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War Measures Act
DCHP-2 (Jun 2016)
n. — Politics, Administration
a statute allowing the federal Cabinet to govern by decree during a national emergency or state of war.
Type: 5. Frequency — The War Measures Act was passed into law at the beginning of WWI to give the government the right to bypass Parliament in times of perceived external or internal threats to the nation. It was enacted during both World Wars and, most notably, in October of 1970 by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in response to the kidnapping of two government officials by the FLQ, a terrorist Quebec separatist/sovereignist group. The Act gave the government power to detain and arrest individuals without warrant, and therefore was the subject of much criticism among civil liberties advocates (see, e.g. the 2013 quotation). In 1988, the War Measures Act was replaced by the "Emergency Act" (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference and the 1988 quotation). The term remains most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1).
See also ITP Nelson, s.v. "War Measures Act", which is marked "Canadian".
See also ITP Nelson, s.v. "War Measures Act", which is marked "Canadian".
Quotations
1914
His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: - 1. This Act may be cited as the War Measures Act, 1914.
1916
PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given under the authority of the "War Measures Act, 1914," that during the first week in January, 1917, an inventory will be made by the Post Office Authorities, of every male between the ages of sixteen and sixty-five, residing in Canada.
1923
The War Measures Act, assented to on August 22, 1914, was a Dominion statue and empowered the governor-in-council "to make from time to time such orders and regulations as he may, by reason of the existence of real or apprehended war, invasion, or insurrection, deem necessary or advisable for the security, defense, peace, order and welfare of Canada" - such as censorship, arrest, detention, exclusion and deportation, control of harbors, and the movements of vessels, trading, exportation, importation, production and manufacture. It was under this act, on November 2, 1917 (P.C. 3116), that an order was issued making it illegal to use, for the distillation of potable liquors, grain of any kind, or any substance that could be used for food.
1939
The War Measures Act was proclaimed by an "order-in-council" Sept. 1 two days before Great Britain declared itself at war with Germany, it was stated. This act invests the governor-in-council with power to take extraordinary actions for the defence of the Dominion.
1958
The net result is that in time of emergency when the War Measures act has been proclaimed, the Bill of Rights in large measure becomes inoperative.
1977
He said Mr. Fox's admission that the RCMP had access to confidential medical files was a shocking application of the civil authority. It drives me wild to hear this kind of stuff from Cabinet ministers . . . They wash their hands of it completely. It's as though we were back to October, 1970, (when the War Measures Act was invoked) all over again.
1988
The House of Commons has unanimously accepted a Senate amendment to a bill replacing the War Measures Act, virtually ensuring that the government will soon lose its sweeping powers to suspend civil rights during an emergency.
The Commons move yesterday means only royal assent is needed for the new emergency act, replacing the 1914 law that was used to incarcerate Japanese Canadians during World War II and to round up Quebecers during the 1970 October Crisis.
The new act calls for different levels of emergency powers under four classes of emergencies - insurrection, natural disaster, international crisis, and war - and guarantees protection under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
1995
The political climate, particularly in Quebec, has changed dramatically in the past 25 years. And the 1914 War Measures Act invoked then has been replaced by the Emergency Act, curtailing the sweeping government powers contained in the old law.
2013
A reporter asked the PM how far he was prepared to go to deal with the crisis.
Trudeau's famous reply was, "Just watch me."
As the crisis escalated, he acted, implementing the War Measures Act after the Quebec premier asked for greater powers. That was no trivial move; it gave police wide-reaching powers of arrest. It was a move that sharply divided Canadians' views on civil rights.
References
- ITP Nelson
- Canadian Encyclopedia • "War Measures Act"
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