The Anti-Inflation Act () was an Act of the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

, introduced by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

's government and passed in 1975, which aimed to slow down the rapidly increasing

price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation expected, required, or given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, especially when the product is a service rather than a ph ...

and

wage A wage is payment made by an employer to an employee for work (human activity), work done in a specific period of time. Some examples of wage payments include wiktionary:compensatory, compensatory payments such as ''minimum wage'', ''prevailin ...

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

Background

Prior to 1975, the

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; ) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surve ...

had warned the government about the dangers of the current inflation which was roughly 10% per year. In response, the government introduced Bill C-73, the precursor to the Act, to the

. Previously,

had mocked the idea in the

1974 Canadian federal election The 1974 Canadian federal election was held on July 8, 1974, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 30th Canadian Parliament, 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party was reelected, goi ...

The Act

Amongst its many controls, it limited pay increases for federal public employees and those in companies with more than 500 employees to 10 per cent in the first year, 8 per cent the next, and 6 per cent thereafter."Wage and Price Controls"
/ref> Additionally, the Anti-Inflation Board was created to set

wages A wage is payment made by an employer to an employee for work done in a specific period of time. Some examples of wage payments include compensatory payments such as ''minimum wage'', '' prevailing wage'', and ''yearly bonuses,'' and remune ...

and

prices A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation expected, required, or given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, especially when the product is a service rather than a phys ...

.The

and

wage controls Incomes policies in economics are economy-wide wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation, and usually seeking to establish wages and prices below free-market level. Incomes policies have often been resorted to ...

were enforced until 1978, and the act was repealed in 1979. A similar program aimed only at the public sector was introduced in 1982.

Reaction

The Act proved highly contentious and there was much debate over whether the

had overstepped its powers in enacting the law. Consequently, the government put a

reference question In law of Canada, Canadian law, a reference question or reference case (formally called abstract review) is a submission by the Canadian government, federal or a Provinces and territories of Canada, provincial government to the courts asking for a ...

to the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

, and in 1976 the court passed down its opinion in ''

Reference Re Anti-Inflation Act ''Reference Re Anti-Inflation Act'', 9762 S.C.R. 373 was a landmark reference question opinion of the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutionality of the '' Anti-Inflation Act''.''Anti-Inflation Act'', SC 1975, c. 75. In what has become among th ...

'', which declared the law constitutional.

References

*Michelle Dust
Day of Protest October 14, 1976: An Expression of Solidarity
Saskatoon:

CUPE The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; ) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well. CUPE is the largest union in Canada, ...

Local 1975, 1999. *

Saskatchewan Federation of Labour The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL) is the Saskatchewan provincial trade union federation of the Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC ( or ), is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to ...

. ''October 14, 1977: Demonstrate'', Fall 1977. *

. ''Saskatchewan Labour'', Vol. 1, No. 2. Regina, 1977. *

. ''Saskatchewan Labour'', Vol. 1, No. 3, National Day of Protest Special Issue. Regina, 1977. *

Saskatoon Labour Council Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

. ''October 14, A National Day of Protest''. Saskatoon, 1977. 1975 in Canadian law First premiership of Pierre Trudeau Canadian federal legislation Canadian economic policy Inflation in Canada Repealed Canadian legislation {{canada-hist-stub

Background

The Act

Reaction

See also

References