539
[...] the exuberant anxiety which prevailed on
the other side of the line to regulate the affairs of all other nations. It was said
the
British Parliament had discussed the conduct
of the Canadian Parliament with reference to
the Militia Bill. That was true, and he must
say he felt indignant at the tone of remark
which was then indulged in. But it should be
remembered that the British Parliament had
an interest in that question, for if we did not
provide for the defence of the country it devolved on them to do so. In conclusion
he
again argued that this Parliament had no time
to waste on a matter foreign to it. They had
just acquired the North-West, and had to consider how they were to govern it. They
had
got the elephant and must find out how to
feed him. There were never 181 gentlemen
assembled together as a representative body
who had more responsible duties to discharge,
and the duties which really belonged to them
were quite sufficient to engross all their attention.
Mr. Blake, referring to the argument of the
President of the Council, that this Parliament
had so much on its hands that it could not
expend time in discussing a question of this
kind, said if they looked to the period of the
Session at which they had arrived, and that
the Government had as yet brought to the
stage of discussion hardly any of their more
important measures, the argument was merely
an evasion. They were said to be within a
fortnight of their prorogation, and the election Bill had not as yet been so much
as
printed. As regards the North West negotiations, they had been brought before the
House
at so late a period that Parliament had not
yet been asked to deal with the question,
which the hon. gentleman had alluded to, of
how the North West was to be governed. Certainly the measures of the Government were
not so forward as to admit the excuse that
Parliament had not time to discuss this question. Then it was asked by the Minister
of
Justice would England so interfere with us;
and the answer had already been given that
England did interfere with us, and that not by
an address from its Parliament, but by a despatch from a Secretary or Under-Secretary
of
State, which was held sufficient to reverse the
vote of this full Parliament, and to convert a
majority of 136 in one session into a minority
of 60 the next session. The President of Council said the conduct of the British Parliament,
in discussing the proceedings of the Canadian
Parliament with reference to the Militia Bill,
was excusable, because they had an interest [...]
Source:
Canada. House of Commons Debates, 1869. Edited by P.B. Waite. Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1975. Original scans accessible at:
http://parl.canadiana.ca/.
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Selection of input documents and completion of metadata: Gordon Lyall.
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