Prince Edward Island Terms of Union

(Order of Her Majesty in Council Admitting Prince Edward Island into the Union)

At the Court at Windsor, the 26th day of June, 1873

PRESENT

The QUEEN'S Most Excellent Majesty

Lord President

Earl Granville

Earl Or Kimberley

Lord Chamberlain

Mr. Gladstone

Whereas by the "Constitution Act, 1867," provision was made for the Union of the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotland New Brunswick into the Dominion or Canada. and it was (amongst other things) enacted that it should be lawful for the Queen, by and with the Advice of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, on Addresses from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada, and of the Legislature of the Colony of Prince Edward Island, to admit that Colony into the said Union on such terms and conditions as should be in the Addresses expressed, and as the Queen should think fit to approve, subject to the provisions of the said Act; and it was further enacted that the provisions Or any Order in Council in that behalf, should have effect as if they had been enacted by the Parliament Or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

And whereas by Addresses from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada, and from the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island respectively, of which Addresses, copies are contained in the Schedule to this Order annexed, Her Majesty was prayed, by and with the advice of Her Most Honorable Privy Council, under the one hundred and forty-sixth section of the hereinbefore recited Act, to admit Prince Edward Island into the Dominion of Canada, on the terms and conditions set forth in the said Addresses.

And whereas Her Majesty has thought fit to approve of the said terms and conditions, it is hereby ordered and declared by Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, in pursuance and exercise of the powers vested in Her Majesty, by the said Act of Parliament, that from and after the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, the said Colony of Prince Edward Island shall be admitted into and become part of the Dominion of Canada, upon the terms and conditions set forth in the hereinbefore recited Addresses.

And in accordance with the terms of the said Addresses relating to the Electoral Districts for which, the time within which, and the laws and provisions under which the first election of members to serve in the House of Commons of Canada, for such Electoral Districts shall be held, it is hereby further ordered and declared that "Prince County" shall constitute one district, to be designated "Prince County District," and return two members; that "Queen's County" shall constitute one district, to be designated "Queen's County District," and return two members; that "King's County" shall constitute one district, to be designated "King's County District," and return two members; that the election of members to serve in the House of Commons of Canada, for such Electoral Districts shall be held within three calendar months from the day of the admission of the said Island into the Union or Dominion of Canada; that all laws which at the date of this Order in Council relating to the qualification of any person to be elected or sit or vote as a member of the House of Assembly of the said Island, and relating to the qualifications or disqualifications of voters, and to the oaths to be taken by voters, and to Returning Officers and Poll Clerks, and their powers and duties, and relating to Polling Divisions within the said Island, and relating to the proceedings at elections, and to the period during which such elections may be continued, and relating to the trial of controverted elections, and the proceedings incidental thereto, and relating to the vacating of seats or the members, and to the execution of new writs, in case of any seat being vacated otherwise than by n dissolution, and to all other matters connected with or incidental to elections of members to serve in the House of Assembly of the said Island, shall apply to elections of members to serve in the House of Commons for the Electoral Districts situate in the said Island of Prince Edward.

And the Right Honorable Earl of Kimberley, one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State is to give the necessary directions herein, accordingly.

ARTHUR HELPS

SCHEDULE

To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the Dominion of Canada in Parliament assembled, humbly approach Your Majesty for the purpose of representing:--

That during the present Session of Parliament we have taken into consideration the subject or the admission of the Colony Or Prince Edward Island into the Union or Dominion of Canada, and have resolved that it is expedient that such admission should be effected at as early a date as may be found practicable, under the one hundred and forty-sixth section of the "British North America Act, 1867", on the conditions hereinafter set forth, which have been agreed upon with the Delegates from the said Colony, that is to say:--

That Canada shall be liable for the debts and liabilities of Prince Edward Island at the time of the Union;

That in consideration of the large expenditure authorized by the Parliament of Canada for the construction of railways and canals, and in view of the possibility of a readjustment of the financial arrangements between Canada and the several Provinces now embraced in the Dominion, as well as the isolated and exceptional condition of Prince Edward Island, that Colony shall, on entering the Union, be entitled to incur a debt equal to fifty dollars per head of its population, as shewn by the Census Returns of 1871, that is to say: four millions seven hundred and one thousand and fifty dollars;

That Prince Edward Island not having incurred debts equal to the sum mentioned in the next preceding Resolution, shall be entitled to receive, by half-yearly payments, in advance, from the General Government, interest at the rate of five per cent. per annum on the difference, from time to time, between the actual amount of its indebtedness and the amount of indebtedness authorized as aforesaid, viz., four millions seven hundred and one thousand and fifty dollars;

That Prince Edward Island shall be liable to Canada for the amount (if any) by which its public debt and liabilities at the date of the Union, may exceed four millions seven hundred and one thousand and fifty dollars and shall be chargeable with interest at the rate of five per cent. per annum on such excess;

That as the Government of Prince Edward Island holds no lands from the Crown, and consequently enjoys no revenue from that source for the construction and maintenance of local works, the Dominion Government shall pay by half-yearly instalments, in advance, to the Government or Prince Edward Island, forty-five thousand dollars per annum, less interest at five per cent. per annum, upon any sum not exceeding eight hundred thousand dollars which the Dominion Government may advance to the Prince Edward Island Government for the purchase of lands now held by large proprietors;

That in consideration of the transfer to the Parliament or Canada of the powers of taxation, the following sums shall be paid yearly by Canada to Prince Edward Island, for the support of its Government and Legislature, that is to say, thirty thousand dollars, and an annual grant equal to eighty cents per head of its population, as shown by the Census returns of 1871, viz., 94,021, both by half-yearly payments in advance--such grant of eighty cents per head to be augmented in proportion to the increase of population of the Island as may be shown by each subsequent decennial Census, until the population amounts to four hundred thousand, at which rate such grant shall thereafter remain it being understood that the next Census shall be taken in the year 1881;

That the Dominion Government shall assume and defray all the charges for the following services, viz.:--

The salary of the Lieutenant Governor;

The salaries of the Judges of the Superior Court and of the District or County Courts when established;

The charges in respect of the Department of Customs;

The Postal Department;

The protection of the Fisheries;

The provision for the Militia;

The Lighthouses, Shipwrecked Crews, Quarantine and Marine Hospitals;

The Geological Survey;

The Penitentiary;

Efficient Steam Service for the conveyance of mails and passengers, to be established and maintained between the Island and the mainland of the Dominion, Winter and Summer, thus placing the Island in continuous communication with the Intercolonial Railway and the railway system of the Dominion;

The maintenance of telegraphic communication between the Island and the mainland Or the Dominion;

And such other charges as may be incident to, and connected with, the services which by the "British North America Act, 1867" appertain to the General Government, and as are or may be allowed to the other Provinces;

That the railways under contract and in course of construction for the Government of the Island, shall be the property of Canada;

That the new building in which are held the Law Courts, Registry Office, etc., shall be transferred to Canada, on the payment of sixty-nine thousand dollars. The purchase to include the land on which the building stands, and a suitable space of ground in addition, for yard room, etc;

That the Steam Dredge Boat in course of construction, shall be taken by the Dominion, at a cost not exceeding twenty-two thousand dollars;

That the Steam Ferry Board owned by the Government of the Island, and used as such, shall remain the property of the Island;

That the population of Prince Edward Island having been increased by fifteen thousand or upwards since the year 1861, the Island shall be represented in the House of Commons of Canada by six Members; the representation to be readjusted, from time to time, under the provisions of the "British North America Act, 1867";

That the constitution of the Executive Authority and of the Legislature of Prince Edward Island, shall, subject to the provisions of the "British North America Act, 1867", continue, as at the time of the Union, until altered under the authority of the said Act, and the House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island existing at the date of the Union shall, unless sooner dissolved, continue for the period for which it was elected;

That the Provisions in the "British North America Act, 1867" shall, except those parts thereof which are in terms made, or by reasonable intendment, may be held to be especially applicable to, and only to affect one and not the whole of the Provinces now composing the Dominion, and except so far as the same may be varied by these resolutions, be applicable to Prince Edward Island, in the same way and to the same extent as they apply to the other Provinces of the Dominion, and as if the Colony of Prince Edward Island had been one of the Provinces originally united by the said Act.

That the Union shall take place on such day as Her Majesty may direct by Order in Council, on Addresses to that effect from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada and of the Legislature of the Colony of Prince Edward Island, under the one hundred and forty-sixth section of the "British North America Act, 1867", and that the Electoral Districts for which, the time within which, and the laws and provisions under which, the first Election of Members to serve in the House of Commons of Canada for such Electoral Districts shall be held, shall be such as the said Houses of the Legislature of the said Colony of Prince Edward Island may specify in their said Addresses.

We, therefore, humbly pray that Your Majesty will be graciously pleased, by and with the advice of Your Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, under the provisions of the one hundred and forty-sixth section of the "British North America Act, 1867", to admit Prince Edward Island into the Union or Dominion of Canada, on the terms and conditions hereinbefore set forth.

(Signed) JAMES COCKBURN, Speaker. House of Commons, 20th May 1873.

Most Gracious Sovereign

We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Senate of the Dominion of Canada in Parliament assembled, humbly approach Your Majesty for the purpose of representing:--

That on the sixteenth day of May, instant, His Excellency the Governor General transmitted for our information a copy of the minutes of a Conference between a Committee of the Privy Council of Canada and certain Delegates from the Colony of Prince Edward Island, on the subject of the Union of the said Colony with the Dominion of Canada, and of the Resolutions adopted by them, as the basis of such Union, which are in the following words, that is to say:--

[Here follows a statement of the conditions of Union as set forth in the Address of the House of Commons supra.]

The House of Commons having in the present Session of the Parliament of the Dominion passed an Address to Your Majesty, praying that your Majesty would be graciously pleased, by and with the advice of Your Most Honorable Privy Council, under the provisions of the one hundred and forty-sixth section of the "British North America Act, 1867", to admit Prince Edward Island into the Union or Dominion of Canada, on the terms and conditions set forth in the above-mentioned Resolutions.

Wherefore, we, the Senate of Canada, fully concurring in the terms and conditions expressed in the Address of the House of Commons, humbly pray that your Majesty will be pleased, by and with the advice of your Most Honorable Privy Council, under the provisions of the one hundred and forty-sixth section of the "British North America Act, 1867", to admit Prince Edward Island into the Dominion of Canada.

(Signed) P.J.O. CHAUVEAU,

Speaker of the Senate.

The Senate, May 21, 1873.

To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Legislative Council of Prince Edward Island, in Parliament assembled, humbly approach your Majesty, and pray that your Majesty will be graciously pleased, by and with the advice of your Majesty's most Honorable Privy Council, under the provisions of the one hundred and forty-sixth section of the "British North America Act, 1867", to admit Prince Edward Island into the Union or Dominion of Canada, on the terms and conditions expressed in certain Resolutions recently passed by Houses of the Parliament of Canada, and also by the Houses of the Legislature of Prince Edward Island. which said Resolutions are as follows--

[Here follows a statement of the conditions of Union as set forth in the Address of he House of Commons, supra.]

That for the first election of members to be returned by this Island for the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada, this Island shall be divided into Electoral Districts as follows:--That "Prince County" shall constitute one district and return two members; that "Queen's County" shall constitute one district, and return two members; that "King's County" shall constitute one district, and return two members; that the first election for members to serve in the House of Commons of Canada, shall take place within three calendar months after this Island shall be admitted, and become part of the Dominion of Canada; and we further humbly pray, that all laws which at the date of the Order in Council, by which the said Island of Prince Edward shall be admitted into the Dominion of Canada, relating to the qualification of any person to be elected to sit or vote as a member of the House of Assembly of the said Island, and relating to the qualifications or disqualifications of voters, and to the oaths to be taken by voters, and to returning officers and poll clerks, and their powers and duties, and relating to polling divisions within the said Island, and relating to the proceedings at elections, and to the period during which such election may be continued, and relating to the trial of controverted elections and the proceedings incident thereto, and relating to the vacating of seals of members, and to the execution of new writs, in case of any seat being vacated otherwise than by a dissolution, and all other matters connected with or incidental to elections of members to serve in the House of Assembly of the said Island, shall apply to elections of members to serve in the House of Commons for the Electoral Districts, situate in the said Island of Prince Edward.

(Signed) DONALD MONTGOMERY,

Committee Room, Legislative Council,

May 28, 1873.

To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty

Most Gracious Sovereign,

We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island in Parliament assembled, humbly approach Your Majesty, and pray that Your Majesty will be graciously pleased, by and with the advice of Your Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, under the provisions of the one hundred and forty-sixth section of the "British North America Act, 1867", to admit Prince Edward Island into the Union or Dominion of Canada, on the terms and conditions expressed in certain Resolutions recently passed by the Houses of the Parliament of Canada, and also by the Houses of the Legislature of Prince Edward Island, which said Resolutions are as follows:

[Here follows a statement of the conditions of Union as set forth in the Address of the House of Commons, supra, and the Address concludes with a paragraph identical with the last paragraph of the Address of the Legislative Council of Prince Edward Island, supra.]

(Signed) STANISLAUS F. PERRY,

Speaker.

House of Assembly, May 28. 1873.