The Anti-Inflation Act (french: Loi anti-inflation) was an Act of the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

, introduced by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

's government and passed in 1975, which aimed to slow down the rapidly increasing

price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the c ...

and

wage A wage is payment made by an employer to an employee for work done in a specific period of time. Some examples of wage payments include compensatory payments such as ''minimum wage'', ''prevailing wage'', and ''yearly bonuses,'' and remuner ...

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

Background

Prior to 1975, the

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; french: Banque du Canada) is a Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surveys: Ca ...

had warned the government about the dangers of the current inflation which was roughly 10% per year. In response, the government introduced Bill C-73, the precursor to the Act, to the

. Previously,

had mocked the idea in the

1974 Canadian federal election The 1974 Canadian federal election was held on July 8, 1974, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party was reelected, going from a minority to a majority government, and ga ...

The Act

Amongst its many controls, it limited pay increases for federal public employees and those in companies with more than 500 employees to 10 per cent in the first year, 8 per cent the next, and 6 per cent thereafter."Wage and Price Controls"
/ref> Additionally, the Anti-Inflation Board was created to set

wages A wage is payment made by an employer to an employee for work done in a specific period of time. Some examples of wage payments include compensatory payments such as ''minimum wage'', ''prevailing wage'', and ''yearly bonuses,'' and remuner ...

and

prices A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the c ...

.The

and

wage controls Incomes policies in economics are economy-wide wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation, and usually seeking to establish wages and prices below free market level. Incomes policies have often been resorted t ...

were enforced until 1978, and the act was repealed in 1979. A similar program aimed only at the public sector was introduced in 1982.

Reaction

The Act proved highly contentious and there was much debate over whether the

had overstepped its powers in enacting the law. Consequently, the government put a

reference question In Canadian law, a reference question or reference case (formally called abstract review) is a submission by the federal or a provincial government to the courts asking for an advisory opinion on a major legal issue. Typically the question concer ...

to the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

, and in 1976 the court passed down its opinion in ''

Reference Re Anti-Inflation Act ''Reference Re Anti-Inflation Act'', 9762 S.C.R. 373 was a landmark reference question opinion of the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutionality of the ''Anti-Inflation Act''.''Anti-Inflation Act'', SC 1975, c. 75. In what has become among the ...

'', which declared the law constitutional.

References

*Michelle Dust
Day of Protest October 14, 1976: An Expression of Solidarity
Saskatoon:

CUPE The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; french: Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, links=no; french: SCFP, link=, label=none) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized workpl ...

Local 1975, 1999. *

Saskatchewan Federation of Labour The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) is the Saskatchewan provincial trade union federation of the Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC (french: Congrès du travail du Canada, link=no or ) is a national trade unio ...

. ''October 14, 1977: Demonstrate'', Fall 1977. *

. ''Saskatchewan Labour'', Vol. 1, No. 2. Regina, 1977. *

. ''Saskatchewan Labour'', Vol. 1, No. 3, National Day of Protest Special Issue. Regina, 1977. *

Saskatoon Labour Council Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

. ''October 14, A National Day of Protest''. Saskatoon, 1977. 1975 in Canadian law Canadian federal legislation Economic policy in North America Inflation Repealed Canadian legislation {{canada-hist-stub

Background

The Act

Reaction

See also

References