the Legislative Council and Assembly of the said Province by which the number of representatives in the Legislative Assembly may be altered, unless the second and third reading of such bill in the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly shall have been passed with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members for the time being of the said Legislative Council, and of two-thirds of the members for the time being of the said Legislative Assembly respectively, and the assent of her Majesty shall not be given to any such bill unless addresses shall have been presented by the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly respectively to the Governor, stating that such bill has been so passed.

c. 9.

XXVII. And be it enacted that until provisions shall otherwise be The present election laws made by an Act or Acts of the Legislature of the Province of Canada all of the two the laws which at the time of the passing of this Act are in force in the Provinces to Province of Upper Canada, and all the laws which at the time of the apply until altered. passing of the said Act of Parliament', intituled "An Act to make temporary provision for the Government of Lower Canada" were in force in the Province of Lower Canada, relating to the qualification and disqualification 1 and 2 Vict., of any person to be elected, or to sit or vote as a member of the Assembly in the said Provinces respectively, (except those which require a qualification of property in candidates for election, for which provision is hereinafter made), and relating to the qualification and disqualification of voters at the election of members to serve in the Assemblies of the said Provinces respectively and to the oaths to be taken by any such voters, and to the powers and duties of returning officers, and the proceedings at such elections, and the period during which such elections may be lawfully continued, and relating to the trial of controverted elections and the proceedings incident thereto, and to the vacating of seats of members, and the issuing and execution of new writs in case of any seat being vacated otherwise than be a dissolution of the Assembly, shall respectively be applied to elections of members to serve in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for places situated in those parts of the Province of Canada for which such laws were passed.

XXVIII. And be it enacted that no person shall be capable of being of members. Qualification elected a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada who shall not be legally or equitably seised as of freehold, for his own use and benefit, of lands or tenements held in free and common soccage, or seised or possessed, for his own use and benefit, of lands or tenements held in fief or in roture, within the said Province of Canada, of the value of five hundred pounds of sterling money of Great Britain, over and above 1 See No. CXXVIII.