Miscellaneous Documents

Copyright 1994-2001 William F. Maton

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The following documents are of historical, as well as in some cases, legal interest.

• The Quebec Resolutions of 1864
  • The first blueprint for a federal union between the British North American colonies.

• Colonial Laws Validity Act, 1865
  • Gave the United Kingdom Parliament the power to over-ride any conflicting colonial laws.
  • Repealed by the Statute of Westminster.

• London Resolutions of 1866
  • A refinement of the earlier Quebec Resolutions of 1864.

• Manitoba Boundaries Extension Act, 1881
  • Extended the boundaries of the province of Manitoba.
  • This effectively replaced section 1 of the Manitoba Act, 1870.

• The Quebec Boundary Extension Act, 1912
  • Extended the boundaries of the province of Quebec to their present-day limits.

• The Quebec Boundary Extension Act Amendment, 1946.
  • Included the populations of the territories added to Quebec by the Quebec Boundary Extension Act, 1912, to be counted in the decennial census for adjustment of representation in the House of Commons.

• The Balfour Declaration, 1926
  • It stated that the United Kingdom and its Dominions were on an equal footing
  • Recognized the growing political and diplomatic independence of Canada, among other Dominions, particularly after World War I.
  • Recommended that the Governor General's duty to represent the British government be separated into another office, eventually becoming the British High Commissioner
  • Lead to the creation of the Statute of Westminstea, 1931.r

• Quebec's French-only sign law (Bill 178), which invoked the Charter's "notwithstanding clause" (section 33), available here in French and English.

• The Motion to declare Quebec a Distinct Society, as passed by the House of Commons.

• Bill C-110, 1995, amended
  • A Federal, self-imposed amending formula.
  • An amended version of the bill, which now gives British Columbia a veto.
  • Passed by the House of Commons, 13 December, 1995.
  • Again, only legally binding on Parliament.

• Issues surrounding the proposed French version of the Canadian Constitution as proposed by the French Drafting committee in 1990. (A Thesis by Hugo Yvon Denis Choquette.)