Report of George Burden, Esq., commissioner, on the western part of the disputed territory belonging to the province of Ontario, wherein the Dominion or Manitoba governments have, since 1879, claimed to exercise jurisdiction.

of Police was appointed by the Dominion Government to carry out the provisions of the Act.Several constables were also appointed, who were paid, jointly, by the contractors and the Government.In addition to providing penalties for the illicit sale of liquor, the Act contemplates the suppression of the practice of carrying arms.The " North-West Territories Act" (otherwise called the "Keewatin Prohibitory Act,") which became law in 1874, was also assumed by the Dominion officials to be in force in the territory.Under this Act the illicit liquor seller incurs a penalty of $50' for a first offence; $100 for a second offence; and $200 for a third offence.Imprisonment is not provided for, except in case of non-payment of fine, and one-half the fine when paid goes to the informer.The original intention of this Act was, undoubtedly, to make unprofitable the introduction of liquor into the Indian country by white traders ;. and the absence of imprisonment as one of the penalties, is accounted for by the fact that, in the.then unorganized territories brought within the scope of the Act, there were no jails or lock-ups for the detention of offenders.Further, under this Act, the Lieu- tenant-Governor of the North-West Territories is empowered to issue permits to individuals for the introduction of quantities not exceeding five gallons of liquor.The Public Works Act was enforced at Rat Portage in two or three instances, by the first Commissioner of Police appointed by the Dominion Government (Captain Bent) in 1879.After that period, the then occupant of the office invariably carried out the Keewatin Act instead of the Public Works Act, and the same course was followed by his successors, Messrs. Brereton and McCabe, down to December last when, in compliance with instructions from the Minister of Justice at Ottawa, Mr. McCabe caused his constables to discontinue laying informations under the Keewatin Act in places contiguous to the line of railway.Among the buildings raised by the contractors of Section B, Canada Pacific Railway, in 1879, was a log-house intended to serve as a lock-up for prisoners.This lock-up was recognised in a proclamation, issued by the Dominion Government in 1880, as a common jail for Keewatin.(See Dominion Statutes of that year, page 82.)In the middle of December, 1879, Mr. W. D. Lyon, who had been acting under the^ Ontario Government as a Stipendiary Magistrate at Alberton, on the Rainy River, was ordered to Rat Portage, representations having been made that there had been recently erected at Keewatin extensive mills and other works ; that there was a considerable number of men there, or in the neighbourhood, attracted by the Canada Pacific works and by the recent discoveries of gold and silver on the islands of the Lake of the Woods, and that a good deal of disturbance had arisen.Mr. Lyon was instructed that, as the territory was within Ontario, he had no authority to enforce laws which were passed for the District of Keewatin.Mr. Lyon arrived at Rat Portage on the 7th of January, 1880, having found the steamer frozen-up at the mouth of the Rainy River, and having had to wait until the ice formation on the Lake enabled him to perform the journey on foot, which he did in eight days.Inthe course of his journey he learned that a considerable amount of whiskey was concealed on some of the islands in the lake, and also that several complaints had been lodged with the Dominion Magistrate against parties for the illicit sale of liquor.On the 5th March, 1880, it was represented to the Ontario Government that the people of Rat Portage and Fort Frances were anxious for the establishment of Division Oourts at those places as early as practicable ; that the people were being robbed every- day for the want of some process to facilitate the collection of small debts, and that the Dominion Government had declined taking any initiative in this direction.A petition to the Ontario Government from the leading citizens of Rat Portage set forth that, owingto the fact of there being no Court of Civil Jurisdiction as yet established, they were put to great inconvenience and loss for want of the necessary facilities to enforce payment of their outstanding debts.The loss and inconvenience complained of would, they said, be very much increased as portions of the works on the railway were finished, and the sub-contractors, traders and labourers began to move from place to place-many of them leaving the district and carrying their effects with them.The petitioners further com- plained that they had no power to detain the goods of defaulting creditors, or to enforce payment of lawful claims.They concluded by saying that a great number of business transactions took place at Rat Portage, and that a majority of such cases came within the jurisdiction of a Division Court, and they impressed upon the Ontario Government the urgent necessity of establishing such a Court there at as early a date as possible.On the 28th May, 1880, an Order-in-Council was approved by His Honour the Lieut.-Governor of Ontario, establishing Division Courts, with head quarters at RatPortage and Fort Frances.In the meantime, an Act, passed by the Ontario Legislature in its preceding session, making additional provision for the Administration of Justice in the disputed territory, had been disallowed by the Dominion Government. On 7th May, 1880, a Dominion Act respecting the Administration of CriminalJusticein the territory in dispute between the Province of Ontario and Dominion of Canada, received the assent of His Excellency the Governor-General.Under the provisions of this Act, crimes and offences committed within the disputed territory might be enquired into, tried and punished within any county or district of the Provinces of Ontario or Manitoba, or the District of Keewatin, as though such crimes or offences had been committed within the county or district where such trial was had.It was also enacted that such crimes or offences would be sufficiently laid and charged, whether they were laid and charged to have been committed in Ontario or the District of Keewatin, and any sentences which might have been imposed upon offenders had the offences been committed either in an undisputed part of Ontario or an undisputed part of Keewatin, might be imposed upon offenders convicted under the Act.The Act also pro- vided for the withdrawal of prisoners from the jails of the Province of Manitoba to the jails of Ontario or vice versa for trial, and for commitments to the jails at Winnipeg or Prince Arthur's Landing in the event of there being no proper place of confinement for or within the locality in which the conviction was had or the offence was committed.No provision was made for carrying out civil law within the territory, and the dis- pute as to title paralyzed, to a large extent, the efforts of the Ontario Magistrate for the prevention of disorder and the administration of justice.Nevertheless, he was enabled to render effectual service for some time in checking the liquor traffic, and in breaking up the most notorious of the dens of prostitution which existed in the locality, owing to his having received the cordial co-operation of the railway contractors, This Act, passed on the invitation of the Dominion Government, was confirmed by an Act of the Federal Parliament, on the 21st March, 1881.The following were the terms and conditions on which such increase was made :-" (a) All the enactments and provisions of all the Acts of Parliament of Canada which have, since the creation of the Province of Manitoba, been extended into and made to apply to the said Province, shall extend and apply to the territory by this Act added thereto as fully and effectually as if the same had originally formed part of the Province and the boundaries thereof had in the first instance been fixed and defined as is done by this Act, subject, however, to the provisions of Section three of this Act." (6) The said increased limit and the territory hereby added to the Province of Manitoba shall be subject to all such provisions as may have been, or shall hereafter be enacted, respecting the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the lands to be granted in aid thereof." 3.All laws and ordinances in force in the territory hereby added to the Province of Manitoba at the time of the coming into force of this Act, and all Courts of Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction, and all legal commissions, powers and authorities, and all officers, judicial, administrative and ministerial, existing therein at the time of the coming into force of this Act shall continue therein as if such territory had not been added to the said Province ; subject nevertheless, with respect to matters within the legislative authority of the Legislature of the Province of Manitoba, to be repealed, abolished or altered by the said Legislature."Although this Act was assented to by the Governor-General on the 21st March, 1881, no step had been taken by the Manitoba Government towards the civil, criminal or municipal organization of any portion of the disputed territory up to the time of the sitting of the Ontario Division Court on the 16th May.A Bill was, however, introduced into the Provincial Legislature and assented to on 21st May, 1881, intended to pave the

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.