Acts & Statutes | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Election Expenses Act

    There have been problems with the interpretation and application of this legislation, partly as a consequence of imprecise or ambiguous wording in the Act itself. Many of these questions were examined by the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing which reported early in 1992.

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  • Article

    Enfranchisement (Plain-Language Summary)

    Throughout much of Canadian history, a First Nations person would lose their Indian status if they were enfranchised. An enfranchised person is someone who has the right to vote in elections. A First Nations person who is deemed a Status Indian has certain rights and benefits granted to them through the Indian Act. (This article is a plain-language summary of Enfranchisement. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry Enfranchisement).

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  • Macleans

    Feds Unveil Same-sex Marriage Law

    NEXT YEAR they will celebrate 30 years of marriage. At least, that's what they call it - although many would deny that this particular couple are married at all. They have lived in the same neighbourhood of big old houses and mature trees near downtown Winnipeg since 1978.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on July 28, 2003

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Feds Unveil Same-sex Marriage Law
  • Article

    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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  • Article

    Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

    The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was enacted by the United States Congress on 18 September 1850. It extended the reach of the institution of slavery into the free Northern states, stating that refugees from enslavement living there could be returned to enslavement in the South once captured. The Act led thousands of freedom-seekers to take refuge in Canada. It was repealed 28 June 1864.

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  • Macleans

    Gay Rights Bill Passes

    This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on May 13, 1996. Partner content is not updated. One year ago this week, Chris Phibbs and Chris Higgins, lesbian partners for seven years, hosted a celebration at their Toronto home. "There were flowers, telegrams, balloons," recalls Phibbs. "It was as much fun as a family has ever had.

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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Gay Rights Bill Passes
  • Article

    Gradual Civilization Act

    An Act to Encourage the Gradual Civilization of the Indian Tribes in the Province was passed by the fifth Parliament of the Province of Canada (formally Upper Canada and Lower Canada) in 1857. The Gradual Civilization Act, as it came to be known, was part of a state effort to use government policy to assimilate Indigenous peoples to the economic and social customs of European settler society.

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  • Article

    Gradual Enfranchisement Act

    The Gradual Enfranchisement Act of 1869 was a legislative measure passed by the government of the new Dominion of Canada. It attempted to control, regulate and assimilate First Nations people (referred to as “Indians” in the Act) in the country. This legislation followed An Act for the better protection of the Lands and Property of the Indians in Lower Canada of 1850 and the Gradual Civilization Act of 1857, passed by the Province of Canada (formerly Upper and Lower Canada). It preceded the Indian Act of 1876.

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  • Article

    Guarantee Act

    Guarantee Act, 1849, conceived by Francis HINCKS and carried in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, established the principle of government assistance to railways. Under the terms of the Act, any railway more than 75 mi (120 km) long was eligible for a government guarantee on the interest of half its bonds as soon as half the line had been completed.

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  • Article

    Indian Act

    The Indian Act is the primary law the federal government uses to administer Indian status, local First Nations governments and the management of reserve land. It also outlines governmental obligations to First Nations peoples. The Indian Act pertains to people with Indian Status; it does not directly reference non-status First Nations people, the Métis or Inuit. First introduced in 1876, the Act subsumed a number of colonial laws that aimed to eliminate First Nations culture in favour of assimilation into Euro-Canadian society. A new version of the Act was passed in 1951, and since then, has been amended several times, most significantly in 1985, with changes mainly focusing on the removal of discriminatory sections. It is an evolving, paradoxical document that has enabled trauma, human rights violations and social and cultural disruption for generations of Indigenous peoples. This is the full-length entry about the Indian Act. For a plain language summary, please see Indian Act (Plain Language Summary).

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  • Article

    Indian Act (Plain-Language Summary)

    The Indian Act was first created in 1876. A new version was created in 1951. Since then, the Act has been revised several times. The main goal of the Act was to force First Nations peoples to lose their culture and become like Euro-Canadians. The Indian Act does not affect either the Métis or Inuit. (This article is a plain-language summary of the Indian Act. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Indian Act.)

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  • Article

    Manitoba Act

    The Manitoba Act provided for the admission of Manitoba as Canada’s fifth province. It received royal assent and became law on 12 May 1870. It marked the legal resolution of the struggle for self-determination between people of the Red River Colony and the federal government, which began with Canada’s purchase of Rupert’s Land in 1870. The Act contained protections for the region’s Métis. However, these protections were not fully realized. As a result, many Métis left the province for the North-West Territories.

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  • Article

    Military Service Act

    The Military Service Act became law on 29 August 1917. It was a politically explosive and controversial law that bitterly divided the country along French-English lines. It made all male citizens aged 20 to 45 subject to conscription for military service, through the end of the First World War. As such, the Act had significant political consequences. It led to the creation of Prime Minister Borden’s Union Government and drove most of his French-Canadian supporters into opposition.

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  • Article

    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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    https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Militia Acts
  • Article

    Native People's Caravan

    The Native People’s Caravan was a cross-country mobile protest that took place in 1974. Its main purpose was to raise awareness about the poor living conditions and discrimination experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada. It travelled from Vancouver to Ottawa, where the subsequent occupation of a vacant warehouse on Victoria Island, near Parliament Hill, extended into 1975. The caravan brought various Indigenous groups together in protest of broken treaties, as well as a lack of government-supported education, housing and health care. As a result, meetings between Cabinet ministers and Indigenous leaders became more frequent. The protest is remembered as an important turning point in Indigenous activism in Canada.

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