XXIII.
Under national service the State calls all its manhood to arms but relieves from odium and suspicion all those who can better serve its interests on the farms, in the factories, or in other necessary civil activities. The Military Service Act of Canada, as has been said, was passed by Parliament in obedience to a general public demand and in assertion of the Government’s deliberate conviction that only by selective draft could the necessary reinforcements for the army in France be obtained and the orderly continuance of production and industry assured. In the machinery for applying and enforcing the measure there are ample safeguards against partiality, injustice or partisanship. The Military Service Council has been constituted to advise and assist in the administration and enforcement of the Act. The Deputy Minister of Justice is the chairman of the Council, and the other members have been chosen equally from the two great political parties. The advice of the Council is sought in order to ensure that the Act will be administered with just and equal regard to the interests of all classes of the community, and in all questions affecting the draft, requiring the consideration of the Governor General or the Minister of Justice, the conclusions will be reached in consultation with the Council. Moreover, the provincial registrars and the local tribunals receive instructions from the Council as to the manner in which their duties are to be discharged; and, while the local tribunals exercise their judicial functions with perfect independence, so far as concerns the determination of individual cases, they may nevertheless refer to the Council for direction or advice upon general questions of doubt or difficulty. Provincial tribunals, chosen from the judiciary of the various provinces, are provided for resort by those who are dissatisfied with decisions of the local tribunals; and, in order to ensure uniform treatment of claims for exemption, as well as sympathetic and consistent consideration alike of local and national conditions, an ultimate appeal is authorized to Mr. Justice Duff, a distinguished member of the Supreme Court of Canada.