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Macleans

Young Offers Act Reform

This week, when Joe Wamback addresses the Commons committee reviewing proposed changes to the Young Offenders Act, he will tell the politicians about the horrific assault that almost killed his son last summer.

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Newfoundland Bill

The people of NEWFOUNDLAND rejected CONFEDERATION in 1867, choosing to remain a British colony until 1948, when a majority of voters indicated their willingness to join Canada.

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Finance Act

Finance Act, August 1914, emergency measure ending Canada's GOLD STANDARD and giving the Department of Finance new powers.

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Disallowance

The CONSTITUTION ACT of 1867 provides that any ACT of a provincial legislature must be promptly sent to the GOVERNOR GENERAL and that the governor general-in-council (federal CABINET) may disallow any such Act (wipe it off the statute book) within one year.

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Defamation in Canada

Defamation law protects an individual's reputation and good name. It also restricts freedom of speech. Therefore, courts must carefully balance these two important values in deciding defamation actions.

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Corn Laws

Corn laws, 1794-1846, set duties on grain imports into Britain to protect British agriculture from outside competition. (In Britain, "corn" is the name for CEREAL CROPS.

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Civil Code

Civil Code is a fundamental legislative enactment which contains a compendious statement of a country's private law. It is typically found in legal systems whose traditions are traceable to Roman law. In Canada, only Quebec has a Civil Code.

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Bourgeois

Bourgeois, according to an 18th-century writer, were not nobles, ecclesiastics or magistrates, but city dwellers who "nevertheless by their properties, by their riches, by the honorable employments which adorn them and by their commerce are above the artisans and what is called the people.

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Alien Question

The earliest settlers of Upper Canada were normally American immigrants, free to take up land and enjoy the privileges of British subjects upon giving an oath of allegiance to the Crown.

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Autonomy Bills

The Autonomy Bills were the 1905 laws that created the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta out of the North-West Territories (1870–1905). Despite strong support for provincehood, frustrations were evident. The Bills’ most fiercely contested elements revolved around boundaries, the federal government’s ongoing control over public lands and resources and the educational clauses in the Bills.

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Bank of Canada Act

Bank of Canada Act, 3 July 1934, created the Bank of Canada 1935 in response to the 1933 Royal Commission on Banking and Currency. The Bank of Canada was at first privately owned, but was nationalized by 1938.

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Canada Corn Act

Canada Corn Act, passed in 1843 by the British Parliament and applying to all grains, allowed Canadian wheat to enter the British market at a nominal duty, and flour manufactured in Canada at a proportionate rate.

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Nickle Resolution

The Nickle Resolution, passed in 1919 by the House of Commons, directed that the practice of bestowing titles of honour by foreign governments on Canadians be discontinued. The policy was reaffirmed in 1968 by the government of Prime Minister Lester B.

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Union Government

Union Government In early 1917, during WORLD WAR I, recruitment for the CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE fell to a very low level. PM Sir Robert BORDEN, opposed to any reduction in Canada's commitment to the war effort, announced on 18 May 1917 that the government would introduce CONSCRIPTION to Canada.

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Militia Acts

Militia Acts provided manpower for defence. Until the 1850s, such Acts in Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick usually imposed compulsory service on males between 16 and 50 or 60, with annual or more frequent enrolment musters.

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Padlock Act

The Padlock Act (Act Respecting Communistic Propaganda) was a 1937 Quebec statute empowering the attorney general to close, for one year, any building used for propagating "communism or bolshevism" (undefined).

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The 1969 Amendment and the (De)criminalization of Homosexuality

From the earliest days of colonization to 1969, sodomy laws made sex between men illegal in Canada. In addition, a law enacted in 1892 made “gross indecency” between men illegal. This included anything that indicated same-sex attraction, including simple touching, dancing and kissing. The law was extended to women in 1953. In 1969, however, sodomy and gross indecency laws were changed, making such acts legal under some circumstances. The parties involved had to be 21 years of age or older and conduct their affairs in private. Sodomy and gross indecency remained illegal outside of the home or if three or more individuals were involved or present. Thus, Canada’s Criminal Code continued to equate homosexuality with criminal behaviour under many circumstances.

Macleans

New Youth Crime Act

AT FIRST GLANCE, Greg looks much like the other inmates at the Toronto Youth Assessment Centre. Shoulder-length black hair pulled back in a ponytail, he's dressed in standard-issue burgundy T-shirt, sweatpants and running shoes with Velcro fasteners.