Disposal of
North-West
Mounted

Police Force.

(r)

Justices of the peace.

shall be held in each judicial district at such times and places as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Territories appoints.

[Sections 56 to 62, both inclusive, relate to sheriffs and clerks, their duties, etc.]

63. The Lieutenant-Governor may, subject. to any orders made in that behalf, from time to time, by the Governor in Council, issue orders to the North-West Mounted Police force, in aid of the administration of civil and criminal justice, and for the general peace, order and good government of the Territories.

64. The Lieutenant-Governor may appoint justices of the peace for the Territories, who shall have jurisdiction as such throughout the same..

[Sections 65 to 81, both inclusive, relate to the administration of criminal justice; 82 to 87 to coroners and inquests; 88 to 91 to the administration of civil justice; 92 to 100 to intoxicants, and 101 to 108 contain miscellaneous provisions which we need not further notice. Amendments have been made to some of the sections by 51 Vic. c. 19, and 54-55 Vic. c. 22. By section 19 of the latter, power to repeal and alter the law as to intoxicants is given to the Assembly so far as relates to territory covered by electoral districts.]

Provision

when there

officers as are

GENERAL PROVISIONS.

109. Whenever in any Act of the Parlia

are no such ment of Canada in force in the Territories, any designated in officer is designated for carrying on any duty therein mentioned, and there is no such officer in.

Act of Parlia

ment.

(r) See R. S. C. c. 45, as to this Force.

the Territories, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may order by what other person or officer such duty shall be performed,—and anything done by such person or officer, under such order, shall be valid and lawful in the premises; or if it is in any such Act ordered that any document or thing shall be transmitted to any officer, court, territorial division or place, and there is then in the Territories no such officer, court or territorial division or place, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may order to what officer, court or place such transmission shall be made, or may dispense with the transmission thereof.

[Section 110 relates to the use of the English or French language in the debates of the Assembly. By 54-55 Vic. c. 22, s. 19, the Legislative Assembly has now full control of the question.]

printed copies

to be evi

111. Any copy of any proclamation or order Certain made by the Governor in Council, or ordinance, of laws, &c., proclamation or order made by the Lieutenant- dence. Governor in. Council, or by the Lieutenant-Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories, as the case may be, printed in the Canada Gazette, or purporting to be printed by the Queen's Printer for Canada, or by the printer to the Government of Manitoba at Winnipeg, or by the printer to the Government of the North-West Territories, shall be prima facie evidence of such proclamation or order, and of the fact that it is in force.

APPLICATION OF ACTS TO TERRITORIES.

of Acts of Canada.

112. Every Act of the Parliament of Can- Application ada, except in so far as otherwise provided in any such Act, and except in so far as the same is, by

Governor in
Council may

its terms, applicable only to one or more of the Provinces of Canada, or in so far as any such Act is, for any reason, inapplicable to the Territories, shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, apply and be in force in the Territories:

2. The Governor in Council may, by proclaextend Acts mation, from time to time, direct that any Act of the Parliament of Canada, or any part or parts

to the Terri

tories.

thereof, or any one or more of the sections of any one or more of any such Acts not then in force in the Territories, shall be in force in the Territories generally, or in any part or parts thereof mentioned in such proclamation.

Introduction of English Law.

As we have already noted (s), the first Act of the parliament of Canada relating to Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory-32-33 Vic. c. 3-continued all the laws then in existence therein, and this provision runs through all the legislation until the passage of 49 Vic. c. 25, which came into operation on the 18th day of February, 1887 (t). By this Act-see R. S. C. c. 50, s. 11-the English law, civil and criminal, in force on the 15th July, 1870, was introduced into the North-West Territories, subject, of course, to any amendment by Imperial, Dominion, or territorial legislation since that date. We need not elaborate this question here. Applicability is made the test of introduction, and the authorities we have collected and reviewed in chapter V. of this work should be of much assistance to those who have now, in the North-West Territories, to decide similar questions.

The only reported decision of the Supreme Court of the Territories is Reg. v. Nan-e-quis-a Ka (u), in which doubt was expressed as to the applicability of the English Mar(t) Dom. Stat., 1887, p. clvi.

(8) Ante, p. 553.

u) 1 N. W. T. Rep. 21.

riage Acts (v) to the Territories. It was held that at all events they are not in force quoad Indians. Reference is made to the decision of Mr. Justice Monk in Connolly v. Woolrich (w), in which a marriage according to Indian custom, which had taken place in the Athabasca region, was held valid.

But this question remains: What was the law in force in these Territories down to February, 1887? Upon this question we may refer to Re Calder (x), in which the late Recorder Adam Thom gave at length his reasons for holding that the Court of the Governor and Council of Assiniboia had jurisdiction to try a person for homicide committed on Peace River beyond Great Slave Lake. In his view the territory over which the Hudson Bay Co. had, under its charter, powers of government (y), and into which therefore the law of England was carried by that charter, comprised even more than all the country now known as the North-West Territories. Against this view of the Recorder may be cited the judgment, above referred to, of Mr. Justice Monk in Connolly v. Woolrich, in which it was held that the jurisdiction of the Hudson's Bay Co. under its charter did not extend westward beyond the navigable waters of the streams flowing into Hudson's Bay; that in these territories the law in force was the English common law of date 1670; and that no alteration in this respect had been made since the acquisition of these territories down to 1867. The view, however, of Recorder Thom is the one recognized in the Territories. According to the construction put upon the ordinance of the Council of Assiniboia, of date 1862, by the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba in Sinclair v. Mulligan (2), the law in force in the Territories prior to February, 1887, was English law of date 1670 so far as applicable, and so far as unaltered by Dominion and territorial legislation prior to 1887.

(v) See ante, p. 116.

() 11 L. C. Jur. 197; see post. (r) 2 Western Law Times 1.

(y) See ante, p. 550.

(2) 5 Man. L. R. 17; see post.

We should also note that in Re Claxton (a), one of the Revised Ordinances (1888)-exempting 160 acres of land from seizure under execution-was held invalid as repugnant to the Dominion "Homestead Exemption Act"; and this question is one which, as matters now stand, will frequently arise, and what is said in chapter V., ante, may be of assistance in determining the general principles upon which this question must be solved.

In Reg. v. Keefe (b) another ordinance was held invalid as being essentially a criminal enactment, the view of the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Reg. v. Wason (c) being avowedly adopted. It is thus put by the Supreme Court of the Territories :

"There is no doubt in our minds that the real object and the true nature and character of this legislation

was in the interest of public morals to create an offence, and not for the protection of private rights."

Federal Connection.

POWER TO GIVE THE TERRITORIES PART IN THE DETERMINATION OF
FEDERAL AFFAIRS IS CONFERRED BY THE FOLLOWING:

A.D. 1886,

49-50 VICTORIA (IMP.), CHAPTER 35.

An Act respecting the Representation in the Parliament of Canada of Territories which for the time being form part of the Dominion of Canada, but are not included in any

Province.

[25th June, 1886.]

THEREAS it is expedient to empower the

WH

Parliament of Canada to provide for the representation in the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, or either of them, of any

(a) 1 N. W. T. Rep. 88.

(c) See ante, p. 479.

(b) Ib. 86.