# Reservation and Disallowance **Domain:** Canadian Constitutional History / Federalism **Doc Type:** Reference Node **Maturity:** Developed **Concept Hub:** [[wiki/Crown Topology|Crown Topology]] ## Definition **Reservation and disallowance are historical constitutional mechanisms through which provincial legislation in Canada could be withheld from assent or nullified after enactment.** Reservation referred a bill upward before assent; disallowance enabled federal cancellation within the constitutional framework. ## Alberta Case [[articles/war with empire/Imperial Financial Influence Operations — Cutting the Head off the Snake|Imperial Financial Influence Operations]] uses Alberta's 1937 Social Credit legislation as a concrete example. The Lieutenant Governor reserved assent to measures, federal authorities disallowed others, and the Supreme Court of Canada addressed the constitutionality of the legislative program and the continuing vice-regal powers. The case matters to the series because it exposes the historical machinery through which provincial democratic action could encounter constitutional authority situated above the provincial legislature. ## Boundary Historical availability does not establish ordinary contemporary use. The concept should be treated as a constitutional inheritance and precedent, not evidence that every modern federal-provincial dispute activates these mechanisms. ## See Also [[wiki/Crown Prerogative|Crown Prerogative]] · [[wiki/Resource Sovereignty|Resource Sovereignty]] · [[wiki/Administered Periphery|Administered Periphery]] · [[wiki/Rupert's Land|Rupert's Land]]