An Act respecting the Canadian Pacific Railway

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44 Victoria, c. 1 (Canada)

An Act respecting the Canadian Pacific Railway.

[Assented to 15th February, 1881.]

Preamble.

 WHEREAS by the terms and conditions of the admission of British Columbia into Union with the Dominion of Canada, the Government of the Dominion has assumed the obligation of causing a Railway to be constructed, connecting the seaboard of British Columbia with the Railway system of Canada;

And whereas the Parliament of Canada has repeatedly declared a preference for the construction and operation of such Railway by means of an incorporated Company aided by grants of money and land, rather than by the Government, and certain Statutes have been passed to enable that course to be followed, but the enactments therein contained have not been effectual for that purpose;

And whereas certain sections of the said Railway have been constructed by the Government, and others are in course of construction, but the greater portion of the main line thereof has not yet been commenced or placed under contract, and it is necessary for the development of the North-West Territory and for the preservation of the good faith of the Government in the performance of its obligations, that immediate steps should be taken to complete and operate the whole of the said Railway;

And whereas, in conformity with the expressed desire of Parliament, a contract has been entered into for the construction of the said portion of the main line of the said railway, and for the permanent working of the whole line thereof, which contract with the schedule annexed has been laid before Parliament for its approval and a copy thereof is appended hereto, and it is expedient to approve and ratify the said contract, and to make provision for the carrying out of the same:

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

Contract approved.

1. The said contract, a copy of which with schedule annexed, is appended hereto, is hereby approved and ratified, and the Government is hereby authorized to perform and carry out the conditions thereof, according to their purport.

Charter may be granted. Publication and effect of charter.

2. For the purpose of incorporating the persons mentioned in the said contract, and those who shall be associated with them in the undertaking, and of granting to them the powers necessary to enable them to carry out the said contract according to the terms thereof, the Governor may grant to them in conformity with the said contract, under the corporate name of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, a charter conferring upon them the franchises, privileges, and powers embodied in the schedule to the said contract and to this Act appended, and such charter, being published in the Canada Gazette, with any Order or Orders in Council relating to it, shall have force and effect as if it were an Act of the Parliament of Canada, and shall be held to be an Act of incorporation within the meaning of the said contract.

Certain grants of money and land may be made to the company chartered. Conversion of money grant authorized.

3. Upon the organization of the said Company, and the deposit by them, with the Government, of one million dollars in cash or securities approved by the Government, for the purpose in the said contract provided, and in consideration of the completion and perpetual and efficient operation of the railway by the said Company, as stipulated in the said contract, the Government may grant to the Company a subsidy of twenty-five million dollars in money, and twenty-five million acres of land, to be paid and conveyed to the Company in the manner and proportions, and upon the terms and conditions agreed upon in the said contract, and may also grant to the Company the land for right of way, stations, and other purposes, and such other privileges as are provided for in the said contract. And in lieu of the payment of the said money subsidy direct to the Company, the Government may convert the same, and any interest accruing thereon, into a fund for the payment to the extent of such fund, of interest on the bonds of the Company, and may pay such interest accordingly; the whole in manner and form as provided for in the said contract.

Certain materials may be admitted free of duty.

4. The Government may also permit the admission free of duty, of all steel rails, fish plates and other fastenings, spikes, bolts and nuts, wire, timber and all material for bridges to be used in the original construction of the said Canadian Pacific Railway, as defined by the Act thirty-seventh Victoria, chapter fourteen, and of a telegraph line in connection therewith, and all telegraphic apparatus required for the first equipment of such telegraph line, the whole as provided by the tenth section of the said contract.

Company to have possession of completed portions of the railway. Conveyance thereof to company when the contract is performed.

5. Pending the completion of the eastern and central sections of the said railway as described in the said contract, the Government may also transfer to the said Company the possession and right to work and run the several portions of the Canadian Pacific Railway as described in the said Act thirty-seventh Victoria, chapter fourteen, which are already constructed, and as the same shall be hereafter completed; and upon the completion of the said eastern and central sections the Government may convey to the Company, with a suitable number of station buildings, and with water service (but without equipment), those portions of the Canadian Pacific Railway constructed, or agreed by the said contract to be constructed by the Government, which shall then be completed; and upon completion of the remainder of the portion of the said railway to be constructed by the Government, that portion also may be conveyed by the Government to the Company, and the Canadian Pacific Railway defined as aforesaid shall become and be thereafter the absolute property of the Company; the whole, however, upon the terms and conditions, and subject to the restrictions and limitations contained in the said contract.

Security may be taken for operation of railway.

6. The Government shall also take security for the continuous operation of the said railway during the ten years next subsequent to the completion thereof in the manner provided by the said contract.

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