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6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907

QUERIES RE GOVERNMENT OF QUEBEC.1

QUERIES relative to the Government of Quebec for Consideration in case the Bill passes in its present shape.

Limits

The Line between Quebec and New York has not been continued further to the South West than Windmill Point, on Lake Champlain in Latitude 45.

Q. How is it to be settled with regard to these two Provinces between that station Point and the Boundary Line of Pensylvania?

General Government & Courts of Justice.

Q. What is to be the number of the Council? In what Proportion are the Canadians to be admitted into that and other Offices, and under what Test?

Q. What Courts of Criminal and Civil Justice are to be established either generally for the Province at large, or separately for its subordinate Dependencies. Whether by Ordinance of the Legislative Council, by Commissions from the King, or by Commissions from the Governor ?

Who are to be the Puisne Judges in such Courts ? Are any, or if any, what number of Canadians to be appointed Judges and under what Qualifications.

Of what other Offices is the Civil Establishment for the Province of Quebec and for its Dependencies to consist, and how are they to be appointed and paid?

Is the office of Provost Marshal to be revived, or are Sheriffs to be substituted in the place of it?

If the latter is to take place, what compensation is to be made to the present Provost Marshal, or to any other Patent Officer, whose Office shall happen to be discontinued?

In what manner is a Revenue to be established, and how appropriated & applied!

Religion

What Provision is to be made for the Protestant Churches in Canada? What number of Ministers are to be appointed, and with what Stipend? Where are they to reside, and are any of the Churches already established to he appropriated to the Use of the Protestants, or others to be erected?

If the latter what Fund will there be to defray such Expences?

Are all the Religious Orders and Communities of the Church of Rome, at present existing in Quebec, to be abolished? or which, if any of them, are to be continued, & under what Restrictions or Regulations.

1 Canadian Archives, M 385, p. 332. These "Queries" were evidently framed before the Bill bad assumed its final form. The section with reference to ** Limits was provided for by the preamble adopted in the Commons. The number of Councillors was fixed at not less than 17 nor more than 23. The number of Canadians to be admitted to the Council was not dealt with, but the oath to be taken by the Roman Catholic members was prescribed. The question of the revenue was dealt with in the Quebec Revenue Act which follows the Quebec Act; see p. 406. Most of the other matters under the head of "Religion. Government, and Courts of Justice," are left for future consideration, some of them being covered in the Instructions to the Governor. John Pownall, one of the Under Secretaries of State for the Colonies, in a note to Lord Dartmouth of July 17th, 1774, has the following paragraph, "Gen Carleton is gone; he recommends himself to your Lordships protection & requests your attention to the few memorandums & to the list of Persons recommended for Councillors which I have the honour to enclose" M. 385. F 425. In quite another place we come upon a few notes endorsed "Gen' Carleton's Memoranda;" the chief item in which has reference to the subject of religion as indicated in these "Queries." "Gen Carleton wishes that on the head of ecclesiastical arrangements, he may be left as much to himself as possible-he has no objection to having every Idea and proposition of Government in regard thereto suggested in his Instruc tions; but he disapproves the supression of any religious Communities except the Jesuits, and begs he may be left at liberty to use his own discretion in this very delicate business.' M 384, p. 329.

SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18

If any are to be abolished is the Suppression to take effect immediately, or are they to cease when the present members of such Communities are deceased, and what is to become of the Estates & Revenues of such of the religious orders and Communities as are to be discontinued.

Are the secular Clergy to have any Episcopal or Vicarial Superintendance over them? If so, by what Authority, & under what Limitations and Restrictions in such Episcopal or vicarial Power to be established?·

Is the Patronage of vacant Benefices to be delegated to the Governor, or in what other manner exercised, or by whom enjoyed, and how are the Clergy to be appointed? Lastly, How are these and the many other essential Reforms and Regulations touching Ecclesiastical matters, and also the necessary arrangements touching Commerce, Revenue, Courts of Justice, and other Civil Establishments to be provided for? If by Ordinances of the Legislative Council, (which seems the most reasonable) ought not the Governor and Chief Justice to be directed immediately to prepare, with proper assistance, Drafts of such Bills as will be requisite for those Objects under the following general Heads.

Vizt.

1. A Bill for establishing Courts of Justice, & regulating their Proceedings.

2. A Bill for the better regulation of the Ecclesiastical Affairs of Quebec.

3. A Bill for regulating the Trade with the Indians, and preventing unlawful Settlements in the Interior Country.

4. A Bill for regulating the Fisheries on the Coast of Labrador.

5. A Bill for the more effectual Administration of Justice and Government in the several subordinate Distrits in the interior Country.

THE QUEBEC ACT.1

ANNO DECIMO QUARTO

GEORGII III. REGIS.

CAP. LXXXIII.

An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America.

Preamble.

Whereas His Majesty, by His Royal Proclamation, bearing Date the Seventh Day of October, in the Third Year of His Reign, thought fit to declare the Provisions which had been made in respect to certain Countries, Territories, and Islands in America, ceded to His Majesty by the definitive Treaty of Peace, concluded at Paris on the Tenth Day of February, One thousand seven hundred and sixty-three: And whereas, by the Arrangements made by the said Royal Proclamation, a very large Extent of Country, within which there were several Colonies and Settlements of the Subjects of France, who claimed to remain therein under the Faith of the said Treaty, was left, without any Provision being made for the Administration of Civil Government therein; and certain Parts of the Territory of Canada, where sedentary Fisheries had been established and carried on by the Subjects of France, Inhabitants of the said Province of Canada, under Grants and Concessions from the Government thereof, were annexed to the Government of Newfoundland, and thereby subjected to Regulations inconsistent with the Nature of such Fisheries May it therefore please Your most Excellent Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by

The text of the Act is taken from the original folio black letter form in which it was first issued by the King's Printers. "London: Printed by Charles Eyre and William Strachan, Printers to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. MDCCLXXIV."

18-3-26

QUERIES RE GOV

QUERIES relative to the Gover passes in its present shape.

The Line between Quebec South West than Windmill Pe Q. How is it to be settle Point and the Boundary Line

Ge

Q. What is to be t Canadians to be admitted Q. What Courts of rally for the Province Whether by Ordinance by Commissions from t Who are to be th ber of Canadians to b

Of what other ( ·

for its Dependencies Is the office of

the place of it?

If the latter

Provost Marshal, continued?

In what ma

What Pr
What n
Where

appropriate
If the
Are

existing i under wh

1 Canadia

assumed its M in the Com of Canadia Catholic m Act whicha Govern Instru

note to recomm & to the

425. In item in that on objectio tions:

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6-7 EDWARD VII, A. 1907 eis Spiritual and Temporal, embled, and by the Authority sands, and Countries in North 3ritain, bounded on the South the High Lands which divide ze River Saint Lawrence from Forty-five Degrees of Northern ver Connecticut, keeping the same Champlain, until, in the same rence; from thence up the Eastern ntario; thence through the Lake led Niagara; and thence along by Lake Erie, following the said Bank, the Northern Boundary, granted = Pensylvania, in case the same shall ong the said Northern and Western

until the said Western Boundary said Bank of the said Lake shall not following the said Bank until it shall Sank which shall be nearest to the North~nce of Pensylvania, and thence, by a -western Angle of the said Province; and dary of the said Province, until it strike

Bank of the said River, Westward, to and Northward to the Southern Boundary of Merchants Adventurers of England, tradSo all such Territories, Islands, and Countries, February, One thousand seven hundred and of the Government of Newfoundland, be, and s Majesty's Pleasure, annexed to, and made ace of Quebec, as created and established by on of the Seventh of October, One thousand seven nothing herein contained, relative to the Bouncee, shall in anywise affect the Boundaries of

be it enacted, That nothing in this Act contained strued to extend, to make void, or to vary or nr Possession, derived under any Grant, Conveyance, of or to any Lands within the said Province, aining; but that the same shall remain and be as if this Act had never been made.

Prions, made by the said Proclamation, in respect e-as it of the said Province of Quebec and the Powers and e :20 Governor and other Civil Officers of the said Prosi Commissions issued in consequence thereof, have Ferencs, to be inapplicable to the State and CircumPonce, the Inhabitants whereof amounted, at the Steve thousand Persons professing the Religion of and enjoying an established Form of Constitution and their Persons and Property had been protected, for a long Series of Years, from the First EstablishSanyon of Canada; be it therefore further enacted by the That the said Proclamation, so far as the same Price of Quebec, and the Commission under the The Government of the said Province is at present

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18

ed, and all and every the Ordinance and Ordinances made by the and Council of Quebec for the Time being, relative to the Civil ent and Administration of Justice in the said Province, and all sions to Judges and other Officers thereof, be, and the same are y revoked, annulled, and made void, from and after the First Day of One thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.

And, for the more perfect Security and Ease of the Minds of the Inhabiits of the said Province, it is hereby declared, That His Majesty's Subets, professing the Religion of the Church of Rome of and in the said Province of Quebec, may have, hold, and enjoy, the free Exercise of the Religion of the Church of Rome, subject to the King's Supremacy, declared ; and established by an Act, made in the First Year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, over all the Dominions and Countries which then did, or thereafter should belong, to the Imperial Crown of this Realm; and that the 1 Clergy of the said Church may hold, receive, and enjoy, their accustomed Dues and Rights, with respect to such Persons only as shall profess the said Religion.

may 14 by

Sup

Provided nevertheless, That it shall be lawful for His Majesty, His Heirs or Successors, to make such Provision out of the rest of the said Majesty accustomed Dues and Rights, for the Encouragement of the Protestant Religion, and for the Maintenance and Support of a Protestant Clergy within the said Province, as he or they shall, from Time to Time, think necessary and expedient.

I the
tant

Person

Provided always, and be it enacted, That no Person, professing the sing the Religion of the Church of Rome, and residing in the said Province, shall be ush Reli obliged to take the Oath required by the said Statute passed in the First on obliged Year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, or any other Oaths substituted by any other Act in the Place thereof; but that every such Person who, by the said Statute is required to take the Oath therein mentioned, shall be obliged, and is hereby required, to take and subscribe the following Oath Governor, &c., before the Governor, or such other Person in such Court of Record as His the following Majesty shall appoint, who are hereby authorised to administer the same;

to take the Oath of I Eliz; lut to take,

before the

Oath.

The Oath.

videlicet,

I A. B. do sincerely promise and swear, That I will be faithful, and bear true Allegiance to His Majesty King GEORGE, and him will defend to the utmost of my Power, against all traiterous Conspiracies, and Attempts whatsoever, which shall be made against His Person, Crown and Dignity; and I will do my utmost Endeavour to disclose and make known to His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, all Treasons, and traiterous Conspiracies, and Attempts, which I shall know to be against Him, or any of Them ; and all this I do swear without any Equivocation, mental Evasion, or secret Reservation, and renouncing all Pardons and Dispensations from any Power or Person whomsoever to the Contrary.

So HELP ME GOD.

Persons refusAnd every such Person, who shall neglect or refuse to take the said Oath ing the Oath to be subject before mentioned, shall incur and be liable to the same Penalties, Forfeito the Penaltures, Disabilities, and Incapacities, as he would have incurred and been ties by Act I Elic liable to for neglecting or refusing to take the Oath required by the said Statute passed in the First Year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. His Majesty's Canadian Sub- And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That all His jects (religious Majesty's Canadian Subjects, within the Province of Quebec, the religious Orders except- Orders and Communities only excepted, may also hold and enjoy their ed) may hold all their Pos Property and Possessions, together with all Customs and Usages relative sessions, etc., thereto, and all other their Civil Rights, in as large, ample, and beneficial and in Matters Manner, as if the said Proclamation, Commissions, Ordinances, and other of ControActs and Instruments, had not been made, and as may consist with their versy, Resort to be had to Allegiance to His Majesty, and Subjection to the Crown and Parliament 18-3-261

Canada for the
Decision.

6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907

the Laws of of Great Britain; and that in all Matters of Controversy, relative to Property and Civil Rights, Resort shall be had to the Laws of Canada, as the Rule for the Decision of the same; and all Causes that shall hereafter be instituted in any of the Courts of Justice, to be appointed within and for the said Province, by His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, shall, with respect to such Property and Rights, be determined agreeably to the said Laws and Customs of Canada, until they shall be varied or altered by any Ordinances, that shall, from Time to Time, be passed in the said Province by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in Chief, for the Time being, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Legislative Council of the same, to be appointed in Manner herein-after mentioned.

Not to extend to Lands granted by His Majesty

in commOME

Ownors of Grooks may abonate the

Provided always, That nothing in this Act contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to any Lands that have been granted by His Majesty, or shall hereafter be granted by His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, to be holden in free and common Soccage.

Provided also, That it shall and may be lawful to and for every Person that is Owner of any Lands, Goods, or Credits, in the said Province, and by Will, that has a Right to alienate the said Lands, Goods, or Credits, in his or her Life-time, by Deed of Sale, Gift, or otherwise, to devise or bequeath the same at his or her Death, by his or her last Will and Testament; any Law. Usage, or Custom, heretofore or now prevailing in the Province, to the Contrary hereof in any-wise notwithstanding; such Will being executed, either according to the Laws of Canada, or according to the Forms prescribed by the Laws of England.

if executed

a cording to the Laws of Canada

Conninal Law

Province.

And whereas the Certainty and Lenity of the Criminal Law of England, gland to and the Benefits and Advantages resulting from the Use of it, have been ta continued sensibly felt by the Inhabitants, from an Experience of more than Nine Years, during which it has been uniformly administered; be it therefore further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That the same shall continue to be administered, and shall be observed as Law in the Province of Quebec, as well in the Description and Quality of the Offence as in the Method of Prosecution and Trial; and the Punishments and Forfeitures thereby inflicted to the xclusion of every other Rule of Criminal Law, or Mode of Proceeding thereon, which did or might prevail in the said Province before the Year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and sixty-four; any Thing in this Act to the Contrary thereof in any Respect notwithstanding subject nevertheless to such Alterations and Amendments as the Governor. Lieutenant-governor, or Commander in Chief for the Time being, by and with the Advice and Consent of the legislative Council of the said Province. hereafter to be appointed, shall, from Time to Time, cause to be made therein, in Manner herein-after directed.

His Majesty may appoint a Council for

the Province;

And whereas it may be necessary to ordain many Regulations for the future Welfare and good Government of the Province of Quebec, the Occasions of which cannot now be foreseen, nor, without much Delay and the Affairs of Inconvenience, be provided for, without intrusting that Authority, for & certain Time, and under proper Restrictions, to Persons resident there: And whereas it is at present inexpedient to call an Assembly; be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful for His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, by Warrant under His or Their Signet or Sign Manual, and with the Advice of the Privy Council, to constitute and appoint a Council for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec, to consist of such Persons resident there, not exceeding Twenty-three, nor less than Seventeen, as His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, shall be pleased to appoint; and, upon the Death, Removal, or Absence of any of the Members of the said Council, in like Manner to constitute and appoint such ith Consent and so many other Person or Persons as shall be necessary to supply the Vacancy or Vacancies; which Council, so appointed and nominated, or the

which Council Tony make Endinances,

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