Collection search - Scott, Frank - Interview

CHISHOLM, Elspeth

1996-0008

Sound

3 of 3

1975-07-29

Elspeth Chisholm (Interviewer)

Oral history interview by author and journalist Elspeth Chisholm of Francis (Frank) Reginald Scott, a constitutional lawyer, political activist and writer, about the political background of the controversial Act to Protect Quebec Against Communistic Propaganda, commonly known as the Padlock Act, enacted by the government of Maurice Duplessis in 1937. Scott outlines the provisions of this act which empowered the Quebec Attorney General to "close any building used for propagating communism or bolshevism" and to "confiscate and destroy any printed matter propagating communism or bolshevism" and anyone printing, publishing or distributing such material could be imprisoned for up to year without an appeal. Scott also describes his role in helping the lawyers who were attempting to have the Padlock Act repealed, firstly in the Superior Court of Quebec and later in the Supreme Court of Canada where, in 1957, the Act was finally declared unconstitutional. <90mn>

English

Open

MSS 27139

with written permission of copyright owner : no donor restrictionsElspeth Chisholm died 25 October 2001.Copyright owner for material originally owned by Elspeth Chisholm: National Archives of Canada.