''Reference Re Anti-Inflation Act'',

976 Year 976 ( CMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after ret ...

2 S.C.R. 373 was a landmark

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 ...

opinion of 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 ...

on the constitutionality of the ''

Anti-Inflation Act The Anti-Inflation Act (french: Loi anti-inflation) was an Act of the Parliament of Canada, introduced by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's government and passed in 1975, which aimed to slow down the rapidly increasing price and wage inflation. ...

''.''Anti-Inflation Act'', SC 1975, c. 75. In what has become among the most significant

federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...

cases of the Supreme Court, the Act was held to be within the power of the federal government. The ''Anti-Inflation Act'' was passed in 1975, on recommendation of 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 ...

, to control the growing inflation of the past several years. Due to growing unease with the Act, the federal government put two questions to the Supreme Court on the validity of the Act. The major question being whether the Act was

ultra vires ('beyond the powers') is a Latin phrase used in law to describe an act which requires legal authority but is done without it. Its opposite, an act done under proper authority, is ('within the powers'). Acts that are may equivalently be termed ...

of the federal government. First, the Court noted that the subject-matter of the Act being inflation made it impossible to assign to one of the enumerated powers in the ''

Constitution Act, 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...

''. Consequently, the Act would be able to be upheld only under the

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 ...

(POGG) power under the Constitution which allowed the federal government to legislate in matters related to emergencies or matters of national concern. The Court looked at both options and found that the law could be saved under the emergency power of the peace, order and good government power.

Aftermath

In 1997, the Supreme Court found in the ''

Provincial Judges Reference The ''Reference re Remuneration of Judges of the Provincial Court (P.E.I.)'' 9973 S.C.R. 3 is a leading opinion of the Supreme Court of Canada in response to a reference question regarding remuneration and the independence and impartiality of prov ...

'' that independent commissions should recommend the salaries of judges. If governments reject the recommendations, the Supreme Court said courts should analyze these rejections in the same way it analyzed the Anti-Inflation Act in this case. In '' Provincial Court Judges' Assn. of New Brunswick v. New Brunswick (Minister of Justice)'' (2005), the Supreme Court clarified that that did not mean an economic emergency was needed to justify not following recommendations. It merely referred to a reviewing method to determine whether the rejection was rational.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Inflation Act Reference Canadian federalism case law Supreme Court of Canada cases 1976 in Canadian case law

Reference Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a ''name'' ...

Supreme Court of Canada reference question cases