Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/334

 282 THE BRITISH EMPIRE: — CANADA

CANADA.

(Dominion of Canada.) Constitution and Government.

The territories which now constitute the Dominion of Canada came under British power at various times, some by settlement and others by conquest or session. Nova Scotia was occupied in 1627 ; the Hudson's Bay Company's Charter, conferring rights over the territories to the east and west of the Bay, was granted in 1670 ; Canada was conquered in 1759 and, along with New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, was formally ceded to Great Britain by France in 1763 ; Vancouver Island was acknowledged to be British by the Oregon Boundary Treaty of 1846, and British Columbia was occupied in 1858. As originally constituted the Dominion was comoosed of the provinces of Canada — Upper and Lower Canada, now Ontario and Quebec — Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. They were united under the provisions of an Act of the Imperial Parliament passed in March, 1867, known as 'The British North America Act, 1867,' which came into operation on July 1, 1867, by royal proclamation. The Act provides that the Constitution of the Dominion shall be ' similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom ' ; that the executive authority shall be vested in the Sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland, and carried on in his name by a Governor-General and Privy Council ; and that the legislative power shall be exercised by a Parliament of two Houses, called the ' Senate ' and the ' House of Commons.' The powers of the Federal Parliament include all subjects not assigned exclusively to the provincial legislatures. Provision was made in the Act for the admission of British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, the North-West Territories, and Newfoundland into the Dominion ; Newfoundland alone has not availed itself of such provision. In 1869, the extensive region known as the North-West Territories was added to the Dominion by purchase from the Hudson's Bay Company ; the province of Manitoba was set apart out of a portion of it, and admitted into the confederation on July 15, 1870. On July 20, 1871, the provinces of British Columbia, and by an Imperial Order in Council of May 16, in the same year, Prince Edward Island, were admitted into the confederation. The provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were formed from the provisional districts of Alberta, Athabaska, Assiniboia, and Saskatchewan, and were admitted to the Union as jjrovinces on September 1, 1905.

Canadian ministers signed the Peace Treaties with Germany and Austria in 1919 on behalf of Canada, thus making a new status for the Dominion.

The members of the Senate are nominated for life, by summons of the Governor-General under the Great Seal of Canada. The numerical representation of the Senate by provinces down to 1917 was as follows : Prince Edward Island, 4 ; Nova Scotia, 10 ; New Brunswick, 10 ; Quebec, 24 ; Ontario, 24 ; Manitoba, 4 ; Saskatchewan, 4 ; Alberta, 4 ; British Columbia, 3; Total, 87. By the Amendment of tho British North America Act, 1867 (April, 1915), which came into effect in 1917, the Senate consists of 96 senators — namely, 24 from the province of Ontario, 24 from Quebec, 10 from Nova Scotia, 10 from New Brunswick, 4 from Prince Edward Island, 6 from Manitoba, 6 from British Columbia, 6 from Alberta, and 6 from Saskatchewan. The total number may not exceed 104. Each senator must be 30 years of age, a born or naturalised sub- ject, and must reside in, and be possessed of property, real or personal, of the value of 4,000 dollars, within the province for which he is appointed. The Honse of Commons is elected by the people, for fivt years, unless