An Act for the Organization of the Department of Agriculture

CAP. LIII.

An Act for the Organization of the Department of Agriculture.

[Assented to 22nd May, 1868.]

Preamble.Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Department of Agriculture; Minister of Agriculture1. There shall be a Department, called "The Department of Agriculture," over which the Minister of Agriculture, for the time being, appointed by Commission under the Great Seal, shall preside; and the said Minister shall have the management and direction of the Department and shall hold office during pleasure.

Deputy Minister and staff.2. The Governor may appoint a Deputy of the Minister of Agriculture, and such other officers and clerks as may be required for the proper conduct of the business of the Department, all of whom shall hold office during pleasure.

Powers and duties of Deputy.3. It shall be the duty of the said Deputy, and he shall have authority (subject always to the Minister) to oversee and direct the other officers and servants of the Department; he shall have the general control of the business of the Department, and such other powers and duties as may be assigned to him by the Governor in Council, and in the absence of the Minister and during such absence. May suspend officers.may suspend from his duties any officer or servant of the Department who refuses or neglects to obey his directions as such Deputy.

Duties and powers of Minister.4. The duties and powers of the Minister of Agriculture, shall extend to the execration of laws enacted by the Parliament of Canada, and of orders of the Governor in Council, relating to the subjects enumerated in the following section, as well as to the direction of all public bodies, officers and servants employed in the execution of such laws and orders.

Subjects under control of Department.5. The following subjects shall be under the control and direction of the Department of Agriculture, viz:

1. Agriculture;

2. Immigration and Emigration;

3. Public Health and Quarantine;

4. The Marino and Emigrant Hospital at Quebec;

5. Arts and manufactures;

6. The Census, Statistics and the Registration of Statistics;

7. Patents of Invention;

8. Copyright;

9. Industrial Designs and Trade Marks.

Governor in Council may vary duties and powers.6. The Governor in Council may at any time assign any other duty or power to the Minister of Agriculture, and may also assign any of the duties or powers hereinbefore enumerated to any other Member of the Privy Council of Canada.

Annual Report to be laid before Parliament.7. The Minister of Agriculture shall make and submit to the Governor an annual report of the proceedings of his Department, to be laid before both Houses of Parliament within twenty-one days from the commencement of each session.

Act of Canada 25 V. c. 7, &c., repealed.8. The Act of the Legislature of the late Province of Canada, passed in the twenty-fifth year of Her Majesty's Reign, chapter seven, is hereby repealed,—and all laws or parts of laws inconsistent with this Act, in so far as they are inconsistent herewith, are also repealed.