Sergeant at Arms.

acts as recorder and keeps the journals of the House. The Clerk Assistant is appointed by the Speaker to assist the Clerk.

The drafting of all public bills, and their revision after passing the various stages are entrusted to the "law clerk".

The Sergeant at Arms is appointed by the Crown and acts as the chief executive officer of the House, fulfilling similar functions to those performed by the same officer in the English House of Commons.

7. INTERNAL ARRANGEMENTS.

Each member is provided with a seat and a desk to which is affixed a card with his name. It is the duty of the Sergeant at Arms to see to the allotment of seats.

Strangers are admitted to the galleries by tickets distributed to members by the Sergeant at Arms, and to the Speaker's gallery by order of the Speaker. Strangers are not obliged to withdraw when a division takes place, but either the Speaker or the House may order the withdrawal of strangers.

RESIGNATION.

A member resigns or vacates his seat:

(1) By giving notice of resignation from his place in the House.

8.

(2) By giving written notice under seal attested by two witnesses to the Speaker, or if there be no Speaker or if the member be Speaker, to two members. No member can resign while his election is contested, nor until the time during which it may be contested has elapsed'.

1 R. S. C. c. 14, s. 12.

(3) By death.

(4) By accepting certain offices'.

of Mem

The House of Commons on at least one occasion since Expulsion the Confederation has expelled a member. Previous to bers. the Union the Legislative Assemblies of Lower and Upper Canada had several times exercised the power of expulsion. In 1874 Louis Riel accused of the murder of Thomas Scott, was expelled as a fugitive from justice, and when he was returned again in 1875, a new writ was ordered to be issued for the election of a new member "in the room of Louis Riel adjudged an outlaw."

N. W. T.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE SENATE.

1. NUMBER.

THE number of senators by the B. N. A. Act, 1867, s. 22, was limited to 72, 24 being assigned to Ontario, 24 to Quebec, 12 to Nova Scotia and 12 to New Brunswick. On the admission of British Columbia the Order in Council of the 16th May, 1871, assigned three senators to the province and thus increased the number to 75. When Prince Edward's Island was admitted in 1873, no addition was made to the Senate, but in accordance with section 147 of the B. N. A. Act, 1867, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were each deprived of two senators, and the four places thus obtained were given to the newly admitted province. Manitoba by the 33 Vic. c. 3, s. 3, had three senators assigned to it under the powers conferred on the Dominion Parliament by the Imperial Act 34 and 35 Vic. c. 28, thus bringing the number up to 78. Any doubt as to the validity of the addition of senators by the last mentioned act was set at rest by the Imperial Act 49 and 50 Vic. c. 35, which confers on the Dominion Parliament full power to make provision for the representation in the Senate of any new province or of any territory.

In 1887 a Dominion Act' provided that the NorthWest Territories were to be represented by two senators possessing the same qualification as other senators.

150 and 51 Vic. c. 3.

members.

The 26th section of the B. N. A. Act of 1867 empowered Additional the Crown on the recommendation of the Governor-General, to direct at any time, that three or six members be added to the Senate.

In Dec. 1873 the Canadian Privy Council, nominally "in the public interests," but in reality to increase the supporters of the Ministry in the House, advised that an application be made to Her Majesty to add six members. The recommendation was forwarded by the Governor-General to the Colonial Secretary who, under the circumstances, declined to advise Her Majesty to comply with the request.

"After a careful examination of the question," said the Colonial Secretary, "which is one of considerable importance, I am satisfied that the intention of the framers of the 26th section of the B. N. A. Act, 1867, was that this power should be vested in Her Majesty, in order to provide a means of bringing the Senate into accord with the House of Commons in the event of an actual collision of opinion between the two Houses. You will readily understand that Her Majesty could not be advised to take the responsibility of interfering with the constitution of the Senate, except upon an occasion when it had been made apparent that a difference had arisen between the two Houses of so serious and permanent a character that the Government could not be carried on without Her intervention, and where it could be shewn that the limited creation of senators allowed by the Act would apply an adequate remedy. This view is, I may observe, strongly confirmed by the provisions of the 27th section, which shew that the addition to the Senate is only to be temporary and that the Senate is to be reduced to its usual number as soon as possible after the necessity for the exercise of the special power has passed away'."

1 Can. Sess. Papers, 1877, No. 68.

Age.

Subject.

Property.

2. QUALIFICATIONS OF SENATORS.

By section 23 of the B. N. A. Act, 1867, the qualifications required of a Senator are as follows:

1.

He must be 30 years of age.

2. He must be either

(a) a natural born subject of the Queen, or

(b) a naturalised subject.

Naturalisation is one of the subjects specifically reserved to the Dominion Parliament, and therefore an alien can only be naturalised by force of a Dominion or of an Imperial Act of Parliament. The status of aliens naturalised before the Union by a Provincial Legislature is recognised, and such subjects may be Senators.

3. His real and personal property must be of the value of 4000 dollars over and above his debts and liabilities.

(a) Of this property a certain minimum amount must consist of freeholds of which he is seised for his own benefit. The lands referred to in the Act' are "lands or tenements held in free and common socage...or held in franc-alleu or in roture."

(b) The minimum amount of freehold property is 4000 dollars, and such amount is calculated "over and above all rents, dues, debts, charges, mortgages, and incumbrances due or payable out of, or charged in or affecting the same."

(c) It is not necessary that the freeholds should be in the particular Electoral District of the Province for which the Senator sits, except in the case of Quebec Senators who are non-resident in the Province of Quebec2.

1 B. N. A. A. s. 23, (31).

4. He must be resident in the Province for which he is appointed. The Senators from Quebec are an exception to

3 B. N. A. A. s. 23 (5).

2 See below.