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on the 27th of December, 1867, just in time to comply with the provisions of this section.

of Legislative Assemblies.

82. The Lieutenant-Governor of On- Summoning tario and of Quebec shall from time to time, in the Queen's name (i), by instrument under the Great Seal of the Province, summon and call together (ii) the Legislative Assembly of the Province.

(i) "In the Queen's name."-See note (ii) to section 69, ante. A clearer indication than this section 82 affords could hardly have been given, that the Lieutenant-Governor of a province, in his relations to the legislative assembly of such province, represents the Queen. And see also notes to section 90, post.

(ii) “Summoned and called together."-See notes to section 38, ante, p. 283. What is laid down in chapter VIII., as to the exercise, by the Governor-General, of the prerogatives of the Crown in connection with the summoning, proroguing, and dissolving of parliament, is equally applicable to the case of the Lieutenant-Governor of a province. See notes to section 58, ante, p. 303.

election of

holders of

83. Until the Legislature of Ontario Restriction on or of Quebec otherwise provides (i), a per- offices. son 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 Assembly of the respective Province, nor shall he sit

or vote as such; but nothing in this section shall make ineligible (ii) 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 (iii).

(i)" Until the legislature of Ontario or of Quebec otherwise provides."-See notes to section 41, ante, p. 285. It is to be noticed that there is no corresponding provision with regard to the Dominion government, except so far as it may be embodied in section 41. It is difficult, in view of section 84, to see the necessity for this section 83 in the case of these provinces, except, perhaps, in connection with the first elections after Confederation. The matters referred to in the section have been the subject of legislation in all the provinces. The law, as to Ontario, will be found in R. S. O., c. 11, and, as to Quebec, in R. S. Q., articles 136 to 144.

(ii) "Nothing in this section shall make ineligible, etc.”—Prior to Confederation, this was the law in the various provinces, and upon its existence hinges the difference between the British constitutional system, and that of the United States: see chapter I., ante, p. 14, et seq. As to the Dominion, the law in this respect was continued by section 41, ante, p. 284, and as to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by sections 64 and 88. See also section 129. Upon the admission of the other portions of British North America,

care was taken to establish therein the same system of representative parliamentary government as exists in the United Kingdom, and as existed in the various pre-Confederation provinces. See Part IV., post.

(iii) "Provided he is elected while holding such office." This provision is a reminder of the days when "the King's party" was accustomed to recruit its ranks by a lavish distribution of office. It applies even to the acceptance of office by members of a new administration after a general election. See McDonell v. Smith, 17 U. C. Q. B. 310, and Macdonell v. Macdonald, 8 U. C. C. P. 479, which upheld as legal what is popularly known in Canadian history as the "double shuffle" of 1858.

of existing election laws.

84. Until the Legislatures of Ontario Continuance and Quebec respectively otherwise provide (i) all laws which at the Union are in force in those Provinces respectively, relative to the following matters, or any of them, namely, the qualification and disqualifications of persons to be elected or to sit or vote as members of the Assembly of Canada, the qualifications or disqualifications of voters (ii), 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 (iii) 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

(i)

respective Legislative Assemblies of Ortario and Quebec.

Provided that until the Legislature of Ontario otherwise provides, at any election for a member of the Legislative Assembly 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.

Until, etc."-See notes to section 41, ante, p. 284. Were it not that the power of the provincial legislatures to Ideal with the various matters referred to in this section may perhaps depend thereon, it might be said to be effete, as the legislatures of all the provinces have long since otherwise provided.

(ii) "Voters."-See note (ii) to section 41, ante, p. 286. (iii)" The trial of controverted elections.”—See Théberge v. Landry, referred to in the notes to section 41, ante, p. 288. All that is laid down in the notes to that section, applies, mutatis mutandis, to the case of the provincial election laws.

Duration of
Legislative
Assemblies.

85. Every Legislative Assembly of Ontario and every Legislative Assembly of Quebec shall continue for four years (i) from the day of the return of the writs for choosing the same (subject nevertheless to either the Legislative Assembly of Ontario or the Legislative Assembly of Quebec being sooner dissolved (ii) by the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province), and no longer.

(i) “ Four years."-See notes to section 50, ante, p. 293, where this difference is noted in the position of the Dominion parliament and the legislatures of the different provinces, namely, that the former cannot alter the provisions of the B. N. A. Act in regard to this matter, while the latter (under section 92, sub-section 1), can do so.

(ii) "Sooner dissolved."-See notes to section 50, ante, p. 293, and note (ii) to section 82, ante, p. 333.

sion of Legislature (i).

86. There shall be a Session of the Yearly Ses 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.

(i)" Yearly Session."-See notes to section 20, ante, p. 267, and see also chapter VIII., ante, p. 168. What is there laid down as to the duty of the Governor-General to insist upon the observance of the provisions of section 20, is equally applicable to the case of a Lieutenant-Governor under this section. There is no similar provision in the B. N. A. Act as to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and, so far as we have been able to find, no such provision exists by law in those provinces.

As to Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and the North West Territories, see post.

Quorum, &c.

87. The following provisions (i) of Speaker, this Act respecting the House of Commons of Canada shall extend and apply to the Legislative Assemblies of Ontario and Quebec, that is to say, the provisions relating to the election of a Speaker (ii) originally and on vacancies, the duties of

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