91 



CANADA, PARLIAMENT OF. 



work connected with the loading or unloading there- 

 of, from working at or exercising any lawful trade, 

 business calling, or occupation in or for which he is 

 so employed ; or beats or uses any such violence to, 

 or makes any threat against any such person, with 

 intent to hinder or prevent him from working at or 

 exercising the same, or on account of his having 

 worked at or exercised the same, shall, on summary 

 conviction before two justices of the peace, be liable 

 to imprisonment with hard labor for any term not ex- 

 ceeding three months. 



The new features are : First, to extend the 

 protection of the act to persons actually em- 

 ployed, although they m;iy not be persons 

 usually engaged in the business; second, to 

 extend it to all persons employed on or about 

 any ship or vessel, even though not working 

 on board the vessel ; and third, to make it il- 

 legal to beat or use any violence to, or make 

 any threat against any person by reason of his 

 carrying on work at any vessel, or loading or 

 unloading thereof. The present law does not 

 extend the protection to those who were en- 

 gaged in work that has been completed. 



Northwest Council Elections. On motion of Sir 

 John Macdonald a bill was passed providing 

 that " Notwithstanding anything contained in 

 the Northwest Territories act, the members of 

 the Council of the said Territories shall con- 

 tinue as such until the end of the next session 

 of the Parliament of Canada, and no elections 

 will be held before then except for the tilling 

 up of vacancies in the Council." The Premier 

 explained that in consequence of the influx of 

 settlers, fully half of the settlers would have 

 no vote in the elections for the Northwest 

 Council, which, in the ordinary course, would 

 be held in October, 1887. Next session a bill 

 would be introduced dividing the Northwest 

 Territories into new constituencies. 



Hon. Mr. Laurier and other Liberals opposed 

 the bill on the ground that it would be a bad 

 constitutional precedent to deprive the people 

 of elections for a year, and to continue in ex- 

 istence by act of the Dominion Parliament an 

 elective legislature. 



Court of Claims. On motion of the Hon. Mr. 

 Thompson, a bill was passed to amend the Su- 

 preme and Exchequer Courts act, and to make 

 better provision for the trial of claims against 

 the Crown. A new court is established called 

 the Exchequer Court, and to it is transferred 

 all the exchequer jurisdiction now possessed 

 by judges of the Supreme Court of Canada and 

 likewise the jurisdiction formerly exercised by 

 the Dominion Board of Arbitrators. 



Queen's Jubilee, The following joint address 

 was passed by both houses : 



MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY: We, your Majes- 

 ty's loyal and dutiful subjects, the Senate and Com- 

 mons of Canada, in Parliament assembled, beg to of- 

 fer our sincere congratulations on the happy comple- 

 tion of the fiftieth year of your auspicious reign. 



The Supreme Disposer of events has made your 

 Majesty ttie ruler of the fifth part of the habitable 

 globe. Hundreds of millions of almost every race 

 and tongue are proud to own your sway. But among 

 them all there is no community that cherishes a more 

 heartfelt attachment to your "Majesty's person and 

 throne than the people of the Canadian Dominion. 



Once a colony of France, won in a struggle not less 

 honorable to the vanquished than the victors, it was 

 not long till its fidelity to the Crown was severely 

 tried. How it stood the test was known to your Maj- 

 esty's illustrious father when he honored with his 

 friendship the hero of Chautauqua the brave De 

 Salaberry ; and when the daughter of the Duke of 

 Kent ascended to the throne, the event was hailed as 

 the dawn of an era which should bring to British and 

 French Canada not only prosperity and progress, but 

 the spirit of unity and good-will. Under the influ- 

 ence of the great gift of constitutional self-govern- 

 ment conferred upon Canada hi the early years of 

 your Majesty's reign, the country has made rapid 

 progress. It has shared in the general advancement 

 of the last half-century, in the wonderful discoveries 

 and application of science the railway, the steam- 

 ship, the telegraph^ and their conquests of time and 

 space ; the multiplication of manufactures, the expan- 

 sion of commerce, the blessings of legal reform, the 

 diffusion of education, and in the wearing away of 

 prejudices through increased intercourse between man 

 and man. If the empire's progress compares favor- 

 ably during the last fifty years with that of the world 

 at large, so does the progress of Canada compare fa- 

 vorably with that of the empire. From a few scattered 

 provinces it has become a great federation, stretching 

 from ocean to ocean, and linking by its iron path the 

 European to the Asiatic portions of your Majesty's 

 domain. 



It has been the good fortune of the people of Cana- 

 da to enjoy from time to time the honor of the pres- 

 ence and countenance of several members of the royal 

 family, and this relationship not only deepened theii 

 loyal devotion to the head of the British Empire, but 

 enhanced their regard for the wife and mother, their 

 veneration for the memory of the husband and father. 



Our earnest prayer is that He who is the Kulcr of 

 all nations and the King of all kings, may uphold, di- 

 rect, and preserve your Majesty for many long years 

 to reign over a prosperous and contented people. 



The following public acts were passed which 

 are not referred to in detail : 



Authorizing the Governor in Council to ac- 

 cept from any public officer as security for" the 

 due performance of his trust, when such is re- 

 quired by law, the bond or policy of a guaran- 

 tee company or an assignment of a post-office 

 or Government savings-bank deposit. 



Permitting the running of railway trains on 

 Government railways across intersecting rail- 

 ways whenever there has been adopted such 

 an interlocking switch and signal system as 

 will, in the opinion of the Minister of Kail- 

 ways, render it safe. 



To amend the " Companies act '" by provid- 

 ing that the directors of an incorporated com- 

 pany may, with the consent of a majority of 

 the shareholders, from time to time issue de- 

 benture stock subject to the limitations of the 

 act and not exceeding in amount the author- 

 ized limit of the borrowing powers of the com- 

 pany- 

 Repealing section 2 of the Representation 

 act, and substituting therefor the following : 



The House of Commons shall consist of two hun- 

 dred and fifteen members, of whom ninety-two shall 

 be elected for the province of OntariOj sixty-five for 

 Quebec, twenty-one for Nova Scotia, sixteen for New 

 Brunswick, six for Prince Edward Island, six for 

 British Columbia, five for Manitoba, and four for the 

 Northwest Territories. 



To remove any doubts as to the right to vote 

 of deputy returning-officers, poll clerks, and 



