Sunday Legislation in the Dominion Parliament
By G. B. Thompson
The following, clipped from the May number of the Lord’s Day Advocate, a monthly journal published by the Lord’s Day Alliance, gives the progress of the matter of Sunday legislation in Parliament up to the present time:— “Readers will remember that a Draft Dominion act was submitted to the government with request that they introduce it and have it enacted. The government asked the minister of justice for an opinion as to the respective jurisdictions of the Dominion and the provinces in the light of the privy council’s decision given in July last. He replied in effect that (1) the Dominion has full jurisdiction ‘under its power to enact criminal law; (2) the Dominion alone can legislate to control Dominion railways, works, and other undertakings; (3) the provinces can, nevertheless, legislate to cover a good deal of the ground covered by the Draft act under consideration of the government. “The government was loathe to undertake to legislate covering any ground which could also be covered by provincial legislation. On the suggestion of the minister of justice, therefore, they decided to draft a law similar to that submitted by the Alliance, have it introduced in Parliament, and then referred to the supreme court, and, if necessary, to the privy council, to adjudicate as to whether it trenched upon provincial jurisdiction, the government to pay all costs of argument, including the fees of the counsel of the Lord’s Day Alliance. “Subsequently this decision was modified to the extent of drafting a provincial act such as the minister of justice considers could be validly enacted by any province, and referring this to the courts. By either method of procedure there is the probability of getting the vexed question of jurisdiction finally settled. So far, good. There is, however, the danger, if not the certainty, of the legislation sought being laid over for another session of Parliament. We shall have, besides, the novel spectacle of the Dominion through counsel arguing before the courts in favor of provincial jurisdiction, and quite likely some of the provinces arguing in favor of Dominion jurisdiction. Charity, however, requires us to assume that in this the good politicians are but practising the Scriptural injunction, to ‘look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.’ “Meantime, we see no good reason why the Dominion Parliament should not proceed at once to regulate as to the Lord’s day business, work, or traffic on the railways, and other things admittedly within its exclusive jurisdiction. “The Dominion has taken upon itself to declare certain electric railways ‘works for the general advantage of Canada,’ and so brought them under its exclusive jurisdiction. These roads, therefore, in the absence of any Dominion Sunday law, are free to operate their systems on the Lord’s day, no matter what the people of the communities and provinces affected may desire. One of these, the Grand Valley (Brantford, Paris, Galt, etc.), is already operating its road, and is said to intend putting on a Sunday service this summer. It aims at developing a large traffic to a park accessible to the various centers of population, fitted out with dance pavilion, theater, facilities for the sale of refreshments, solid, liquid, hard and soft, and other down-to-date attractions. No comments are necessary in order to make it clear that such an institution is likely to prove ‘a work for the general disadvantage of Canada,’ or, at least, of the communities afflicted. Petitions are now in circulation asking the Parliament of Canada to make these roads subject to the Sunday laws of the several provinces.” It would seem from the foregoing that the Alliance hardly expect to secure further legislation on the Sunday question at this session. Meanwhile the agitation will continue, and the laws already in existence be enforced as far as possible. This is the most favorable time we shall ever have to educate the people upon this great question.