Provincial status is needed


"Provincial status is needed"
Saskatchewan Herald 11/14/1884 Parliamentary Representation The eastern as well as the territorial press have recently taken up the affairs of the North-West and its peculiar political constitution, and numerous plans have been suggested as a means of securing justice and placing the Territories on an equal footing with the Provinces as an integral part of the Dominion, so far as their circumstances will permit. Most of the reforms suggested have long been advocated in The Herald, and it is gratifying to find so many of the leading papers endorsing the views put forward in its columns when it was almost the only exponent of public opinion in the Territories. The most pressing need of the Territories today is representation in the House of Commons. This granted, there would always be a means of pressing on the attention of the country such changes in the laws governing the Territories as their growth in population called for. With a representative man in Parliament to whom reference could be made on matters relating to our affairs, the members would be enabled to vote intelligently. Some object to representation in the Commons because they would, like the Territorial representatives in the United States Congress, be unable to vote. But we need not follow our neighbours in this particular: if we are granted representatives, they must have all the powers and privileges of ordinary members. * * * * * The granting of extended powers to the North-West Council is a reform on which all parties agree. They need to be not only extended but to be better defined. The creation of an independent government or provincial organization for each of the districts into which the Territories are now divided is premature. The population is too small and scattered to justify it. The erection of a Province out of a portion of the country now comprised in the Territories is an event that must some take place under existing laws, as it cannot be long before the Council will have the necessary number of members to convert it into a Provincial Assembly. This might properly be hastened by reducing the minimum number of inhabitants necessary to the formation of an electoral district to more reasonable figures- say to a thousand souls instead of a thousand adults as at present. The Territories are too vast, and present too many conflicting interests to be satisfactorily managed as a single Province. But with one Province set up on terms of equality with the older Provinces, and a more liberal constitution given to the remaining Territories, and Parliamentary representation conceded at once, the country would be satisfied. The Territories ask for no exceptional legislation, but their population and importance entitle them to be put on an equal footing with other portions of the Dominion, and united action is necessary to secure this. The circumstances of the country are very different from those existing when the North West Territories Act was framed, and the amount of study that has recently been given to our affairs should enable the Government so to remodel it as to make it suit the present day and be comprehensive enough to cover a considerable period in the future.

"Provincial status is needed"

Saskatchewan Herald
11/14/1884
Parliamentary Representation
The eastern as well as the territorial press have recently taken up the affairs of the North-West and its peculiar political constitution, and numerous plans have been suggested as a means of securing justice and placing the Territories on an equal footing with the Provinces as an integral part of the Dominion, so far as their circumstances will permit. Most of the reforms suggested have long been advocated in The Herald, and it is gratifying to find so many of the leading papers endorsing the views put forward in its columns when it was almost the only exponent of public opinion in the Territories.
The most pressing need of the Territories today is representation in the House of Commons. This granted, there would always be a means of pressing on the attention of the country such changes in the laws governing the Territories as their growth in population called for. With a representative man in Parliament to whom reference could be made on matters relating to our affairs, the members would be enabled to vote intelligently. Some object to representation in the Commons because they would, like the Territorial representatives in the United States Congress, be unable to vote. But we need not follow our neighbours in this particular: if we are granted representatives, they must have all the powers and privileges of ordinary members.
* * * * *
The granting of extended powers to the North-West Council is a reform on which all parties agree. They need to be not only extended but to be better defined.
The creation of an independent government or provincial organization for each of the districts into which the Territories are now divided is premature. The population is too small and scattered to justify it.
The erection of a Province out of a portion of the country now comprised in the Territories is an event that must some take place under existing laws, as it cannot be long before the Council will have the necessary number of members to convert it into a Provincial Assembly. This might properly be hastened by reducing the minimum number of inhabitants necessary to the formation of an electoral district to more reasonable figures- say to a thousand souls instead of a thousand adults as at present. The Territories are too vast, and present too many conflicting interests to be satisfactorily managed as a single Province. But with one Province set up on terms of equality with the older Provinces, and a more liberal constitution given to the remaining Territories, and Parliamentary representation conceded at once, the country would be satisfied. The Territories ask for no exceptional legislation, but their population and importance entitle them to be put on an equal footing with other portions of the Dominion, and united action is necessary to secure this.
The circumstances of the country are very different from those existing when the North West Territories Act was framed, and the amount of study that has recently been given to our affairs should enable the Government so to remodel it as to make it suit the present day and be comprehensive enough to cover a considerable period in the future.