The Administration of Dominion Lands, 1870-1930

Gwynneth C.D. Jones is a policy advisor with the Ontario Native Affairs
Secretariat.

This book, to quote from the introduction, is “a survey of laws
adopted by Parliament between 1870 and 1930 for lands which today fall
within the western provinces and northern territories of Canada . . .
(then) referred to as Dominion Lands, the Railway Belt and the Peace
River Block.” It is divided into six principal sections: an
introductory essay outlining developments in federal land-disposition
policies; a short bibliography (somewhat dated) of works on settlement,
land and resource development, and Indian/Métis land transactions; a
selective list of statutes applicable to Dominion lands; suggestions for
further reading in the case law of the period under study; a
chronological listing (by subject) of land-use regulations; and a
compilation of relevant sections of legislation (including
orders-in-council) applicable to Dominion lands.

Land was practically the only commodity available to the cash-strapped
Dominion to finance the huge investment in infrastructure and the
massive immigration required to make the new country viable. Land grants
substituted for cash in subsidizing railways, rewarding police and
military veterans, and luring productive new citizens from abroad. The
allocation of vast tracts of arable land west of Ontario therefore
played a critical part in shaping the economic, political, and social
development of Canada.

The intent of this work is not to provide fresh analysis on the
development and implementation of Dominion lands policies, but rather to
provide a reference tool for researchers. It is a useful shortcut,
eliminating the many hours of tedious work formerly necessary simply to
establish the basic legislative and regulatory framework for events in
this period. As such, it does not purport to be a definitive statement
on any one class of land or resource dispositions. For example, Indian
treaties and Métis land and scrip transactions are described generally,
and extracts from relevant legislation are provided, but the author does
not attempt to describe the intent or effect of the treaties, the
administration of Indian reserves, or the result of Métis scrip grants.

Within its limitations, this volume is a convenient contribution to the
materials available to researchers working in a wide variety of fields.