THE OLIVER ACT: A 1911 AMENDMENT TO SECTION 49 OF THE INDIAN ACT AND THE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE KINGS ROAD RESERVE IN SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA

Abstract

This thesis follows the colonial context of events leading to the forced surrender of Kings Road reserve in Sydney, Nova Scotia, after Indian Affairs invoked amendment 49(a) of the Indian Act. This 1911 amendment removed the ‘consent to surrender’ clause from the Indian Act, making land security for urban reserves across the country more precarious. Its architect, Frank Oliver, understood that it violated treaties and the wording was vague enough to allow it to be used to free reserve land for new immigrants, to clear reserves that were seen to be impeding city growth, or simply because white settlers did not want Indigenous neighbours. Kings Road was the first reserve to be forced to surrender their land by the Department of Indian Affairs in Ottawa, which set in motion a hearing of the Court of the Exchequer, which ruled in 1916 that the removal of the reserve was ‘expedient.’