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Ultra Vires-Intra Vires Ultra vires [Lat, "beyond the powers"] is used in CONSTITUTIONAL LAW by the courts who must decide the respective competences of Parliament and provincial legislatures.

The common interests of workers belonging to different unions have found expression over time in a succession of union centrals. The main functions of these central labour bodies have been to co-ordinate the activities of member unions.

Trade Unions, see WORKING-CLASS HISTORY; UNION CENTRALS; and entries under LABOUR.

Tenant League, popular name for the Tenant Union of Prince Edward Island, a militant agrarian movement fd 19 May 1864 in Charlottetown, PEI.

Waffle, a group established in 1969 as a caucus within the NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Its members' choice of name was self-consciously ironic.

Victory Loans were Canadian government appeals for money to finance the war effort in WWI and WWII.

Veterans' Land Act, passed 20 July 1942, following a Canadian tradition dating from the 17th century of settling ex-soldiers on the land. In 1919 a Soldier Settlement Act had provided returned WWI veterans who wished to farm with loans to purchase land, stock and equipment.

Substantive Law, body of law concerned with rights and obligations, as opposed to PROCEDURAL LAW which concerns how to enforce and defend such rights and obligations.

This case was a reference to the Supreme Court of Canada that arose out of a challenge by the Province of Alberta as the constitutionality of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as enacted by the federal Excise Tax Act.

The infection of thousands of Canadians with the AIDS virus and hepatitis C is Canada's worst- ever preventable public health disaster. It has also become one of its most prolonged legal sagas, featuring a high-profile public inquiry, almost $10 billion in legal claims and a criminal investigation.

Several decisions of the Supreme Court relate to environmental protection: Dryden Chemicals, Crown Zellerbach and Friends of the Oldman River Society.

In the RJR-MacDonald case (1995), a 7-2 majority of the Supreme Court of Canada concluded that the federal law regulating the use of tobacco products rested on Parliament's jurisdiction in the criminal law area, in the division of powers sector, as set out in section 91 (27) of the Constitution Act, 1867.

In its first decision relating to the Finta war crimes case (1993), the Supreme Court of Canada permitted 3 interested groups to intervene - the Human Rights League of B'nai B'rith Canada, the Canadian Jewish Congress and InterAmicus.

In 1985, in the Valente case, the Supreme Court dealt for the first time with judicial independence. On the second occasion, it was with the MacKay case, which dealt with military justice.

There have been problems with the interpretation and application of this legislation, partly as a consequence of imprecise or ambiguous wording in the Act itself. Many of these questions were examined by the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing which reported early in 1992.

The Department of Communications was established by the Department of Communications Act in 1969.

Compact Theory of Confederation, see CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY.

Prison, as a term meaning a place in which people are kept in captivity, covers a variety of institutions in Canada. Jails, commonly called detention or remand centres, are used to incarcerate persons awaiting trial or those sentenced for short terms.

The Supreme Court of Canada (1994) emphasized that the Québec Sales Tax (QST) was similar to the GST which is an added tax on value. It was not an indirect tax for it was ultimately assumed by the person who bore the tax burden, namely the consumer.