Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory Order/Schedule A
Address to Her Majesty the Queen from the Senate and House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada.
To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty
Most Gracious Sovereign,
We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Senate and Commons of the Dominion of Canada, in Parliament assembled, humbly approach your Majesty for the purpose of representing:—
That it would promote the prosperity of the Canadian people, and conduce to the advantage of the whole Empire, if the Dominion of Canada, constituted under the provisions of the British North America Act, 1867 were extended westward to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
That the colonization of the fertile lands of the Saskatchewan, the Assiniboine, and the Red River districts; the development of the mineral wealth which abounds in the regions of The NorthWest; and the extension of commercial intercourse through the British possessions in America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, are alike dependent upon the establishment of a stable Government for the maintenance of law and order in the NorthWestern Territories.
That the welfare of a sparse and widely scattered population of British subjects of European origin, already inhabiting these remote and unorganized territories, would be materially enhanced by the formation therein of political institutions bearing analogy, as far as circumstances will admit, to those which exist in the several provinces of this Dominion.
That the 146th section of the British North America Act, 1867 provides for the admission of Rupert' s Land and the North-Western Territory, or either of them, into union with Canada, upon the terms and conditions to be expressed in addresses from the Houses of Parliament of this Dominion to your Majesty, and which shall be approved of by your Majesty in Council.
That we do therefore most humbly pray that your Majesty will be graciously pleased, by and with the advice of your Most Honourable Privy Council, to unite Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory with this Dominion, and to grant to the Parliament of Canada authority to legislate for their future welfare and good government; and we most humbly beg to express to your Majesty that we are willing to assume the duties and obligations of government and legislation as regards those territories.
That in the event of your Majesty's Government agreeing to transfer to Canada the jurisdiction and control over the said region, the Government and Parliament of Canada will be ready to provide that the legal rights of any corporation, company, or individual within the same shall be respected, and placed under the protection of Courts of competent jurisdiction.
And furthermore, that, upon the transference of the territories in question to the Canadian Government, the claims of the Indian tribes to compensation for lands required for purposes of settlement will be considered and settled in conformity with the equitable principles which have uniformly governed the British Crown in its dealings with the aborigines.
All which we humbly pray your Majesty to take into your Majesty's most gracious and favourable consideration.
The Senate, Tuesday, December 17, 1867.
(Signed) Joseph Cauchon, Speaker.
House of Commons, Monday, December 16, 1867.
(Signed) James Cockburn, Speaker.