CANADA, DOMINION OF. 



Ontario . ..1,907 N. W. Territories 971 



Quebec 404 British Columbia 662 



Nova Scotia 107 



NewBrunswick 67 Total 4,126 



Prince Ed. Island 18 



History and Government. The Dominion of 

 Canada was founded on the 1st of July, 1867, 

 by the federal union of the provinces, Nova 

 Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Canadas, Up- 

 per and Lower. By the act of Union the Can- 

 adas were named Ontario (Upper), and Quebec 

 (Lower). The " British North America Act" 

 is the name given to the Imperial statute creat- 

 ing the Dominion. In that statute authority 

 is given to create the province of Manitoba. 

 By virtue of that, and succeeding imperial and 

 Canadian statutes amending it, that province 

 was admitted into the Dominion in 1870, being 

 formed out of that part of the Hudson Bay Ter- 

 ritory known as Assiniboia Colony, or earlier 

 as Selkirk Settlement. This Assiniboia was not 

 the same as the present Territory of Assini- 

 boia, but more nearly corresponded to the pres- 

 ent Manitoba. In 1871 British Columbia was 

 admitted into the Dominion, and in 1873 Prince 

 Edward Island. The Territories were acquired 

 in 1870, by transfer from the Hudson Bay Com- 

 pany. 



The form of government in Canada is in 

 theory monarchical, but in practice republi- 

 can. It consists of a legislative and an execu- 

 tive power. The legislative power is a Parlia- 

 ment composed of a House of Commons, a Sen- 

 ate, and a Govern or- General. The members 

 of the House of Commons are elected by popu- 

 lar vote. At the time of the Confederation, 

 this House consisted of 181 members, of whom 

 82 were elected from Ontario, 65 from Que- 

 bec, 19 from Nova Scotia, and 15 from New 

 Brunswick. These numbers are readjusted 

 according to each decennial census, subject to 

 the following rules : Quebec has the fixed 

 number of 65 members. There shall be as- 

 signed to each of the other provinces such a 

 number of members as will bear the same pro- 

 portion to the number of its population (ascer- 

 tained at such census) as the number 65 bears 

 to the number of the population of Quebec (so 

 ascertained). In the computation of the num- 

 ber of members for a province, a fractional 

 part not exceeding one half of the whole num- 

 ber requisite for entitling the province to a 

 member, shall be disregarded ; but a fractional 

 part exceeding one half of that number shall 

 be equivalent to the whole number. On any 

 such readjustment the number of members 

 for a province shall not be reduced unless the 

 proportion which the number of the popu- 

 lation of the province bore to the number of 

 the aggregate population of Canada at the then 

 last preceding readjustment of the number of 

 members for the province is ascertained at the 

 then latest census to be diminished by one- 

 twentieth part or upward. Such readjustment 

 shall not take effect until the termination of 

 the then existing Parliament. 



After the census of 1881 the readjustment 



stood as follows: Quebec, 65; Ontario, 92; 

 Nova Scotia, 21; New Brunswick, 16; Mani- 

 toba, 5; British Columbia, 6; Prince Edward 

 Island, 6; total, 211. 



The members continue in office for a period 

 of five years from the day of the return of the 

 writs, subject, however, to an earlier dissolu- 

 tion by the Governor-General. The meetings 

 of the House of Commons are presided over by 

 one of its own members, elected Speaker. To 

 become a member of Parliament no property 

 qualification is necessary, but every member 

 must be either a native-born or legally natu- 

 ralized British subject. In 1874 voting by bal- 

 lot was introduced, and the law for the pre- 

 vention of bribery and other corrupt practices 

 at elections was made more stringent than for- 

 merly. The elections, except those for British 

 Columbia, Manitoba, and some of the remote 

 or thinly settled districts of Ontario and Que- 

 bec, take place, according to law, on the same 

 day throughout the Dominion. 



The Senate of Canada, at the time of con- 

 federation, was composed of 72 numbers, 24 

 being appointed from Ontario., 24 from Que- 

 bec, 12 from New Brunswick, and 12 from 

 Nova Scotia. The present (1884) status of the 

 Senate is: Ontario, 24; Quebec, 24; Nova 

 Scotia, 10 ; New Brunswick, 10 ; Manitoba, 3 ; 

 British Columbia, 3; Prince Edward Island, 

 4; total, 78. By the British North Amer- 

 ica Act, the number of Senators is limited to 

 the present number 78, unless Newfoundland 

 should enter the Dominion, in which case pro- 

 vision is made to allow the number to reach 

 82. The chief qualifications to be a Senator 

 are : to be thirty years of age ; to be either a 

 native-born or a naturalized British subject; 

 to hold, over and above all mortgages or 

 charges of any kind, property valued at 

 $4,000 ; to be a resident in the province for 

 which he is appointed ; in Quebec, to be resi- 

 dent in the electoral district for which he is 

 appointed. Senators are appointed for life 

 (subject to certain conditions) by the Gov- 

 ernor-General in Council, or practically by 

 the Premier or leader of the government of 

 the day, who recommends the appointment. 

 A Senator is disquajified by non-attendance 

 in the Senate for two consecutive sessions. 

 The Governor - General is appointed by the 

 Government of Great Britain ;md Ireland, and 

 represents the Queen. Wherever the Gov- 

 ernor-General is named it is clearly under- 

 stood, and is so stated in the British (North 

 America Act, that it refers to the Governor- 

 General acting by and with the consent of 

 the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. His 

 special or independent functions are few. He 

 has the privilege of declaring " according to 

 his discretion, but subject to the provisions 

 of the British North America Act, and to in- 

 structions from the British Government, either 

 that he assents in the Queen's name to a bill 

 that has passed both the House of Commons 

 and the Senate, or that he withholds the 



