Lord Atkin:-

This is one of a series of cases brought before this Board on appeal from the Supreme Court of Canada on references by the Governor-General in Council to determine the validity of certain statutes of Canada passed in 1934 and 1935. Their Lordships will deal with all the appeals in due course, but they propose to begin with that involving the Weekly Rest in Industrial Undertakings Act, The Minimum Wages Act and The Limitation of Hours of Work Act, both because of the exceptional importance of the issues involved, and because it affords them an opportunity of stating their opinion upon some matters which also arise in the other cases. At the outset they desire to express their appreciation of the valuable assistance which they have received from counsel, both for the Dominion and for the respective Provinces. No pains have been spared to place before the Board all the material both as to the facts and the law which could assist the Board in their responsible task. The arguments were cogent and not diffuse. The statutes in question in the present case were passed, as their titles recite, in accordance with conventions adopted by the International Labour Organization of the League of Nations in accordance with the Labour Part of the Treaty of Versailles of 28th June 1919. It was admitted at the bar that each statute affects property and civil rights within each Province; and that it was for the Dominion to establish that nevertheless the statute was validly enacted under the legislative powers given to the Dominion Parliament by the B. N. A. Act, 1867. It was argued for the Dominion that the legislation could be justified either (1) under S. 132, B. N. A. Act, as being legislation necessary or proper for performing the obligations of Canada or any Province thereof as part of the British Empire towards foreign countries arising under treaties between the Empire and such foreign countries; or (2) under the general powers, sometimes called the residuary powers, given by S. 91 to the Dominion Parliament to make laws for the peace, order and good government of Canada in relation to all matters not coming within the classes of subjects by this Act assigned exclusively to the Legislatures of the Provinces.

The Provinces contended :

As to (1)-(a) That the obligations, if any, of Canada under the labour conventions did not arise under a treaty or treaties made between the Empire and foreign countries and that therefore S. 132 did not apply. (b) That the Canadian Government had no executive authority to make any such treaty as was alleged. (c) That the obligations said to have been incurred and the legislative powers sought to be exercised by the Dominion were not incurred and exercised in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

As to (2) that if the Dominion had to rely only upon the powers given by S. 91, the legislation was invalid, for it related to matters which came within the classes of subjects exclusively assigned to the Legislatures of the Provinces, viz. property and civil rights in the Province. In order to indicate the opinion of the Board upon these contentions it will be necessary briefly to refer to the Treaty of Versailles, Part 13, Labour : to the procedure prescribed by it for bringing into existence labour conventions : and to the procedure adopted in Canada in respect thereto. The Treaty of Peace signed at Versailles on 28th June 1919 was made between the Allied and Associated Powers of the one part and Germany of the other part. The British Empire was described as one of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, and the High Contracting Party for the British Empire was His Majesty the King, represented generally by certain of his English Ministers and represented for the Dominion of Canada by the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Customs, and for the other Dominions by their respective Ministers. The treaty began with Part 1 of the covenant of the League of Nations by which the high cont