Archived - CHAP. 4. An Act to further amend "The Indian Act, 1880."
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Date: Assented to 3rd May, 1873
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| Preamble. | HER Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows : |
| Department of the Interior. | 1. There shall be a Department of the Civil Service of Canada to be called "The Department of the Interior," over which the Minister of the Interior, for the time being, appointed by the Governor General, by Commission under the Great Seal of Canada, shall preside; and he shall hold office during pleasure, and shall have the management of the Department of the Interior. |
| Minister to manage the North West Territories. |
2. The Minister of the Interior shall have the control and management of the affairs of the North West Territories. |
| The Indians in Canada. | 3. The Minister of the Interior shall be the Superintendent General of Indian affairs, and shall, as such, have the control and management of the lands and property of the Indians in Canada. |
| The Ordnance other and Public Lands. Exception. Substituted for former Commissioner. |
4. The Minister of the Interior shall have the control and management of all Crown Lands being the property of the Dominion, including those known as Ordnance and Admiralty Lands, and all other public lands not specially under the control of the Public Works Department, or of that of Militia and Defence, (and excepting also Marine Hospitals and Light Houses and land connected therewith, and St. Paul's, Sable and Portage Islands,) and he is hereby substituted for the former Commissioner of Crown Lands, as regards Ordnance and Admiralty Lands, transferred to the late Province of Canada, and lying in Ontario and Quebec. |
| And for the Secretary of State of Canada in the cases named. |
5. The Minister of the Interior is hereby substituted for the Secretary of State of Canada in all the powers, attributes, functions, restrictions, and duties laid down and prescribed in the "Dominion Lands Act, 1872;" and wherever the words" Secretary of State" are used in that Act, the words" Minister of the Interior" shall be deemed to be substituted therefor; and wherever the words " Department of the Secretary of State" are used, the words "Department of the Interior" shall be deemed to be substituted therefor; and all the provisions of the said Act shall be and continue obligatory upon the Minister of the Interior; and all the officers appointed under the said Act shall become, and continue to be officers of the Department of the Interior. |
| Deputy of the Minister of the Interior. His duties. Application of 31 Vic., c. 34, to such Deputy. |
6. The Governor may appoint, and at his pleasure remove, a "Deputy of the Minister of the Interior," who shall be charged, under the Minister of the Interior, with the performance of the Departmental duties of the Minister of the Interior, and with the control and management of the Officers, Agents, Clerks and Servants of the Department, and with such other powers and duties as may be assigned to him by the Minister of the Interior; and the fourteenth section of "The Canada Civil Service Act. 1868," shall apply to the Deputy of the Minister of the Interior, as if the Department of the Interior were mentioned in Schedule A to that Act; and the words" Deputy of the Minister of the Interior," shall be deemed to be substituted for the words "Under Secretary of State for the Provinces" in that Schedule. |
| Departmental and other officers may be appointed. | 7. The Governor may also appoint, subject to the "Civil Service Act, 1868," and at his pleasure remove such Departmental Officers, agents, clerks and servants as may be requisite for the proper conduct of the business of the Department at Ottawa, and also such agents, officers, clerks and servants as may be necessary for the same purpose in the North West Territories, and amongst the Indians, and elsewhere, in the Dominion. |
| Former Act to remain in force and apply. Subject to the substitution of certain words. |
8. The several clauses, of chapter forty-two of the Statutes passed in the thirty-first year of Her Majesty's reign, entitled "An Act providing for the organization of the Department of the Secretary of State of Canada, and for the management of Indian and Ordnance Lands," relating to the management of Indian affairs and lands, and of Ordnance Lands, shall govern the Minister of the Interior in the several matters to which they relate ; and wherever the words" Secretary of State" or "Department of the Secretary of State" occur in those clauses, the words "Minister of the Interior" and "Department of the Interior" shall be deemed to be substituted therefor. |
| Indians may be exempted from the operation of this Act. | 9. The Governor in Council may, by proclamation, from time to time exempt from the operation of this Act, and of the said Act, chapter forty-two of the Statutes passed in the thirty-first year of Her Majesty's reign, or of any one or more of the clauses thereof, the Indians, or any tribe of them, or the Indian Lands, or any portion of them, in the North West Territories, or in the Province of Manitoba, or in the Province of British Columbia, and may again, by like proclamation, from time to time, remove such exemption. |
| Geological Survey. | 10. The Geological Survey of Canada as now existing shall be attached to the Department of the Interior. |
| Yearly report to Parliament. | 11. The Minister of the Interior shall annually lay before Parliament within fifteen days after the meeting thereof, a report the proceedings, transactions and affairs of the Department during the year then next preceding. |
| Secretary of State of Canada to have charge of State correspondence. | 12. The Secretary of State of Canada shall have charge of the State Correspondence with the Governments of the several Provinces included, or which may be hereafter included within the Dominion of Canada, |
| Other duties of Secretary of State for Canada. Stationery department. Queen's Printer. |
13. The remaining duties hitherto discharged by the Secretary of State of the Provinces, as regards matters other than those relating to the subjects by this Act transferred to the Department of the Interior, shall devolve upon, and be discharged by the Secretary of State of Canada, to whom also is transferred the duty of supplying the stationery required by the several Departments of the Government, and the charge of that Branch of the Public Service; and the Queen's Printer shall be held to be an officer of this Department. |
| Certain office abolished. | 14. The Office of Secretary of State for the Provinces is and stands abolished. |
| When this Act shall come in force. | 15. This Act shall only come into force after the expiration of one month from the publication in the Canada Gazette of a Proclamation to that effect under an order of the Governor in Council. |
| Repeal of inconsistent enactments. | 16. So much of any Act or law as may be inconsistent with this Act, or as makes any provision in any matter provided for by this Act, other than such as is hereby made is repealed, excepting as to things done, obligations contracted or penalties incurred before the coming into force of this Act. |