Article

Fort Frances Case

Published Online February 7, 2006

Last Edited December 16, 2013

In 1917, under the WAR MEASURES ACT, the government fixed the price and quantity of newsprint paper produced; subsequent legislation created the Paper Control Tribunal, which set retroactive prices through 1919, although wartime conditions had ceased.

Fort Frances Case

In 1917, under the WAR MEASURES ACT, the government fixed the price and quantity of newsprint paper produced; subsequent legislation created the Paper Control Tribunal, which set retroactive prices through 1919, although wartime conditions had ceased. In the 1923 Fort Frances Pulp and Power Co Ltd v Manitoba Free Press Co Ltd case, the JUDICIAL COMMITTEE OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL ruled that Parliament, because of its authority under the PEACE, ORDER AND GOOD GOVERNMENT clause of the CONSTITUTION ACT of 1867, could adopt a measure such as the War Measures Act and authorize the governor-in-council to enact orders-in-council concerning the control and supply of newsprint. It further ruled that the emergency power could outlive the duration of the conflict giving rise to it, if the effects of the war conditions persisted, and that Parliament may adopt measures that normally would fall within provincial jurisdiction.