A.—No. 11

Voting in Senate. 36. Questions arising in the Senate shall be decided by a majority of voices, and the Speaker shall in all cases have a vote, and when the voices are equal the decisiou shall be deemed to be in the negative. The Souse of Commons. Constitution of Ilouse of Commons in Canada. 37. The House of Commons shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, consist of one hundred and eighty-one Members, of whom eighty-two shall be elected for Ontario, sixty-five for Quebec, nineteen for Nova Scotia, and fifteen for New Brunswick. Summoning of llouso of Commons. 38. The G-overnor-G-eneral shall from time to time, in the Queen's name, by instrument under the Great Seal of Canada, summon and call together the House of Commons. Senators not to sit in llouso of Commons. 39. A Senator shall not be capable of being elected or of sitting or voting as a Member of the House of Commons. Electoral Districts of the four Provinces. 40. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shall, for the purposes o£ the election of Members to serve in the House of Commons, be divided into electoral districts as follows :— I.—ONTARIO. Ontario shall be divided into the counties, ridings of counties, cities, parts of cities, and towns enumerated in the First Schedule to this Act, each whereof shall be an electoral district, each such district as numbered in that Schedule being entitled to return one Member. 2.—qtjebec. Quebec shall be divided into sixty-five electoral districts, composed of sixty-five electoral divisions into which Lower Canada is at the passing of this Act divided under chapter two of the Consolidated Statutes of Canada, chapter seventy-five of the Consolidated Satutes for Lower Canada, and the Act of the Province of Canada of the twenty-third year of the Queen, chapter one, or any other Act amending the same in force at the Union, so that each such electoral division shall be for the purposes of this Act an electoral district entitled to return one Member. 3.—>" OVA SCOTIA. Each of the eighteen counties of Nova Scotia shall be an electoral district. The County of Halifax shall bo entitled to return two Members, and each of the other counties one Member. 4.—NEW BETJNSWICK. Each of the fourteen counties into which New Brunswick is divided, including the City and County of St. John, shall be an electoral district. The City of St. John shall also be a separate electoral district. Each of those fifteen electoral districts shall be entitled to return one member. Continuance of existing election laws until Parliament of Canada otherwise provides. 41. Until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, all laws in force in the several Provinces at the Union relative to the following matters or any of them, namely,—the qualifications and disqualifications of persons to be elected or to sit or vote as Members of the House of Assembly or Legislative Assembly in the several Provinces, the voters at elections of such Members, the oaths to be taken by voters, the Returning Officers, their powers and duties, the proceedings at elections, the periods during which elections may be continued, the trial of controverted elections, and proceedings incident thereto, the vacating of seats of Members, and the execution of new writs in case of seats vacated otherwise than by dissolution, —shall respectively apply to elections of Members to serve in the House of Commons for the same several Provinces : Provided that, until the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides, at any election for a Member of the House of Commons for the district of Algoma, in addition to persons qualified by the law of the Province of Canada to vote, every male British subject, aged twenty-one years or upwards, being an householder, shall have a vote. "Writs for first election. 42. For the first election of members to serve in the House of Commons the Governor-G-eneral shall cause writs to bo issued by such person, in such form, and addressed to such Returning Officers as he thinks fit. The person issuing writs under this section shall have the like powers as are possessed at the Union by the officers charged with the issuing of writs for the election of members to serve in the respective House of Assembly or Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, or New Brunswick; and the Returning Officers to whom writs are directed under this section shall have the like powers as are possessed at the Union by the officers charged with the returning of writs for the election of members to serve in the same respective House of Assembly or Legislative Assembly. As to casual vacancies. 43. In case a vacancy in the representation in the House of Commons of any electoral district happens before the meeting of the Parliament, or after the meeting of the Parliament before provision is made by the Parliament in this behalf, the provisions of the last foregoing section of this Act shall extend and apply to the issuing and returning of a writ in respect of such vacant district. As to election of Speaker of the House of Commons. 44. The House of Commons on its first assembling after a general election shall proceed with all practicable speed to elect one of its members to be Speaker.

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THE BRITISH NORTH AMERICA ACT, 1867.