Canadian Parliament Research Articles

Women and Politics in the United States and Canada

Since 1920 the women of the United States and Canada have steadily increased their responsibilities as voters. They have, however, been slow to assume policy-making positions at the state and federal levels. Many of them accept political responsibilities on boards and municipal councils, thereby functioning in areas of local education, welfare, and budgeting. Thus, they permit their interests and activities continually to revolve around the time-honored role of women. In both countries, there are a few women who have held Cabinet positions, and women are representatives in the Con gress of the United States and the Canadian parliament. These women continue an interest in health, education, and welfare, but most of their committee appointments are in areas of male specialization, such as armed services, transpor tation, banking, atomic energy, aeronautics, and flood control. This fact supports recent findings that the political behavior of men and women is similar at the higher educational levels. The lag between the voting habits of women and their accept ance of responsible public office may be attributable to tradi tional roles, ethnic and regional differentials, sporadic interest in politics, localized political activity, and woman's underestimation of her political potential.

Foreign control of Canadian industry

The International ExecutiveVolume 8, Issue 4 p. 3-4 Article Foreign control of Canadian industry Walter L. Gordon, Walter L. Gordon Member of Canadian Parliament and former Minister of Finance. Summarized by permission from Queen's Quarterly, Spring, 1966.Search for more papers by this author Walter L. Gordon, Walter L. Gordon Member of Canadian Parliament and former Minister of Finance. Summarized by permission from Queen's Quarterly, Spring, 1966.Search for more papers by this author First published: Autumn (Fall) 1966 https://doi.org/10.1002/tie.5060080402 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume8, Issue4Autumn (Fall) 1966Pages 3-4 RelatedInformation

Joseph Sullivan

On May 19 of this year, Joseph Sullivan was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine of England. This is the culmination of a distinguished career, both medical and political, for on October 15, 1957, the Honorable Senator Dr. Joseph Sullivan became a member of Her Majesty's Upper House when he was appointed a senator in the Parliament of Canada. "Joe" Sullivan, born in Toronto in January, 1902, graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1926. As an undergraduate he became an ice hockey player of no mean repute and was a member of the Canadian Olympic Hockey Championship team which won the world's title at St. Moritz, Switzerland, 1927. He was also a former amateur golf champion of Canada. Sullivan's professional career has been strongly slanted toward otology. As one of Dr. Duel's disciples he was one of the first to apply the operating

Parliament's Power to Advise

No one questions the power of Parliament to approve or condemn the actions of the Queen's ministers. But has it or has it not also the power to advise, to ask the Crown to take or not to take some particular action? May says that the British Parliament, at any rate, has: “An Address to Her Majesty is the form ordinarily employed by both Houses of Parliament for making their desires and opinions known to the Crown.” The subjects of such Addresses “have comprised every matter of foreign or domestic policy; … the administration of justice; … and, in short, representations upon all points connected with the government and welfare of the country.”Edward Blake was equally clear and emphatic that the Canadian Parliament also possessed this power. Replying on April 30, 1890, to Sir John Thompson's contention that it would be unconstitutional for the Government to disallow a provincial Act after announcing that it would not disallow, Blake said flatly that this was wrong, because Thompson's doctrine might thwart, annul or affect the power of Parliament to express its opinion by Address, requesting His Excellency to exercise his power to disallow. … The Parliament of the country has a power not merely to approve and to condemn, but it has also a more important power with reference to every political and executive act-it has a power to advise. … Neither the approval nor the condemnation of an accomplished act serves any purpose save that of criticism. The power of advice is the great power of Parliament, a power to be exercised with reserve, but to be maintained in efficiency; and to preserve effectively that power, it is necessary that we should deem that it has not passed beyond the domain of Parliament to advise within the twelve months, no matter what the Executive may do. … It is of very little use for Parliament to say to Ministers, who have decided that they think an Act ought to be allowed: “Gentlemen, we think you are wrong; we condemn you; we censure you.” Are we to be told that if the twelve months still remain unexpired, we may condemn the Administration, forsooth, but the Act must remain operative; that we cannot make our advice effective; that we cannot take a step which will cause that to be done which the great council of the country decides in the interest of the country ought to be done? The power of Parliament itself would be thwarted by the proposition of the hon. Minister of Justice.

WATERSHED MANAGEMENT BY THE EASTERN ROCKIES FOREST CONSERVATION BOARD

The Eastern Rockies Forest Conservation Board was established in 1947 through the joint action of the Legislature of the province of Alberta and the Parliament of Canada. It was given jurisdiction over the Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve, an area of approximately 9,000 square miles. This Reserve, together with Banff, Waterton and a small portion of Jasper National Parks in Alberta, plus a portion of Glacier Park in Montana, comprise the headwater area of the Saskatchewan River.The importance of this river to the Canadian Prairies is evident from the fact that it supplies water to 85% of the population in the province of Alberta and 42% of that in the province of Saskatchewan.The Eastern Rockies Forest Conservation Board, in developing plans for the area under its jurisdiction, believes in the multiple-forest-use concept and, although water yields are the first consideration, other resources of timber, grazing, minerals, recreation, etc. are not neglected. The problem is to coordinate all land uses, giving priority to water yields.

Council of Europe

The third part of the tenth session of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe was held from January 19 to 22, 1959. Mr. Hamdi Ragip Atademir (Turkish Democrat), Vice-President of the Assembly, informed the Assembly that the President had sent invitations to the United States Congress and to the Canadian Parliament with a view to organizing a second Strasbourg Conference between delegations of the two parliaments in question and a delegation of the Consultative Assembly. Acting on behalf of Mr. Selwyn Lloyd, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, Lord Lansdowne, United Kingdom Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, then presented the Second Supplementary Report of the Committee to the Assembly. Speakers in the general debate on the Report stressed the necessity for better coordination of these two main organs of the Council.

Natural Gas in Canadian-American Relations

gas has disturbed both political and economic NATURAL equilibria significantly since the end of the second world war in both Canada and the United States. During the 1950's it has become a prominent factor in the relationships between the United States and Canada, has been the object of ceaseless lobbying and political for years in the United States and served to precipitate the eruption known as the pipe line debate in the Canadian parliament in 1956. Although the manner of production and other characteristics1 of this commodity cannot fully be described here, it must be remembered that the processing of gas usually involves the production of several products in fixed proportions which are geared to the proportions markets will absorb only under the most auspicious circumstances. On the demand side, natural gas for space-heating and industrial use has a way of displacing other fuels once consumers become familiar with it. It requires no handling of any kind; there are no smoke or ash disposal problems; storage is not needed and consumers need not pay for the gas until after they have used it; the rate of consumption can be regulated automatically to secure whatever temperature is desired. Consequently, the consumption of natural gas has risen rapidly wherever it has been introduced at competitive

The Canadian Parliament and Divorce

The British North America Act is usually considered to go no further in guaranteeing fundamental rights than to provide some protection for the French Canadians of Quebec with respect to their peculiar property and social institutions, for Protestant and Catholic minorities in the provision of educational facilities, and for English and French minorities in the use of their languages. Yet subsection 26 of section 91, which authorized the Dominion Parliament and not the provincial legislatures to enact laws on divorce, was no less a protective device. For, as Georges Etienne Carrier pointed out in Parliament in 1870, the Protestants of Quebec would have been unable to secure divorces if the granting of them had been left to the legislatures, since the legislature of Quebec would not have established a court for that purpose or permitted them by special bills. According to Carrier, the bishops of his Church had accepted the subsection relating to divorce because Canada was a mixed community; he hoped, however, that, when Catholics petitioned for divorce, Protestant members of Parliament would remember that the provision was intended for Protestants. The inference was that Parliament was to give different treatment to petitioners of different religious faiths.

Parliamentary Control of Foreign Policy?

one writing about any aspect of the 1956 session of the Canadian parliament can ignore the pervasive problem of the relationship of the cabinet to the house. Although this issue reached its crescendo late in the session the reasons for what happened during the debate on the trans-Canada gas pipeline existed long before the explosions of May and June. Thosa, reasons affected the area of external affairs as they did every other department. This discussion will, therefore, have particular reference to the problems of cabinet-house relations and of majority rule. The theme has a perennial interest. Amongst the most authoritative general statements on the subject is that of Mr. G. P. de T. Glazebrook. He writes in A History of Canadian External Relations that the principle of parliamentary control of foreign policy was automatically accepted from the time of confederation, and in later years became a veritable dogma. One recalls, also, the not infrequent assertions of the late W. L. Mackenzie King that in major foreign policy committments parliament would decide. Apart from the question of whether parliament ever really did control foreign policy, the last session provided much fresh evidence to be considered. The most persistent topic of external affairs was the Middle East. Very few days passed without a question being asked on the orders of the day concerning Canada's attitude to some aspect of the continuing crisis in that area. At the very outset Alistair Stewart, for the CCF, introduced the question of arms shipments. This issue, taken up quickly by the Conservatives, prompted the Minister of Trade and Commerce to suggest that fifteen training would become the great Tory issue of the session. But despite the relatively minor nature of this particular shipment, subsequent developments were revealing. On January 11, Mr. Stewart asked the Secretary of State for External Affairs: Have any aircraft been shipped from Canada

The Amending Power of the Canadian Parliament

The enactment by the Imperial Parliament at Westminster of the British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949, raises again the complex and difficult problem of the nature of the amending process in the eldest of the British dominions. From the beginning this process has been surrounded with a certain mysterious imprecision, deriving from the fact that Canada's basic constitutional statute—the British North America Act, 1867—contained no provision for its own amendment. In other words, until 1949 there was no clause in the constitution setting out a procedure whereby its own provisions might be legally changed. Hence through the long years all amendments have had to be made by the Parliament at Westminster which enacted the original statute—a necessity that has produced all sorts of difficult problems for students of constitutional law in both Canada and the United Kingdom. It has long been settled practice that the Imperial Parliament will enact whatever amendments are requested by the appropriate authorities in Canada, but a question remains as to which are the appropriate authorities. It seems now to be settled, after considerable controversy, that the executive government, acting alone, may not make such a request; practice requires a joint address by the two houses of Parliament. But is it necessary for the Dominion authorities to consult with the provinces before going to London with this request or may the Dominion do this by itself? If consultation is conceived to be necessary, must all the provinces be consulted? And if so, is it necessary that they all consent to the amendment before it is requested? If all need not consent, what part is necessary? These questions and other similar ones have plagued Canadians for years, and there is not yet any accepted solution either in precedent or in law.

Canada is Important Now

"Canada is Important Now." The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 23(9), pp. 551–552 NotesBrebner, North Atlantic Triangle. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1946.Bryce, “Some Aspects of Canadian Economic Relations with the United States,” in Foreign Economic Policy for the United States, Seymour Harris, Ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1948. Pp. 134–54.Denison, Canada, Our Dominion Neighbor. “Foreign Policy Association Headline Series,” No. 46, 1944.Spry, Canada. “Oxford Pamphlets on World Affairs,” No. 47, 1943. United States Department of State, Washington 25, D.C. Publications relating toCanada sent on request“Austerity to the North.” Fortune Magazine, January 1948, pp. 82–83; reply, March 1948.Bogart, “Canadian Relations with Great Britain and the United States.” Vital Speeches, July 15, 1948,pp. 598-600.Coats, R. H., Ed., “Features of Present-Day Canada” (bibliography and tables). Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, September 1947, PP. l–201.Duncan, “Canada” (illustrated). United Nations World, May 1947, pp. 77–80.Eggleston, “Strategy and Wealth in Northern Canada.” Queens Quarterly, May 1947, No. 2, pp. 238–49.Keenleyside, “Canadian Immigration Policy.” The International Journal, Summer 1948, pp. 222–38.Kierstead, “Canada at the Crossroads in Foreign Policy.” The International Journal, Spring 1948, pp. 97–110.Lower, “Canada in the New Non-British World.” The International Journal, Summer 1948, pp. 208–21.Massey, “Canada in the Inter-American System.” Foreign Affairs, July 1948, pp. 693–700.Mercer, “Newfoundland” (bibliography, maps, illustrated). Canadian Geographical Journal, March 1948, pp. 104–29.Miller, “Canada and the Pan American Union.” The International Journal, Winter 1947–48, pp. 24–38.Stevenson, “A New Era in Canada.” Foreign Affairs, April 1948, pp. 515–27.“The Great Labrador Venture.” Fortune Magazine, December 1948, 115 pp.ff.Truman, “Our Responsibility to the World” address before a joint session of the Canadian Parliament, June 11, 1947. Vital Speeches, July 1, 1947, pp. 554–56.

The Canadian Constitution and the United Nations Charter

The British North America Act of 1867 recorded in its preamble that the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick had “expressed their desire to be federally united” and then proceeded to give legal effect to that desire. For a long time Canada has been classified as a federal state in contrast to the unitary state which “Legislative Union” would have produced. If, however, Professor F. R. Scott is correct in asserting that “an established convention leaves little doubt that we can amend our constitution whenever a mere majority of our Senate and House of Commons demand it,” Canada has finally joined the ranks of the unitary states, since, as a result of this “established convention,” the provisions of the B.N.A. Act by which “in each Province the Legislature may exclusively make laws in relation to matters coming within” certain “Classes of Subjects” could be altered at will by the Parliament of Canada.It is true that in making the statement which has been cited, Professor Scott was primarily concerned with showing how completely autonomous Canada has become and not with the federal character of the Canadian constitution. But the example which he selected to illustrate the convention, viz. the opposition of Quebec to the amendment of 1943, was phrased so as to carry the implication that provincial opposition does not matter whatever the nature of the proposed amendment may be. It may well be that the Parliament of the United Kingdom would, in practice, enact any amendment for which the Canadian Parliament asked. But, as we are in the sphere of convention and not of formal law, it is also possible that, as between Canada and the provinces, a convention would be recognized limiting the type of amendment for the enactment of which the Parliament of Canada should ask. As constitutional conventions are apt to be the embodiment of common sense and fair play, and to admit of reasonable exceptions to fit whatever emergencies may arise, it is not impossible that it would be generally recognized as unconstitutional for the Canadian Parliament to ask, without consulting the provincial governments, for an amendment extending its own legislative power and diminishing the legislative power of the provincial legislatures. Emergency action taken in war-time is hardly a complete test for a convention for, as Professor Scott observes, “the demands of total war are such that in the result Canada may almost be said to possess a unitary form of government in war-time (p. 334).” A generous interpretation of constitutional conventions in time of war may well be expected to go hand in hand with a generous construction of the written law by the courts.

The Courts and the Sovereignty of the Canadian Parliament

One of the great elements of stability in the British constitution has been the sovereignty of parliament. The fact of parliamentary sovereignty has given the British constitution a flexibility which has enabled it to serve the changing needs of different periods by modifying the inflexibility of the common law by direct changes in positive law. Even before the period of deliberately created law the fiction of the king's conscience enabled the courts of equity to introduce an element of peaceful change into the legal structure of England.The supremacy of the will of parliament involved in the notion of parliamentary sovereignty presupposes two things. Firstly, it assumes a single supreme legislature, and secondly it assumes the superiority of legislation over the will of the courts. If, as Walter Bagehot contended, the efficient secret of the British constitution lay in the almost complete fusion of the executive and legislative functions, it equally depended upon the supremacy of the legislative branch over the judiciary. It was no abrogation of that theory that it was the business of the courts to determine whether the subject was bound by the words of a particular expression of the will of the legislature. That was merely a protective device against an administrative abuse of power. What that theory cannot logically contain is the notion that the courts could say that the legislature was or was not exceeding its powers in legislating. For by definition those powers are unlimited.

Limited Recognition of French Committee, Roosevelt Address to Canadian Parliament, Churchill’s Broadcast from Quebec

Limited Recognition of French Committee, Roosevelt Address to Canadian Parliament, Churchill’s Broadcast from Quebec

Dominion Legislation of 1935 an Economist's Review

The legislation of the past session of the Canadian Parliament is of particular interest for three reasons. Firstly, it was a pre-election session; secondly, it witnessed further “anti-depression” efforts; and thirdly it indicated the nature of Mr. Bennett's “reform” programme. The purpose of the present article is to review the legislation passed at this session of Parliament and to attempt a brief analysis of it. Some sixty-six public Acts were passed but not more than twenty will be mentioned by name here, and only a few of these twenty require any detailed discussion. The forty or more undiscussed Acts consist of Supply Bills, minor Acts, and minor amendments to existing statutes. Although it is difficult to draw a precise line between “reform” legislation and any other kind, the analysis here will be in terms of “reform” Acts and of other general Acts. This division allows some general discussion on a topical basis.In his radio broadcasts in January, 1935, Mr. Bennett announced a programme of “reform” legislation including certain general proposals then outlined, and other legislation arising out of the recommendations shortly to be made by the Price Spreads Commission. The report of the Royal Commission was presented in April, 1935. The legislation originating from these two sources will be discussed under the general heading of “reform”.First in the “reform list” come the Acts whose constitutionality—because their subject matter is assigned to provincial jurisdiction—depends upon the treaty-making power of the Dominion. The specific Acts so passed are the Employment and Social Insurance Act, the Minimum Wage Act, the Limitation of Hours of Work Act, and the Weekly Rest in Industrial Undertakings Act. The preambles of these Acts indicate clearly that their constitutionality is tied to the treaty-making powers of the Dominion government.

Canadian Immigration: The Law and its Administration

The power of making laws with respect to immigration into Canada is given by the British North America Act to the Parliament of Canada. But under the provisions of the same act the legislature in each province may make laws in relation to immigration into the province which shall “have effect in and for the Province as long and as far only as” they are “not repugnant to any Act of the Parliament of Canada.” This power of a provincial legislature is not without restrictions, for the “Governor-General of Canada in Council within one year of the receipt of an authentic copy of an Act of a Provincial Legislature may disallow the Act, in which case the Act is annulled from and after the day on which the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province signifies the disallowance by Speech or Message to the Legislature or by Proclamation.”

The British Empire Unprecedented Prosperity Marks Opening, Of Canadian Parliament

Essay| April 01 1929 The British Empire Unprecedented Prosperity Marks Opening, Of Canadian Parliament Ralston Hayden Ralston Hayden The British Empire Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan; Current History Associate Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Current History (1927) 30 (1): 148–152. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.1929.30.1.148 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Ralston Hayden; The British Empire Unprecedented Prosperity Marks Opening, Of Canadian Parliament. Current History 1 April 1927; 30 (1): 148–152. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.1929.30.1.148 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentCurrent History Search This content is only available via PDF. © 1929 by The Regents of the University of California1929 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

New Phases of Unfair Competition and Measures for Its Suppression. National and International

The world war has had a most wholesome effect upon commercial legislation in all parts of the world. It has focussed the eyes of statesmen, business men, and observant people generally upon the importance of fair play in commerce and trade. It has aroused the public conscience to the evil excrescences of modern business and has put people on their guard against the devious unfair methods of competition practiced in their midst. More than that, for the first time in the history of modern commerce earnest and practical efforts are being made to improve and elevate the rules and standards that govern world trade. The movement is national as well as international in its scope. What are its main underlying causes? Rapid expansion of business enterprise, and the need felt by enlightened and progressive nations generally to safeguard their commercial life against the evils which so frequently accompany sharp trade rivalry, may account to a large extent for the growing attention given by foreign parliaments to this kind of commercial legislation. Apparently the apprehension of keener competitive conditions after the war, and the clamor on the part of domestic business interests for effective protection at home against possible unfair competition by foreign rivals, have also hastened legislative action. A third explanation is found in the world-wide efforts to check the power of private monopolistic enterprise by cutting off the roots which so frequently nourish and sustain monopoly. This latter consideration was responsible primarily for the enactment of anti-unfair competition clauses in connection with recent anti-trust laws, and for the creation of special commissions or boards empowered to enforce them. The Federal Trade Commission Act and the Clayton Act in this country in I9I4 became the forerunners of similar legislation in several foreign countries, notably Canada. The Canadian parliament on July 7, igig, passed two laws, the Combines and Fair Prices Act and the Board of Commerce Act, which in part follow very closely the wording of our own Federal Trade Commission Act. Among other duties, the Canadian Board of Commerce is empowered to restrain and prohibit the formation and the activities of combines which prevent or lessen competition in production, manufacture, purchase, barter, sale, transportation, insurance, or supply. The Board

Farm Labor Experience of the Employment Service of Canada

In 1918 the Parliament of Canada passed the Employment Offices Co6rdination Act which charged the Minister of Labor with the duty of aiding and encouraging the organization and co6rdination of employment offices and promoting uniformity of methods among them; of establishing clearing houses for the interchange of information between employment offices and of compiling and publishing employment statistics. The act set aside certain moneys to be divided among the various provincial governments pro rata with their expenditures on the maintenance of employment offices. These grants were made conditional upon an agreement between the Federal and Provincial Governments as to the general plan to be followed by the provinces in the administration of their employment services. Under this legislation a nation-wide system of seventy-five employment offices has been established by the Dominion and Provincial Governments in cooperation, and placements are being effected at the rate of 4oo,000 annually. On a population basis the equivalent of this in the United States would be a system of I,ooo offices making 5,000,000 placements. From the standpoint of agriculture as well as of industry Canada falls into four areas. In the Maritime provinces mixed farming is followed in the main with cross-sections of fruit farming in Nova Scotia and potato farming in New Brunswick. In this area the farms are usually not large. The crops come in fairly regular rotation and there is no sharp peak of farm labor demand. In Ontario and Quebec mixed farming is also the rule although there has been a considerable specialization in dairy farming, and the Niagara District of Ontario is almost entirely devoted to fruit growing. In these provinces there is a fairly constant demand for farm labor the year round, especially in Ontario, which is accentuated during the spring seeding and at harvest time. The methods of securing women workers for fruit

The Arctic and Antarctic Regions and the Law of Nations

The announcement of the discovery of the North Pole raised in several quarters, among others the British and the Canadian Parliaments, the question whether the act of discovery gave to the United States any right of possession over the North Pole.In searching for the answer to this question, it is necessary to ascertain the rules of the Law of Nations that govern analogous cases.