Canadian Law: A History The significant moments of Canadian legal history. last updated Friday, October 07, 2011 Lescarbot, Marc 1570-1641 Biography of Marc Lescarbot: French lawyer and New World explorer. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The Quebec Civil Law Kerfuffle (1763-1774) What was England thinking when, in 1763, they tried to impose English common law on the proud but defeated French population of Quebec? last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 1850: George Green, 11, Sentenced to Death In 1850, a Canadian judge gave the death penalty to an 11-year-old boy convicted of murder. last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 Nova Scotia Separatists (1867) Yes, folks. Quebec has not been the only province to seek separation! How about Nova Scotia?! last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 A Supreme Court for Canada: Act One (1869) The beginning of Canada's Supreme Court. last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 The Washington Treaty (1871) Precursor of international law - Canada-USA variety, circa 1871: the great reciprocity debate. last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 Louis Riel Outlawed! (1872) Louis Riel's flair for the dramatic. last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 The Litigation Craze In 1877, a litigation craze hit quiet Ottawa. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The Attack on the Orange Order (1884) 1884: The Free-Masons break up a snowy winter. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Women Suffrage - Act I In 1885, an MP proves the contrary point the minute he opens his mouth. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The English-French "Thing" Comes To A Head (1886) Oh, yeah! Bring it on brother! Wilfrid Laurier flaps his marvellous French-Canadian wings and spellbounds Parliament. last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 The Jesuits Estates (1889) Jesuits Estates - a dynamite issue and in Canada, circa 1889, it cast a pale light on still rampant fears of pride and prejudice. last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 Canada's Criminal Code: A History It all started in 1892: Canada's criminal law is rooted in the common law of England. The public policy advantages of codification began at the end of the 18th century in England where, in the words of Canadian Federal Court judge Allen Linden, criminal law had evolved into "a bottomless pit of complex case law, petty, anachronistic offences and harsh punishments." last updated Monday, December 12, 2011 Women's Suffrage; Act Two (1895) The exclusive club of male legislators still believed what their forefathers had taught them and also, perhaps, that the earth was flat. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The Grave Constitutional Question (1896) That whole "discretion .... valour" thing never comes easy for a political appointee, especially one blessed "majestically". last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Trial By M.P. (1906) 1906: La Presse journalist Ernest Eugene Cinq-Mars is hauled in for contempt of Parliament, merely for publishing some damn good copy. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Chinaman: Racism In Law (1914) Canada's last sputtering of racist laws. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The Birth of Income Tax (1917) A temporary income tax? Wanna buy a bridge? last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 A Woman Law-maker (1922) "She will vindicate the confidence that the last Parliament has reposed in her sex." last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Organized Labour Loses a Battle (1932) As Canada struggles with organized labour, Canada's chief law-maker, the prime minister, inherits the description "Mussolini is but a child". last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Communists! (1941) Keeping "very bad" company. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The War "Referendum" (1941) Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 1949: A Supreme Court; Act II Time had come to sever the umbilical cord. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The Divorce Blockade (1960) Difficult divorce: Mrs. Jacqueline Mazurette, to be "Ms" at a price. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Make Them All Homos (1969) Of "homos" and government and a good dose of utter nonsense. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The Constitution Comes Home (1980) October 23, 1980: all Hell breaks loose in Canada's House of Commons when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau tries to close debate on the repatriation of the Constitution. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1981) In 1982, Canada cut the second last umbilical chord with Great Britain (the last being the Monarchy which continues ...), repatriated the Constitution and wheeled out an all-powerful, made-in-Canada charter of human rights and basic freedoms ... shaking every nook and cranny of Canadian law. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The Charlottetown Accord (1992) A bitter personal struggle underscores nation building. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The Attack on the Orange Order (1884) The Free-Masons break up a snowy winter. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The English-French "Thing" Comes To A Head (1886) Oh, yeah! Bring it on brother! Laurier flaps his marvelous French-Canadian wings. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012 The Jesuits Estates (1889) Jesuits Estates - a dynamite issue. last updated Tuesday, January 17, 2012