13. LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Under the British North America Act of 1867, which is virtually the constitution of the Dominion of Canada, the organization of local government is placed within the jurisdiction of the several provinces. There is consequently considerable variety in the structure of rural and urban gov ernment in the different parts of the Dominion. Certain general features are, however, to be observed. The fundamental principle of organ ization is that of local autonomy by the means of representative elected bodies. The provinces are divided into counties, subdivided into town ships, in which again school sections are formed. The county and the township are not every where found side by side. Indeed, the provinces of Canada present the same contrast between the predominance of the township and the county as is found in the United States. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick the county is the unit of local government; in Ontario and Quebec both township and county are found; throughout the West the township system pre vails, the county being only a judicial area. In addition to these rural areas of government, there are found incorporated villages, towns and cities. In Ontario and Manitoba incorpora tion takes place by virtue of a general statute; elsewhere it is done by special legislation. The details of local government may best be under stood by first passing in review the organization and powers of rural governing bodies in the different provinces, and treating separately the question of town and city government and municipal franchises. Ontario, the most pop ulous of the provinces, contains 38 county cor porations and 423 townships. Both of these divisions vary greatly in size and population. The largest county (Grey) contains 1,092,027 acres, the smallest (Brant) only 213905 acres. Thirty-two townships contain less than 20,000 acres, 11 of them more than 80,000 acres each. There are in addition the districts of Muskoka, Parry Sound, Nipissing, Manitoulin, Algoma, Thunder Bay, Kenova, Sudbury, Temiskaming and Rainy River, not yet organized as counties, but in the settled portions of which over 200 townships have been incorporated. The affairs of the townships are managed by a reeve and from one to four deputy reeves, according to population, elected yearly. For the county there is a county council, composed of the reeves and deputy reeves of the towns, not being separated towns, and of the villages and townships in the county. The franchise for all local elections is extremely wide. It includes every person of 21 years and upward, rated for real property to an extent varying from $100 in the townships to $400 in the cities; those assessed for an income of $400, and farmers' sons of full age living at home. The council is chiefly con cerned with the maintenance of roads and bridges, the levy and collection of school taxes and the collection of the county tax. Assessors appointed annually by the township council make a valuation of real and personal property. The other principal officers of the township are the treasurer and the township clerk. The latter, though legally holding office at the pleasure of the council, enjoys a. practically permanent ten ure. He prepares the collector's rolls, statute labor lists, voters' lists, etc., registers births, deaths and marriages and performs many other duties assigned to him by separate statutes. The county council meets at the ((county under the presidency of a warden whom it elects annu ally. It acts largely through committees, both standing and special. It appoints a treasurer, a county clerk, an engineer, a public schdol in spector and two auditors. The county council provides accommodation for the courts of justice, maintains county buildings, roads and bridges, houses of refuge, etc. The county rate is collected with the local taxation, but the county council has power to the valuations of the local assessors if it thinks necessary. For organization of school districts, and control of schools in Ontario and elsewhere, see article on Punic EDUCATION IN CANADA. Local government in the Rrovince of Quebec is organized under a municipal code enacted by the legislature (24 Dec. 1870), and revised in 1 The larger towns and the cities are in corporated under special charters granted by the legislature. Of the counties some are divided into parishes, others into townships. For each county there is a council composed of all the mayors of the included municipalities. At its head is a warden (pref et) whom it annu ally elects. The county council meets in regular session four times a year; its duties consist chiefly in the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, etc., the locating of the Circuit Court, provision against forest fires, etc. The subordinate local councils (parish, township, united township, village and town) consist of seven councillors elected annually throughout the province, each council having a mayor as its head. The powers of these minor councils
extend to highways, bridges, ferries, regula tion of public health, etc. For all local pur poses direct taxes are levied on all real estate, except the property of the government and that of religious and educational institutions. (For organization, etc., of schools, consult article on PUBLIC EDUCATION). The Seigniorial tenure of land, which once carried with it certain powers of local administration, is also treated in a sep arate article. The local government of New Brunswick is regulated by a consolidated statute of 1898. Each county has an elected council, meeting twice a year. The larger cities have a representative in the county council as well as their own local council. The officers of the parishes are appointed by the county council. In Nova Scotia there are elective county coun cils, choosing its own wardens. Their by-laws are subject to the approval of the legislature. The counties of Prince Edward Island are electoral and judicial areas, but owing to the small size of the province the legislature itself acts as the organ of local government; villages and towns are, however, incorporated with elective councils. In Manitoba, Alberta, Sas katchewan and British Columbia local govern ment centres in the township, administered by a council of four to six members, with a reeve at its head. The unorganized territories (Yukon, Mackenzie Keewatin and Ungava) are controlled by the Dominion government, and have no representative institutions. The govern ment in Canadian cities is regulated by statutes of the provincial legislatures. This fact permits of frequent change, and a continuous develop ment of organization to meet the circumstances of the hour. In Toronto, for example, and in many other cities, it is the practice to suggest to the Parliament from year to year such altera tions of the city charter as seem advisable. In the majority of the Canadian provinces, towns and cities are incorporated by special legislation ; in Ontario and Manitoba, by virtue of general statutes on proclamation by the lieutenant-gov ernor. Even in these provinces, however, special acts of incorporation are usually passed in order to provide borrowing powers. The typi cal form of Canadian urban government con sists of a single chamber of aldermen (varying in number from 9 to 26) with a mayor. Both the mayor and council are generally elected for one year. In Montreal and Quebec the mayor is elected for two years, and in the latter city is chosen from among the aldermen. In Montreal, Quebec, Winnipeg, Brandon and Vancouver the aldermen are elected for two years. A board of control (the mayor with four aldermen), whose function it is to prepare the annual esti mates, has been adopted for the cities of Ontario having •a population of more than 45,000. In Montreal the affairs of the city are administered by the mayor and four controllers, specially elected for four years, the council of aldermen acting in a legislative and supervising capacity. Municipal offices are, in most cases, filled by appointments made by the mayor or the council. In the cities of Ontario and British Columbia, in Winnipeg, Charlottetown and Saint John, police appointments are made by commissioners independent of the civic government. The liquor licenses are almost everywhere under the control of the provincial authorities. The municipal suffrage in Canada is more restricted than the rural or parliamentary. Throughout Ontario, in Montreal, Quebec, Calgary and the four largest cities of British Columbia a special qualification of real property or income is de manded. The chief sources of civic revenue are found in taxes on real property, betterment taxes, and, in some cases, license taxes and per centage receipts from city franchises. Munici pal indebtedness, incurred mainly for streets, sewers, waterworks and education, has much increased of late years, and in Montreal, Toronto, the cities of Quebec and the western provinces it grew rapidly from 1910 to 1917 concurrently with an amazing growth in assess ment values. The net debt of Montreal at the beginning of 1917 was $97,790,779, of Toronto about $44,000,000. Except for waterworks there is but little municipal management of pub lic works. Winnipeg, New Westminster, Three Rivers and a number of minor towns in On tario own and operate electric plants; Calgary and Brandon operate their own street railways. Street railway franchises are granted for periods varying from 15 to 30 years ; in Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, Ottawa and Halifax the city receives a percentage of gross receipts.
Bibliography.— Meredith and Wilkinson, (Canadian Municipal Manual' (Ontario 1917) ; University of Toronto Studies, Vol. II, Nos. 1-2; Report of Ontario Assessment Commission (1901-02) ; Bourinot,