Board of Commerce case
Re Board of Commerce Act 1919 and the Combines and Fair Prices Act 1919,[1] commonly known as the Board of Commerce case, is a Canadian constitutional decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in which the "emergency doctrine" under the federal power of peace, order and good government was first created.
Board of Commerce case
The Attorney General of Canada v The Attorney General of Alberta and others
November 8, 1921
[1921] UKPC 107, [1922] 1 A.C. 191
In re Board of Commerce, 1920 CanLII 66, [1920] SCR 456 (1 June 1920)
Following the end of the First World War, there was a rapid rise in the cost of living in the Canadian economy. In response, the Parliament of Canada passed the Board of Commerce Act, 1919[2] and the Combines and Fair Prices Act, 1919.[3] The assigned the Board of Commerce two main functions:
In pursuit of its functions, the Board issued an order, prohibiting certain clothing manufacturers in Ottawa from charging higher than specified profit margins. That triggered a dispute as to the Acts' constitutionality, and the Board referred the matter to the Supreme Court of Canada by way of stated case under s. 32 of the Board of Commerce Act, posing the following reference questions:
Aftermath[edit]
Haldane's statement as to the nature of the criminal law power was later described by Lord Atkin in Proprietary Articles Trade Association v. Attorney General of Canada[8] as not being a definition. Instead, it was held to be "the criminal law in its widest sense," including the ability to make new crimes, and the only relevant standard to apply is whether the act would attract penal consequences. In addition, while the matter of the trade and commerce power did not need to be decided in that case, the Board declared that it wished to dissociate themselves from Haldane's previous comment: "No such restriction is properly to be inferred from that judgment."