The ''Canada Temperance Act'' (french: Loi de tempérance du Canada), also known as the ''Scott Act'', 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 ...

passed in 1878, which provided for a national framework for municipalities to opt in by

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

to a scheme of

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

. It was repealed in 1984.

Pre-Confederation colonial legislation

Temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

legislation of general application had been enacted by the various colonies as early as 1855, when

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

implemented total

to mixed success. Others, beginning with the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...

on the passage of the ''Dunkin Act'' in 1864, named after its sponsor

Christopher Dunkin The Hon. Christopher Dunkin, (September 25, 1812 – January 6, 1881) was a Canadian editor, lawyer, teacher, judge, and politician. Early life Born at Walworth, London, England, he was the son of Summerhayes Dunkin (1779-1823), of Hors ...

, opted to allow local municipalities to implement temperance upon an approval by

. The Act proved to be problematic in its operation following the division of the Province into

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. In ''Ex parte O'Neill'', RJQ 24 SC 304, it was held that the

Legislative Assembly of Quebec The Legislative Assembly of Quebec (French: ''Assemblée législative du Québec'') was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature from 1867 to December 31, 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, t ...

could not repeal the ''Dunkin Act'', but it could pass a concurrent statute for regulating liquor traffic within the province. It was also later held that the Parliament of Canada could not repeal that Act with respect only to Ontario.

Post-Confederation

The provinces continued to enact temperance legislation after the establishment of

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...

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''. 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 Dalton McCarthy (October 10, 1836 – May 11, 1898), or D'Alton McCarthy, was a Canadian lawyer and parliamentarian. He was the leader of the "Orange" or Protestant Irish, and fiercely fought against Irish Catholics as well as the French C ...

, 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.

Application

The Act was brought into effect in 17 municipalities:

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 Canadian federalism () involves the current nature and historical development of the federal system in Canada. Canada is a federation with eleven components: the national Government of Canada and ten provincial governments. All eleven go ...

: :* ''Severn v The Queen'' (holding that an Ontario Act requiring the licensing of liquor wholesalers and manufacturers was unconstitutional for infringing on the federal jurisdiction over trade and commerce) :* ''City of Fredericton v The Queen'' (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 ...

held that the ''Canada Temperance Act'' was a valid exercise of the trade and commerce power), later overturned by the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

in '' Russell v. The Queen'' (which declared that the Act fell under the power relating to

peace, order and good government In many Commonwealth jurisdictions, the phrase "peace, order, and good government" (POGG) is an expression used in law to express the legitimate objects of legislative powers conferred by statute. The phrase appears in many Imperial Acts of Pa ...

) :* '' Hodge v The Queen'' (which introduced the

double aspect Double aspect is a legal doctrine in Canadian constitutional law that allows for laws to be created by both provincial and federal governments in relation to the same subject matter. Typically, the federalist system assigns subject matters of leg ...

doctrine and declared that the provinces' jurisdiction under Section 92 was plenary in nature) :* the '' Local Prohibition Case'' (which held that prohibition fell under both federal and provincial jurisdiction and clarified the nature of both federal and provincial powers) When prohibition in Ontario was relaxed in 1927, 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

resulted in the 1935 finding that the Act still applied in the counties of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...

and Peel. A subsequent reference question by the Province of Ontario to the

Ontario Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...

resulted in a declaration that the ''Canada Temperance Act'' was constitutional, which was subsequently affirmed by the

in 1946 in '' Ontario v. Canada Temperance Federation''. Manitoulin and Peel would later hold plebiscites that revoked the application of the Act in December 1951, and Huron and Perth, the last jurisdictions in which the Act applied in Canada, would not do so until November 1959.

Repeal

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

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{reflist 1878 in Canadian law Canadian federal legislation Prohibition in Canada Repealed Canadian legislation Alcohol law in Canada