Canada Temperance Act Explained

Short Title:Canada Temperance Act
Legislature:Parliament of Canada
Long Title:An Act respecting the Traffic in Intoxicating Liquors
Citation:S.C. 1878, c. 16
Royal Assent:10 May 1878
Keywords:Temperance
Status:Repealed

The Canada Temperance Act[1] (French: Loi de tempérance du Canada), also known as the Scott Act, was an Act of the Parliament of Canada passed in 1878, which provided for a national framework for municipalities to opt in by plebiscite to a scheme of prohibition. It was repealed in 1984.

Pre-Confederation colonial legislation

Temperance legislation of general application had been enacted by the various colonies as early as 1855, when New Brunswick implemented total prohibition to mixed success. Others, beginning with the Province of Canada on the passage of the Dunkin Act in 1864, named after its sponsor Christopher Dunkin, opted to allow local municipalities to implement temperance upon an approval by plebiscite.[2]

The Act proved to be problematic in its operation following the division of the Province into Ontario and Quebec. In Ex parte O'Neill, RJQ 24 SC 304,[3] it was held that the Legislative Assembly of Quebec could not repeal the Dunkin Act, but it could pass a concurrent statute for regulating liquor traffic within the province.[4] It was also later held that the Parliament of Canada could not repeal that Act with respect only to Ontario.[5]

Post-Confederation

The provinces continued to enact temperance legislation after the establishment of Canadian Confederation in 1867. Ontario passed the Crooks Act in 1876 to provide for the limiting of licences granted by municipal councils in areas not otherwise subject to the Dunkin Act.[6] The Parliament of Canada shortly followed afterwards with the passage of the Scott Act, which offered local option within a national scheme, followed in 1883 by the McCarthy Act, named after its sponsor, Dalton McCarthy, and its national licensing system.

In 1917, provision was made to suspend the operation of the Act if provincial temperance legislation was determined to be as restrictive in application.[7]

Application

The Act was brought into effect in 17 municipalities:

Implementation of Canada Temperance Act
Province Year Area
1879Albert County
Carleton County
Kings County
Queens County
York County
1880Northumberland County
Westmorland County
1880Electoral District of Marquette
1881Electoral District of Lisgar
1881Digby
1884Yarmouth
1885Guysborough
1913Thetford Mines
1913District of Manitoulin
1914Huron County
Perth County (excluding Stratford)
1915Peel County

Legal controversy

The Act was the subject of several constitutional challenges, many of which were of major importance in developing the jurisprudence underlying Canadian federalism:

When prohibition in Ontario was relaxed in 1927, a reference question to the Supreme Court of Canada resulted in the 1935 finding that the Act still applied in the counties of Perth, Huron and Peel.[13] A subsequent reference question by the Province of Ontario to the Ontario Court of Appeal resulted in a declaration that the Canada Temperance Act was constitutional,[14] which was subsequently affirmed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1946 in Ontario v. Canada Temperance Federation.[15] Manitoulin and Peel would later hold plebiscites that revoked the application of the Act in December 1951,[16] and Huron and Perth, the last jurisdictions in which the Act applied in Canada, would not do so until November 1959.[17] [18]

Repeal

The Act remained on the statute books until its repeal in 1984.[19]

See also

Further reading

Notes and references

References

Notes and References

  1. The Canada Temperance Act, 1878. S.C.. 1878. 16. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015074701254?urlappend=%3Bseq=195.
  2. The Temperance Act of 1864. S.Prov.C.. 1864. 18. https://books.google.com/books?id=AHCuAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA165&ots=SI-wiQmTCo&pg=PA146#v=onepage&f=false.
  3. Book: Lefroy, Augustus Henry Frazer. 1918. A short treatise on Canadian constitutional law. Toronto. The Carswell Company. 189.
  4. Book: Lefroy, Augustus Henry Frazer. 1913. Canada's Federal System. Toronto. The Carswell Company. 162163.
  5. The Attorney General for Ontario v The Attorney General for the Dominion of Canada, and the Distillers and Brewers' Association of Ontario (The "Local Prohibition Case"). Local Prohibition Case. UKPC. 1896. 20. [1896] AC 348. 9 May 1896. P.C.. Canada. 1.
  6. An Act to amend the Law respecting the sale of Fermented and Spirituous Liquors. S.O.. 1875-76. 26. https://archive.org/details/statutesofprovi187576onta/page/120.
  7. An Act to amend an Act in aid of Provincial Legislation prohibiting or restricting the sale or use of Intoxicating Liquors. S.C.. 1917. 30. 2. https://archive.org/details/actsofparl1917v01cana/page/301.
  8. Severn v The Queen. 1878. scc. 29. canlii. [1878] 2 SCR 70, 1 Cart 414. 1878-01-28.
  9. City of Fredericton v The Queen. 1880. scc. 28. canlii. [1880] 3 SCR 505, 2 Cart 27. 1880-04-13.
  10. Charles Russell v The Queen. Russell v R. UKPC. 1882. 33. [1882] 7 App Cas 829, 8 CRAC 502. 23 June 1882. P.C.. New Brunswick. 1.
  11. Hodge v The Queen. Hodge v R. UKPC. 1883. 59. 15 December 1883. [1883] 9 AC 117. P.C.. Ontario. 1.
  12. The Attorney General for Ontario v The Attorney General for the Dominion of Canada, and the Distillers and Brewers’ Association of Ontario. Local Prohibition Case. UKPC. 1896. 20. [1896] AC 348. 9 May 1896. P.C.. Canada. 1.
  13. Reference re Canada Temperance Act. 1935. scc. 38. canlii. [1935] SCR 494. 1935-06-28.
  14. Re Canada Temperance Act. 1939. onca. 58. canlii. [1939] OR 570; [1939] 4 DLR 14; 72 CCC 145. 1939-09-26. auto.
  15. The Attorney-General of Ontario and others v The Canada Temperance Federation. Ontario (AG) v Canada Temperance Federation. UKPC. 1946. 2. [1946] A.C. 193. 21 January 1946. P.C.. Ontario. 1.
  16. News: . A Wet Win?. The Acton Free Press. Acton, Ontario. 2. 6 December 1951.
  17. News: French-Gibson. Elizabeth. 2017. Prohibition in Huron County: What Life was like in the 'Dry' Years. Huron-Perth Boomers. Goderich, Ontario. 2. 2. 12–14.
  18. News: . Pieces of the Past: The Arlington Hotel in Listowel. The Listowel Banner. Listowel, Ontario. January 31, 2018. January 17, 2019. January 17, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190117122359/https://www.southwesternontario.ca/community-story/8102527-pieces-of-the-past-the-arlington-hotel-in-listowel/. dead.
  19. Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 1984. S.C.. 1984. 40. 69. https://archive.org/details/actsofparl198384v02cana/page/1492.