The ''Act to Protect the Province Against Communistic Propaganda'' (), commonly known as the "Padlock Law" or "Padlock Act" (), was a law in the province of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

that allowed the Attorney General of Quebec to close off access to property suspected of being used to propagate or disseminate

communist propaganda Communist propaganda is the artistic and social promotion of the ideology of communism, communist worldview, communist society, and interests of the communist movement. While it tends to carry a negative connotation in the Western world, the te ...

. The law was introduced by the Union Nationale government of

Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959) byname "Le Chef" (, "The Boss"), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A Conservatism in Canada, conservative, Quebec nationalism, ...

and made it illegal to "use houseor allow any person to make use of it to propagate

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

Bolshevism Bolshevism (derived from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Leninist and later Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined p ...

by any means whatsoever". This included printing, publishing or distributing of "any newspaper, periodical, pamphlet, circular, document or writing, propagating Communism or Bolshevism". Violations of the Act subjected such property to closure by the Attorney General, including the locking of access doors with padlocks, against any use whatsoever for a period of up to one year and any person found guilty of involvement in prohibited media activities could be incarcerated for three to thirteen months. The law was extremely vague; it did not define Communism or Bolshevism in any concrete way. It denied both the

presumption of innocence The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person Accused (law), accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilt (law), guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the Prosecut ...

and

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

to individuals. There were also concerns that the law would be used in order to arrest individual activists from international

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s. Two union leaders were nearly arrested in that period. The law was used against

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

for distributing their publications, most commonly as a "prextext for search and seizure". The federal government under Liberal

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 ...

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...

could have used its power of disallowance to nullify the Padlock Law, as it had done to overturn equally controversial laws that had been passed by

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

's Social Credit government around the same time. However, King chose not to intervene in Quebec. 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 ...

's 1957 decision in '' Switzman v Elbling'' struck down the law as ''

ultra vires ('beyond the powers') is a Latin phrase used in law to describe an act that requires legal authority but is done without it. Its opposite, an act done under proper authority, is ('within the powers'). Acts that are may equivalently be termed ...

'' of the provincial government because it was an attempt by the province to enact a statute respecting

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

, which is the exclusive domain of the

federal parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch of Australia (represented by the governor ...

under the

Constitution of Canada The Constitution of Canada () is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents are an amalgamation of various ...

. In their concurrence, justices

Ivan Rand Ivan Cleveland Rand (April 27, 1884 – January 2, 1969) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, academic, and justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. He has been described as "probably the greatest judge in Canada's history". Early life and ca ...

Roy Kellock Roy Lindsay Kellock, (November 12, 1893 – December 12, 1975) was a Canadian Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Biography Born in Perth, Ontario, he graduated from McMaster University with a B.A. in 1915. Kellock was called to bar in 192 ...

and

Douglas Abbott Douglas Charles Abbott (May 29, 1899 – March 15, 1987) was a Canadian Member of Parliament, federal Cabinet Minister, and justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Abbott's appointment directly from the Cabinet of Canada as Finance Minister to ...

also argued the law was ''ultra vires'' because it contravened an

implied bill of rights The implied bill of rights () is a theory in Canadian jurisprudence which proposed that as a consequence of the British North America Act, certain important civil liberties could not be abrogated by the government. The significance of an implied ...

that underlies the Canadian constitution, but this view was not shared by the rest of the majority.

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References

{{Reflist

External links

Documents on the Padlock Law from Marianopolis College

First premiership of Maurice Duplessis 1937 in Canadian law 1937 in Quebec Anti-communism in Canada Censorship in Canada History of human rights in Canada History of mass media in Canada Media legislation Political history of Quebec Political repression in Canada Quebec provincial legislation Real property law Repealed Canadian legislation

Gallery

See also

References

External links