Jesuits' Estates Act

   Passed by the Mercier government in Quebec, 1888. Following the suppression of the Society of Jesus by the pope, in 1773, the property of the order in Canada became vested in the crown, and was set apart for purposes of education in the province of Quebec. By the British North America Act, it was vested in the provincial government. The Mercier Act authorized payment of $400,000 as compensation to the Jesuits for the lands confiscated by the crown. An agitation in Ontario for disallowance of the Act, was followed by a formal motion in the Dominion House, by Colonel O'Brien, but only thirteen members voted for disallowance.

   Index: Md Origin, 286; claimed by Society of Jesus, 286; Act passed by Quebec Legislature authorizing payment for lands Jesuits held before the conquest, 286, 287; motion favouring federal disallowance, proposed, 288, 289; motion defeated, 289; agitation ends by formation of Equal Rights Association and later by the Protestant Protective Association, 289. Dr Proposal to apply revenues of, to educational purposes, 230; General Amherst's claim to, 230. BL Revenue from, 18. Bk Appropriation of property a grievance with French-Canadians, 77.

   Bib.: Willison, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberal Party; Grant and Hamilton, Principal Grant; Pope, Memoirs of Sir John A. Macdonald.