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14. It shall be lawful for the Queen, if Her Majesty thinks fit, to Power to Her authorize the Governor-General from time to time to appoint any person authorize Majesty to or any persons jointly or severally to be his deputy or deputies within any Governorpart or parts of Canada, and in that capacity to exercise, during the General to pleasure of the Governor-General such of the powers, authorities, and appoint deputies. functions of the Governor-General as the Governor-General deems it necessary or expedient to assign to him or them, subject to any limitations or directions expressed or given by the Queen; but the appointment of such a deputy or deputies shall not affect the exercise by the Governor-General himself of any power, authority or function.

15. The Command-in-Chief of the Land and Naval Militia, and of all Command of Naval and Military Forces of and in Canada, is hereby declared to continue armed forces. and be vested in the Queen.

16. Until the Queen otherwise directs the Seat of Government of Seat of Canada shall be Ottawa.

IV. LEGISLATIVE POWER.

Government.

Constitution

17. There shall be one Parliament for Canada, consisting of the of Parliament Queen, an Upper House, styled the Senate, and the House of Commons. of Canada. 18. The privileges, immunities, and powers to be held, enjoyed, and Privileges, exercised by the Senate and by the House of Commons and by the Mem- etc., of bers thereof respectively, shall be such as are from time to time defined Houses. by Act of the Parliament of Canada, but so that the same shall never exceed those at the passing of this Act held, enjoyed, and exercised by the Commons House of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and by the Members thereof.'

19. The Parliament of Canada shall be called together not later than First Session six months after the Union."

of Parliament.

20. There shall be a session of the Parliament of Canada once at Yearly session least in every year, so that twelve months shall not intervene between the of Parliament of Canada. last sitting of the Parliament in one Session and its first sitting in the next Session.

THE SENATE.

21. The Senate shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, consist of Number of Senators. seventy-two Members3, who shall be styled Senators.

22. In relation to the constitution of the Senate, Canada shall be Representadeemed to consist of three divisions:

(1) Ontario;

(2) Quebec;

(3) The Maritime Provinces; Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; which three divisions shall (subject to the provisions of this Act) be equally represented in the Senate as follows:-Ontario by Twenty-four Senators, Quebec by Twenty-four Senators, and the Maritime Provinces by Twenty-four Senators, Twelve thereof representing Nova Scotia, and Twelve thereof representing New Brunswick.

In the case of Quebec, each of the twenty-four Senators representing that Province shall be appointed for one of the twenty-four Electoral Divisions of Lower Canada specified in Schedule A to Chapter I of the Consolidated Statutes of Canada.

23. The qualifications of a Senator shall be as follows:-
(1) He shall be of the full age of thirty years;

(2) He shall be either a natural-born subject of the Queen, or a sub-
ject of the Queen_naturalized by an Act of the Parliament of Great
Britain, or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, or of the Legislature of one of the Provinces of Upper
Canada, Lower Canada, Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick
before the Union, or of the Parliament of Canada after the Union:
(3) He shall be legally or equitably seised as of freehold for his own
use and benefit of lands or tenements held in free and common soccage,

1 For an amending Act to this section, see No. CLXXXII and note.
The first Dominion Parliament met 7 November, 1867.

See No. CLXXXVIII.

tion of Provinces in Senate.

Qualifications of Senators.

Summons of
Senator.

or seised or possessed for his own use and benefit of lands or tenements held in franc-alleu or in roture, within the Province for which he is appointed, of the value of four thousand dollars, over and above all rents, dues, debts, charges, mortgages, and incumbrances due, or payable out of or charged on or affecting the saine:

(4) His real and personal property shall be together worth four
thousand dollars over and above his debts and liabilities:

(5) He shall be resident in the Province for which he is appointed:
(6) In the case of Quebec he shall have his real property qualification
in the Electoral Division for which he is appointed or shall be resident
in that division.

24. The Governor-General shall from time to time, in the Queen's name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Canada, summon qualified persons to the Senate; and, subject to the provisions of this Act, every person so summoned shall become and be a member of the Senate and a Senator.

Summons of 25. Such persons shall be first summoned to the Senate as the Queen first body of Senators. by Warrant under Her Majesty's Royal Sign Manual thinks fit to approve, and their names shall be inserted in the Queen's Proclamation of Union.

Addition of Senators in certain cases.

Reduction of

Senate to nor

mal number.

Number of
Senators.

Tenure of
place.

Resignation of place in Senate.

Disqualification of Senators.

26. If at any time, on the recommendation of the Governor-General, the Queen thinks fit to direct that three or six Members be added to the Senate, the Governor-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 accordingly.'

27. In case of such addition being at any time made, the GovernorGeneral shall not summon any person to the 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.

28. The number of Senators shall not at any time exceed seventyeight. 29. A Senator shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, hold his place in the Senate for life.

30. A Senator may by writing under his hand, addressed to the Governor-General, resign his place in the Senate, and thereupon the same shall be vacant.

31. The place of a Senator shall become vacant in any of the following

cases:

(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 acknowledgment
of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a Foreign Power, or does
an act whereby he becomes a subject or citizen, or entitled to the
rights or privileges of a subject or citizen of a Foreign Power;
(3) If he is adjudged bankrupt or insolvent, or applies for the benefit
of any law relating to insolvent debtors, or becomes a public defaulter;
(4) If he is attainted of treason or convicted of felony or of any
infamous crime;

(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.

1 This section is due to a suggestion made by the British Government that a loophole ought to be provided in case of deadlock between the Senate and the House of Commons. In 1873 the Governor-General fulfilled the requirements of the section, and the Colonial Office replied by a refusal, stating that the Crown would not act except "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 the Crown's intervention, and when it could be shown that the limited creation of Senators allowed by the Act would apply an adequate remedy." Canadian Sessional Papers, 1877, No. 68.)

32. When a vacancy happens in the Senate by resignation, death, or Summons on otherwise, the Governor-General shall by summons to a fit and qualified Senate. vacancy in person fill the vacancy.

33. If any question arises respecting the qualification of a Senator As to qualifications, etc. or a vacancy in the Senate, the same shall be heard and determined by the' Senate.

34. The Governor-General may from time to time, by Instrument Appointment under the Great Seal of Canada, appoint a Senator to be Speaker of the of Speaker. Senate, and may remove him and appoint another in his stead.

35. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, the presence Quorum of of at least fifteen Senators, including the Speaker, shall be necessary to Senate. constitute a meeting of the Senate for the exercise of its powers.

Senate.

36. Questions arising in the Senate shall be decided by a majority of Voting in 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.

of House

37. The House of Commons shall, subject to the provisions of this Constitution Act, consist of one hundred and eighty-one Members, of whom eighty-two of Commons. shall be elected for Ontario, sixty-five for Quebec, nineteen for Nova Scotia, and fifteen for New Brunswick.1

38. The Governor-General shall from time to time, in the Queen's of House of Summoning name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Canada, summon and call Commons. together the House of Commons.

Senators not

39. A Senator shall not be capable of being elected or of sitting or sit in House voting as a Member of the House of Commons.

of Commons.

Districts of

40. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, Ontario,, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shall, for the purposes of the Electoral Election of Members to serve in the House of Commons, be divided into the Four Electoral Districts as follows:

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.

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.

Provinces.

41. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides all laws in Continuance force in the several Provinces of the Union, relative to the following mat-elections laws of existing ters or any of them, namely:-the qualifications and disqualifications of until Parlia persons to be elected or to sit or vote as Members of the House of ment of Canada otherwise Assembly or Legislative Assembly in the several Provinces, the Voters at provides.

1 See below, Section 51.

Writs for first election.

As to casual vacancies.

As to election of Speaker.

As to filling up vacancy in office of Speaker. Speaker to preside. Provision in

of Speaker.

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 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. 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.

42. For the first Election of Members to serve in the House of Commons, the Governor-General shall cause Writs 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.

43. In case a vacancy in the representation in the House of Commons of any Electoral District happens before the meeting of the Parliament, or after the meeting of the Parliament before provision is made by the Parlia ment in this behalf, the provisions of the last foregoing Section of this Act shall extend and apply to the issuing and returning of a Writ in respect of such vacant District.

44. The House of Commons on its first assembling after a General Election shall proceed with all practicable speed to elect one of its members to be Speaker.

45. In case of a vacancy happening in the office of Speaker by death, resignation, or otherwise, the House of Commons shall with all practicable speed proceed to elect another of its members to be Speaker.

46. The Speaker shall preside at all meetings of the House of Com

mons.

47. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, in case of case of absence the absence for any reason of the Speaker from the Chair of the House o Commons for a period of forty-eight consecutive hours, the House may elect another of its members to act as Speaker, and the Member so elected shall, during the continuance of such absence of the Speaker have and execute all the powers, privileges, and duties of Speaker.

Quorum of
House of
Commons.

Voting in
House of
Commons.

Its duration.

Decennial

readjustment of representation.

48. The presence of at least twenty Members of the House of Commons shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the House for the exercise of its powers, and for that purpose the Speaker shall be reckoned as a Member.

49. Questions arising in the House of Commons shall be decided by a majority of voices other than that of the Speaker, and when the voices are equal, but not otherwise, the Speaker shall have a vote.

50. Every House of Commons shall continue for five years from the day of the return of the Writs for choosing the House (subject to be sooner dissolved by the Governor-General) and no longer.

51. On the completion of the census in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, and of each subsequent decennial census, the representation of the four Provinces shall be readjusted by such authority in such manner, and from such time as the Parliament of Canada from time to time provides, subject and according to the following rules:

(1) Quebec shall have the fixed number of sixty-five members': 1 See Sir John Macdonald's reasons for this section (p. 611).

(2) There shall be assigned to each of the other Provinces such a
number of Members as will bear the same proportion to the number
of its population (ascertained at such census) as the number sixty-
five bears to the number of the population of Quebec (so ascertained);
(3) In the computation of the number of Members for a Province,
a fractional part not exceeding one-half of the whole number requisite
for entitling the Province to a Member shall be disregarded; but a
fractional part exceeding one-half of that number shall be equivalent
to the whole number:

(4) On any such readjustment the number of Members for a Pro-
vince shall not be reduced unless the proportion which the number of
the population of the Province bore to the number of the aggregate
population of Canada at the then last preceding readjustment of the
number of Members for the Province is ascertained at the then latest
census, to be diminished by one-twentieth part or upwards:

(5) Such readjustment shall not take effect until the termination of the then existing Parliament.

52. The number of Members of the House of Commons may be from Increase of number of time to time increased by the Parliament of Canada, provided the propor-House of tionate representation of the Provinces prescribed by this Act is not thereby Commons. disturbed.

Money Votes; Royal Assent.

53. Bills for appropriating any part of the Public Revenue, or for Appropriation imposing any Tax or Impost, shall originate in the House of Commons.

Votes.

and Tax Bills. 54. It shall not be lawful for the House of Commons to adopt or Recommendapass any Vote, Resolution, Address, or Bill for the appropriation of any. tion of Money part of the Public Revenue, or of any Tax or Impost, to any purpose, that has not been first recommended to that House by Message of the GovernorGeneral in the Session in which such Vote, Resolution, Address, or Bill is proposed.

55. Where a Bill passed by the Houses of Parliament is presented to Royal assent the Governor-General for the Queen's assent, he shall declare, according to Bills, etc. to his discretion. but subject to the provisions of this Act and to Her Majesty's instructions, either that he assents thereto in the Queen's name, or that he withholds the Queen's assent, or that he reserves the Bill for the signification of the Queen's pleasure'.

56. Where the Governor-General assents to a Bill in the Queen's Disallowance name, he shall by the first convenient opportunity send an authentic copy Council of by Order-inof the Act to one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, and if Act assented the Queen in Council within two years after receipt thereof by the Secre- to by Gover tary of State thinks fit to disallow the Act, such Disallowance (with a nor General. certificate of the Secretary of State of the day on which the Act was received by him) being signified by the Governor-General, by Speech or Message to each of the Houses of the Parliament or by Proclamation, shall annul the Act from and after the day of such signification.

57. A Bill reserved for the signification of the Queen's pleasure shall Signification not have any force unless and until within two years from the day on pleasure on of Queen's which it was presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's Assent, Bill reserved. the Governor-General signifies, by Speech or Message to each of the Houses of the Parliament or by Proclamation, that it has received the Assent of the Queen in Council.

An entry of every such Speech, Message, or Proclamation shall be made in the Journal of each House, and a duplicate thereof duly attested shall be delivered to the proper Officer to be kept among the Records of Canada.

V. PROVINCIAL CONSTITUTIONS.
Excutive Power.

58. For each Province there shall be an Officer, styled the Lieutenant-Appointment Governor, appointed by the Governor-General in Council by Instrument Governors. of Lieutenantunder the Great Seal of Canada.

1 See No. CLXXXIII, note.

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