150 years ago in the fall of 1861 the legislature of Vancouver Island was debating the Act to Incorporate the City of Victoria. The debates are covered in detail in the British Colonist.
On Wednesday September 11th the debates centered around what powers Victoria should be allowed to have and if the City by-laws would have to all be approved by the Governor of Vancouver Island. The debate reaches a point where the members seem to realize that they may be giving the City of Victoria a stronger law making power than the legislative council of Vancouver Island had.
The other issue at debate was what sort of powers the City of Victoria should be allowed to have. There is talk about regulating weights and measures, the sale and storage of gunpowder, and the inspection of gasometers. What they specifically do not want to give the City is any power to restrict private property or interests. They wanted a narrow and specific set of subjects the City could pass by-laws about.
This makes my curious now, what is the standing of by-laws passed in the 1860s now? The City seems to only have been able to pass by-laws in areas of jurisdiction that the City no longer is allowed to pass by-laws about.
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