

     l 
     
     l 
     
     l 
     
    
     .._..,..., 
     
    
     . s tutional 
     
     ‘ the British North America Act 
     
     oil 7 
     
    
     ,te+is tobe composed of 
     
    
     r 
     
    
     TIF~ 
     
    
     'iﬂ 
     
     4. 
     
     it 
     
    
     The Guardinn - The Evening Patriot 
     
    
     By Hon. Thane A. Campbell, Chief Iustice 
     
    
     In his Centennial year he 
     
     lueation naturally arises; What 
     
     significant changes have taken 
     
     place in the laws of Prince Ed- 
     
     war ,Island since the meeting 
     
     fathers of Confederation 
     
    
     The", answer to this question 
     
     necessitates re- 
     
     rlew_ of the constitutional his- 
     
     tory of The Island prior to 1864. 
     
     Formeer inhabited by the Mic- 
     
     MicvMac Indians, and known 
     
    
     is 
     
     new name of Saint Jean. it re- 
     
     mained a French colony (with 
     
     tilerexception of a short period 
     
    
     t 
     
    
     HON. THANE 
     
     'A. CMAPBELL 
     
    
     (rein 1745 to 1748) until 1758. In 
     
     1768 by the Peace of Paris 
     
     wasftormally ceded to England. 
     
     From that date until 1769 The 
     
     tl’sland was a part of the colony 
     
     of Nova Scotia. In 1769 it was 
     
     granted a separate legislature, 
     
     but the finst statutes were pas- 
     
     Ied in 1773 
     
     colony was vanged from Saint 
     
     John to Prince Edward Island 
     
     1798 
     
    
     a... 
     
     re 
     
    
     It is therefore accepted gen- 
     
     erally that the laws of Prince 
     
     Edward Island up to 1 were 
     
     compounded of the following e1- 
     
     errients- - (1) The unwritten 
     
     laws of England as they stood 
     
     atl1763, subject to modification 
     
     by subsequent valid legislation 
     
     oflthe colony. These unwritten 
     
     Iaivs comprised in turn (al the 
     
     criminal law; rbl the common 
     
     law in civil matters: to) equity, 
     
     or‘ a benefice nt gloss on the 
     
     stfictness of the common law, 
     
     administered by the Courts of 
     
    
     cery. 
     
    
     (21 English statutes passed up 
     
     to; 1763 w‘iich had a general or 
     
     specific bearing on life and con- 
     
     ditions prevailing here. ‘3) (In 
     
     theory) laws relating to The Is- 
     
     lahd passed by the Legislature 
     
     of? Nova Scotia between 1763 
     
     and 1769. (No such statutes 
     
     have been brought to my atten- 
     
     tionl (4) Statutes, on civil 
     
     cﬂiminal law, passed by the 
     
     Legislature of Prince Edward 
     
     Island since 1769 (or. in prac- 
     
     tice. s i n c e the meeting of the 
     
     Le‘zislature in 17731. 
     
    
     “ﬁnch statutes could revense 
     
     or modifv the existing state of 
     
     the law. but until the granting of 
     
     responsible government in 1851 
     
     they were liable to be disallow- 
     
     ed by the Governor or by the 
     
    
     ome Government. 
     
    
     B,N.A. ACT 
     
     :. uch was the content of our 
     
     laws in 1864, The most important 
     
     change in the laws of Prin 
     
     ward Island in the past hundred 
     
     years occurred on lst July 1873, 
     
     when The Island became a pro- 
     
     ce of Canada under tf 1e con- 
     
     terms settled by 
     
    
     86 . 
     
    
     The resulting changes in our 
     
     laws In a y be outlined as 'fol- 
     
     laws: - ill The basic features 
     
     oil our constitution passed i 
     
     ritten law. as enacted by the 
     
     .- N. A. Act. Th at Act, com- 
     
     h ‘ned with Her Majesty's Order 
     
     0 ' mitih June 1873 admitting this 
     
     I land as a province of Canada, 
     
     It 
     
    
     c 
     
    
     ﬂ 
     
    
     :1 
     
     n. 
     
     O 
     
    
     .ovided that the constitution 
     
     r each of the Maritime Provin- 
     
     the 
     
    
     Is should remain as at 
     
    
     '3 services. 
     
    
     the under its authority to regu 
     
    
     or procedure 
     
    
     time of Union. but conferred on 
     
     each province of Canada the 
     
     power to amend its constitution: 
     
     except as to the office of Lie u- 
     
     tenant - Governor. 
     
    
     964  
     
    
     Dominion and Provincial po- 
     
     wers conﬂict. the Dominion le- 
     
    
     been passed by the Pro- 
     
    
     have 
     
     vincial Legisla t u r e and 
     
    
     tions have been in large mea- 
     
    
     By-the provisions of the B.N.A. 
     
    
     “sore PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 1884-] 
     
    
     Bythootatutuottfse Provinc- 
     
     ialLe ' 
     
    
     1 u ans our surefreduced to written statut- Ag, which this}! converted our stun in matters re- ﬂu 
     
    
     . . gis a on prev . aws on such subjects as real ory arm. a pie coo a constitution into served it! rovincial urisdi . 
     
    
     of topics such as agriculture. (4) The Island retained. sub- and personal property, sale of SUMMARY a complex provincial and fed- ion. p r 1 ct. 3:1”?! Wei“, :3: ﬁrm- 
     
     education nnd wells-re. Ou 1' to the last mentioned prin- goods, education, highway traf— To summarize. - our laws of eral system. Yet, in spite of the voluminous: are still largely founded mmal) 
     
     laws on one h subjects are ciple. the right to legislate on tic. liquor control, solemnlzation 1864, as I have outlined h (2), By the Criminal Code of statutes passed by both Domin-I common or unwritten la the 
     
     therefore a combination of Do- matters of a local or private na- of marriage, care of children, a~ above, have been substantially Ca and other valid legisla- ion and Provincial legislation-England. as ' w 0! 
     
     minion and Provincial statutes. ture in the province. On such ministration of justice, and pro- modified in the past hundred. tion of the Parliament ofCanada as, we remain a “com .many centuries of judicial cl”, 
     
     In any field of legislation where topics very numerous acts vincial and municipal constitu. years in the following ways: (I) in its appropriate fields; (3) law" provin . ilons. e. 
     
    
     ONE ASSEMBLY 
     
    
     The most noticeable individ- 
     
     ual changes in our provincial 
     
     constitution occurred (a) in 
     
     1898. when the Ledalative Cou- 
     
     ncil and Legislative Assembly 
     
     were abolished by provincial 
     
     statute and replaced by a single 
     
     Legislat i v e Assembly 30 
     
     members, half of whom were to 
     
     be elected by prope wners 
     
     and half on a general franchise 
     
     basis; and (b) in 1922, when 
     
     women were admitted to vote on 
     
     the same basis as men. 
     
    
     (2) The Island lost its powers 
     
     to pass statutes on no 
     
     Law, as well as on a number of 
     
     other topim Which were as g- 
     
     ned exclusively to the legislat- 
     
     ive jurisdiction of the Parlia- 
     
     ment of Canada by section 91 
     
     of the B.N.A. Act. (a) The Do- 
     
     minion Parliament has since 
     
     passed a large number of stat- 
     
     tutes on such topics as pos t al 
     
     defence. ﬁsheries. 
     
     currency, banking, bills of ex- 
     
     change and promissory notes, 
     
     bankruptcy, etc.. under the po- 
     
     rred by section 91. 
     
    
     come law on this Iland in com- 
     
     mon 'th the other provinces. 
     
     (bl One topic under the exclu- 
     
     sive jurisdiction of the Parlia- 
     
     ment of Canada is marriage 
     
     and divorce. The Dominion has 
     
     passed very little legislation on 
     
     the subject of divorce, an our 
     
     law therefore continues substan- 
     
     tially the same as that enacted 
     
     by a colonial statute of 1835 
     
     passed in the reign of William 
     
     IV. U n d e r that statute the 
     
     Court of Divorce for Title Island 
     
     was His Majesty's Council. and 
     
     up to 1949 the Executive Coun- 
     
     cil sat as a court to hear divor- 
     
     ce actions. 
     
    
     In that year, however, the 
     
     Provincial Le slature, ' 
     
    
     the administration of justice 
     
     and to organize provincial 
     
     courts, conferred a concurrent 
     
     jurisdiction on e me 
     
     Court of the Province. Since then 
     
     all divorce proceedings 
     
     been in the Supreme Court, and 
     
     the Executive Council has pro- 
     
     perly been relieved of an oner- 
     
     ous judicial function. ' 
     
    
     (cl After Confederation the 
     
     English criminal law continu- 
     
     ed to be applicable to this and 
     
     all the other provinces of Can- 
     
     ada except insofar as it 
     
     modified by Dominion Statute. 
     
     Our criminal law was largely 
     
     unwritten until 1st July 1893, 
     
     when there came into force a 
     
     Canadian statute passed in thel 
     
     preceding year and known as 
     
     the Criminal Code, whereb a 
     
     great deal of the criminal law 
     
     of Canada was reduced to writ- 
     
     ten and statutory form, parti- 
     
     cularly with reference to defini- 
     
     tion of offences, provisions for 
     
     punishment and regulation of 
     
    
     ‘2 
     
     to 
     
    
     CRIMINAL CODE 
     
    
     The Criminal Code of 1892 was 
     
     subjected to very numerous 
     
     amendments, and to three gen- 
     
     eral revisions or consolidations 
     
     (1906, 1927, 1952). On 1st April, 
     
     1955 it was replaced by the 
     
     present Criminal Code, which 
     
     made various changes, conden- 
     
     sations and re - arrangements 
     
     in the previous Code, and which 
     
     (with subsequent annual amen- 
     
     dments) is now applicable in 
     
     this province, as well as in 
     
     rest of Canada. 
     
    
     Unlike its predecessor. the 
     
     new Code is an exhaustive cata- 
     
     logue of Canadian criminal of- 
     
     fences; we therefore no longer 
     
     have any criminal offences at 
     
     common law, 'or by pre - Con- 
     
     federation statute either Eng- 
     
     lish or colonial. In spite. how- 
     
     ever, of the intensive codifica- 
     
     tion of our criminal law. much 
     
     of its basic jurisprudence. such 
     
     as the principles of liability and 
     
     defence, remains unwritten and 
     
     is still governed by the common 
     
     law of England. 
     
    
     (31 By the B.N.A. Act, and 
     
     subsequent amendments, the 
     
     Province and he Dominion 
     
     have acquired concurrent pow- 
     
     ers of legislation on a number 
     
    
     ., as to cos 
     
    
     .: building is to be placed 
     
      centre of Queen Square, 
     
     v - handsome design which 
     
     . drafted by Mr. Isaac Smith, 
     
     ' n of the Mechanics In- 
     
    
     I'N CHARLO'I'I'ETOWN. 
     
     wﬂlalaobeacredit to this 
     
     . .1 and rising Colony". 
     
     above is taken from The 
     
    
     ‘lCo'lonial building 
     
    
     which also noted that in 
     
    
     hen 
     
     nor placed in a niche in it a 
     
     vase containing various coins 
     
     of the realm and a scroll Which 
     
     read as follows: 
     
    
     rat stone of 
     
     if: Iwas laid by His Excellency. 
     
    
     a 0 
     
     day of May, in the year of Our: 
     
     Lord. 
     
     Hundred 
     
     and in 
     
    
     t $35,000 
     
    
     laying 
     
     the cornerstone the t Gover- 
     
    
     ‘"ll'ie fi this Build- 
     
    
     Vere Huntley Knight, 
     
    
     enry 
     
    
     One Thousand Eight 
     
     and Forty-three (1543) 
     
     the st year of the 
     
    
     WIT 
     
    
     Serving P. E. Island Since I886 ' 
     
    
     First power plant pictured at right was 
     
     a steam driven turbine plant with a 
     
     500 Kllowott capacity, 175 lbs. steam 
     
    
     pressure. Pictured is plant of 1926. 
     
    
     ELEGTHIGITY 
     
    
     With A Modern Efficient Plant ' 
     
    
     Shown at left is presentploni generat- 
     
     lng total capacity of 55,000 kilowatts. 
     
     New centralized control system recent- 
     
     ly Installed enables one operator to 
     
    
     control and odiust normal output of 
     
    
     plant. 
     
    
     I" 4 v