After the considerable success of its Boer War (1899-1902) work, the Canadian Red Cross lost its momentum and was inactive for five years. The artifact shown here indicates the revitalization of the society after this period of inactivity.  It is a list of amendments to be made to a 1909 federal bill to incorporate the Canadian Red Cross.   

In 1907, the leaders of the Canadian Red Cross met for the first time in five years and decided to reorganize their society. Two years later they petitioned the federal government to incorporate them, explaining the importance of the Red Cross movement and suggesting that incorporation would allow the society to manage donors’ money more effectively.

The bill passed easily through the mandatory three readings of the federal legislative process. The amendments shown here are only minor corrections of names or grammar. 

The 1909 Act Incorporating the Canadian Red Cross Society set out the organization’s purposes and organizational structure, reserved the use of the red cross emblem in Canada for exclusive use by the Red Cross, allowed the Society to hold a certain amount of property, and required that annual financial reports be submitted to the Minister of Militia and Defence.

“To furnish volunteer aid to the sick and wounded of armies in time of war.”

As of 1909, then, the Canadian Red Cross had a mandate established in Canadian law, its purpose “to furnish volunteer aid to the sick and wounded of armies in time of war” in cooperation with the British Red Cross, and as recognized by the Geneva Conventions.

In 1906 the international community revised the 1864 Geneva Convention, so that national Red Cross societies became auxiliaries to their respective national armed forces in times of war. This led to a series of Red Cross legislation in many countries, as governments created the legal framework for this type of cooperation. The Act to Incorporate the Canadian Red Cross Society is one example.