2797 [MAY 25, 1897] 2798
NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES ACT.
The MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR (Mr. Â
Sifton) moved for leave to introduce Bill
(No. 114) to amend the North-west Territories Act. He said : The provisions of this
Bill are somewhat miscellaneous in their
character. I need not explain them at,
length now, because they will hardly be.
understood until the printed Bill is in the
hands of hon. members. I may say, however, generally speaking, that the main
provision of the Bill is to change the constitution of the government of the Northwest
Territories in this respect, that whereas
they have what is called an executive committee, a committee that was entirely a
statutory body and I fancy without precedents in our constitutional system—under
the proposed Bill they will have an executive council which will, to the extent of
the
statutory powers conferred upon the Government of the North-west Territories by the
Act, exercise such powers in the same way
as the executive council of a province. The
effect will be rather as to the methods in
which the Government is carried on than
as to any extension of the powers of the
Government itself. The natural effect of
this provision will be that the system of
responsible government in the North-west
Territories will be more clearly defined and
established than it has been heretofore.
Various clauses of the Bill are amendments for the purpose of bringing the Act
into conformity with this provision. The
other amendments which are not mere
verbal changes. are in the first place. a provision which places it within the power
of
the legislative assembly of the Territories:
to deal with the qualifications of justices
of the peace. that being a purely local matter which may be better disposed of by
themselves than by the Parliament of Can-.
ada. The appointment of clerks of the
courts in the Territories is also given to the
executive government of the Territorie.
The sheriffs and clerks of the court have
heretofore been appointed by the Federal
Government. The sheriffs will continue to
be appointed by the Federal Government,
but by this Bill, if it receives the assent
of the House. the clerks, who are paid entirely by fees, will be appointed by the
Territorial Government. Another clause
refers to the qualifications of police magistrates. Another clause gives the Territorial
assembly power to pass ordinances respecting the road allowances. I may say that
the fact that the Department of the Interior
has been compelled to deal with every local
application respecting road allowance in the
Territories, has been a source of great annoyance and difficulty to the people there,
and also of considerable annoyance to the
department itself.
Mr. DAVIN. I am very glad the hon.
Minister (Mr. Sifton) is introducing this Bill.
I should like to ask him one question. He
used the expression " Executive Council of.
the province." Does he intend to change
the name from " Executive Council of the
North-west Territories ?"
Mr. DAVIN. The hon. Minister used that
word in his speech. So far as I can see,
the Bill is designed to bring in reforms which
I have contended for year after year.
Mr. LaRIVIERE. Are there any changes
with regard to the limitation of the legislative powers of the legislature ?
The MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR. It
just occurs to me—I may say in answer to
the hon. gentleman's question—that I omitted to state one feature of the Bill. It
gives the Territorial Assembly power to deal
with questions of insurance, the incorporation of local insurance companies, and other
necessary insurance business. This is a
power possessed by the provincial legislatures, but heretofore not possessed by the
Territorial Assembly. Difficulties have arisen
through the lack of local regulations, and it
is to meet these difficulties that this change
has been made.
Motion agreed to, and Bill read the first
time.
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