The British North America Act, 1867 Part 2

53. [Appropriation and tax Bills.] Bills for appropriating any Part of the Public Revenue, or for imposing any Tax or Impost, shall originate in the House of Commons.

54. [Recommendation of Money Votes.] It shall not be lawful for the House of Commons to adopt or pa.s.s any Vote, Resolution, Address, or Bill for the Appropriation of any 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 Governor General in the Session in which such Vote, Resolution, Address, or Bill is proposed.

55. [Royal a.s.sent to Bills, &c.] Where a Bill pa.s.sed by the Houses of the Parliament is presented to the Governor General for the Queen's a.s.sent, he shall declare, according to his Discretion, but subject to the Provisions of this Act and to Her Majesty's Instructions, either that he a.s.sents thereto in the Queen's Name, or that he withholds the Queen's a.s.sent, or that he reserves the Bill for the Signification of the Queen's Pleasure.

56. [Disallowance by Order in Council of Act a.s.sented to by Governor General.] Where the Governor General a.s.sents to a Bill in the Queen's Name, he shall by the first convenient Opportunity send an authentic Copy of the Act to One of Her Majesty's Princ.i.p.al Secretaries of State, and if the Queen in Council within Two Years after Receipt thereof by the Secretary of State thinks fit to disallow the Act, such Disallowance (with a 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. [Signification of Queen's Pleasure on Bill reserved.] A Bill reserved for the Signification of the Queen's Pleasure shall not have any Force unless and until within Two Years from the Day on which it was presented to the Governor General for the Queen's a.s.sent, the Governor General signifies, by Speech or Message to each of the Houses of the Parliament or by Proclamation, that it has received the a.s.sent 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 CONSt.i.tUTIONS.

Executive Power.

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

59. [Tenure of Office of Lieutenant Governor.] A Lieutenant Governor shall hold Office during the Pleasure of the Governor General; but any Lieutenant Governor appointed after the Commencement of the First Session of the Parliament of Canada shall not be removeable within Five Years from his Appointment, except for Cause a.s.signed, which shall be communicated to him in Writing within One Month after the Order for his Removal is made, and shall be communicated by Message to the Senate and to the House of Commons within One Week thereafter if the Parliament is then sitting, and if not then within One Week after the Commencement of the next Session of the Parliament.

60. [Salaries of Lieutenant Governors.] The Salaries of the Lieutenant Governors shall be fixed and provided by the Parliament of Canada.

61. [Oaths, &c. of Lieutenant Governor.] Every Lieutenant Governor shall, before a.s.suming the Duties of his Office, make and subscribe before the Governor General or some Person authorized by him Oaths of Allegiance and Office similar to those taken by the Governor General.

62. [Application of provisions referring to Lieutenant Governor.] The Provisions of this Act referring to the Lieutenant Governor extend and apply to the Lieutenant Governor for the Time being of each Province or other the Chief Executive Officer or Administrator for the Time being carrying on the Government of the Province, by whatever t.i.tle he is designated.

63. [Appointment of Executive Officers for Ontario and Quebec.] The Executive Council of Ontario and of Quebec shall be composed of such Persons as the Lieutenant Governor from Time to Time thinks fit, and in the first instance of the following Officers, namely,--the Attorney General, the Secretary and Registrar of the Province, the Treasurer of the Province, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, and the Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works, with in Quebec, the Speaker of the Legislative Council and the Solicitor General.

64. [Executive Government of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.] The Const.i.tution of the Executive Authority in each of the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick shall, subject to the Provisions of this Act, continue as it exists at the Union until altered under the Authority of this Act.

65. [Powers to be exercised by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario or Quebec with Advice, or alone.] All Powers, Authorities, and Functions which under any 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 Upper Canada, Lower Canada, or Canada, were or are before or at the Union vested in or exerciseable by the respective Governors or Lieutenant Governors of those Provinces, with the Advice or with the Advice and Consent of the respective Executive Councils thereof, or in conjunction with those Councils, or with any Number of Members thereof, or by those Governors or Lieutenant Governors individually, shall, as far as the same are capable of being exercised after the Union in relation to the Government of Ontario and Quebec respectively, be vested in and shall or may be exercised by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and Quebec respectively, with the Advice or with the Advice and Consent of or in conjunction with the respective Executive Councils, or any Members thereof, or by the Lieutenant Governor individually, as the Case requires, subject nevertheless (except with respect to such as exist under Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain, or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,) to be abolished or altered by the respective Legislatures of Ontario and Quebec.

66. [Application of provisions referring to Lieutenant Governor in Council.] The Provisions of this Act referring to the Lieutenant Governor in Council shall be construed as referring to the Lieutenant Governor of the Province acting by and with the Advice of the Executive Council thereof.

67. [Administration in Absence, &c. of Lieutenant Governor.] The Governor General in Council may from Time to Time appoint an Administrator to execute the Office and Functions of Lieutenant Governor during his Absence, Illness, or other Inability.

68. [Seats of Provincial Governments.] Unless and until the Executive Government of any Province otherwise directs with respect to that Province, the Seats of Government of the Provinces shall be as follows, namely,--of Ontario, the City of Toronto; of Quebec, the City of Quebec; of Nova Scotia, the City of Halifax; and of New Brunswick, the City of Fredericton.

Legislative Power.

1.--ONTARIO.

69. [Legislature for Ontario.] There shall be a Legislature for Ontario consisting of the Lieutenant Governor and of One House, styled the Legislative a.s.sembly of Ontario.

70. [Electoral districts.] The Legislative a.s.sembly of Ontario shall be composed of Eighty-two Members, to be elected to represent the Eighty-two Electoral Districts set forth in the First Schedule to this Act.

2.--QUEBEC.

71. [Legislature for Quebec.] There shall be a Legislature for Quebec consisting of the Lieutenant Governor and of Two Houses, styled the Legislative Council of Quebec and the Legislative a.s.sembly of Quebec.

72. [Const.i.tution of Legislative Council.] The Legislative Council of Quebec shall be composed of Twenty-four Members, to be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in the Queen's Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Quebec, one being appointed to represent each of the Twenty-four Electoral Divisions of Lower Canada in this Act referred to, and each holding Office for the Term of his Life, unless the Legislature of Quebec otherwise provides under the Provisions of this Act.

73. [Qualification of Legislative Councillors.] The Qualifications of the Legislative Councillors of Quebec shall be the same as those of the Senators for Quebec.

74. [Resignation, Disqualification, &c.] The Place of a Legislative Councillor of Quebec shall become vacant in the Cases, mutatis mutandis, in which the Place of Senator becomes vacant.

75. [Vacancies.] When a Vacancy happens in the Legislative Council of Quebec by Resignation, Death, or otherwise, the Lieutenant Governor, in the Queen's Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Quebec, shall appoint a fit and qualified Person to fill the Vacancy.

76. [Questions as to Vacancies, &c.] If any Question arises respecting the Qualification of a Legislative Councillor of Quebec, or a Vacancy in the Legislative Council of Quebec, the same shall be heard and determined by the Legislative Council.

77. [Speaker of Legislative Council.] The Lieutenant Governor may from Time to Time, by Instrument under the Great Seal of Quebec, appoint a Member of the Legislative Council of Quebec to be Speaker thereof, and may remove him and appoint another in his Stead.

78. [Quorum of Legislative Council.] Until the Legislature of Quebec otherwise provides, the Presence of at least Ten Members of the Legislative Council, including the Speaker, shall be necessary to const.i.tute a Meeting for the Exercise of its Powers.

79. [Voting in Legislative Council.]

Questions arising in the Legislative Council of Quebec 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.

80. [Const.i.tution of Legislative a.s.sembly of Quebec.] The Legislative a.s.sembly of Quebec shall be composed of Sixty-five Members, to be elected to represent the Sixty-five Electoral Divisions or Districts of Lower Canada in this Act referred to, subject to Alteration thereof by the Legislature of Quebec: Provided that it shall not be lawful to present to the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec for a.s.sent any Bill for altering the Limits of any of the Electoral Divisions or Districts mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act, unless the Second and Third Readings of such Bill have been pa.s.sed in the Legislative a.s.sembly with the Concurrence of the Majority of the Members representing all those Electoral Divisions or Districts, and the a.s.sent shall not be given to such Bill unless an Address has been presented by the Legislative a.s.sembly to the Lieutenant Governor stating that it has been so pa.s.sed.

3.--ONTARIO AND QUEBEC.

81. [First Session of Legislatures.] The Legislatures of Ontario and Quebec respectively shall be called together not later than Six Months after the Union.

82. [Summoning of Legislative a.s.semblies.] The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and of Quebec shall from Time to Time, in the Queen's Name, by Instrument under the Great Seal of the Province, summon and call together the Legislative a.s.sembly of the Province.

83. [Restriction on election of holders of offices.] Until the Legislature of Ontario or of Quebec otherwise provides, a Person accepting or holding in Ontario or in Quebec any Office, Commission, or Employment, permanent or temporary, at the Nomination of the Lieutenant Governor, to which an annual Salary, or any Fee, Allowance, Emolument, or profit of any Kind or Amount whatever from the Province is attached, shall not be eligible as a Member of the Legislative a.s.sembly of the respective Province, nor shall he sit or vote as such; but nothing in this Section shall make ineligible any Person being a Member of the Executive Council of the respective Province, or holding any of the following Offices, that is to say, the Offices of Attorney General, Secretary and Registrar of the Province, Treasurer of the Province, Commissioner of Crown Lands, and Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works, and in Quebec Solicitor General, or shall disqualify him to sit or vote in the House for which he is elected, provided he is elected while holding such Office.

84. [Continuance of existing Election Laws.] Until the Legislatures of Ontario and Quebec respectively otherwise provide, all Laws which at the Union are in force in those Provinces respectively, relative to the following Matters, or any of them, namely,--the Qualifications and Disqualifications of Persons to be elected or to sit or vote as Members of the a.s.sembly of Canada, the Qualifications or Disqualifications of Voters, the Oaths to be taken by Voters, the Returning Officers, their Powers and Duties, the Proceedings at Elections, the Periods during which such Elections may be continued, and the Trial of controverted Elections and the Proceedings incident thereto, the vacating of the Seats of Members and the issuing and execution of new Writs in case of Seats vacated otherwise than by Dissolution,--shall respectively apply to Elections of Members to serve in the respective Legislative a.s.semblies of Ontario and Quebec.

Provided that until the Legislature of Ontario otherwise provides, at any Election for a Member of the Legislative a.s.sembly of Ontario 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.

85. [Duration of Legislative a.s.semblies.] Every Legislative a.s.sembly of Ontario and every Legislative a.s.sembly of Quebec shall continue for Four Years from the Day of the Return of the Writs for choosing the same (subject nevertheless to either the Legislative a.s.sembly of Ontario or the Legislative a.s.sembly of Quebec being sooner dissolved by the Lieutenant Governor of the Province), and no longer.

86. [Yearly Session of Legislature.] There shall be a session of the Legislature of Ontario and of that of Quebec once at least in every Year, so that Twelve Months shall not intervene between the last Sitting of the Legislature in each Province in one Session and its first Sitting in the next Session.

87. [Speaker, Quorum, &c.] The following Provisions of this Act respecting the House of Commons of Canada shall extend and apply to the Legislative a.s.semblies of Ontario and Quebec, that is to say,--the Provisions relating to the Election of a Speaker originally and on Vacancies, the Duties of the Speaker, the Absence of the Speaker, the Quorum, and the Mode of voting, as if those Provisions were here re-enacted and made applicable in Terms to each such Legislative a.s.sembly.

4.--NOVA SCOTIA AND NEW BRUNSWICK.

88. [Const.i.tutions of Legislatures of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.]

The Const.i.tution of the Legislature of each of the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick shall, subject to the Provisions of this Act, continue as it exists at the Union until altered under the Authority of this Act; and the House of a.s.sembly of New Brunswick existing at the pa.s.sing of this Act shall, unless sooner dissolved, continue for the Period for which it was elected.