"The penalty of $25.00 is an inducement to the possessor to consume the liquor as rapidly as he knows that if only charged with being drunk he escapes with a fine of $5.00 only."

1913 to 1916

Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for the Province of British Columbia (Canada), White, Nathaniel Whitworth, 1837-1917., McKenna, J. A. J. (James Andrew Joseph), 1862-1919., Carmichael, Saumanez, Shaw, J. P., MacDowall, D. H. (Day Hort), 1850-1927, McBride, Richard, Sir, 1870-1917

 
http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs_rc/326024/326024_rc_indian_affairs_confidential_report.pdf

Page 28 of 30

....... Frequently at meetings of the different Indian Bands the question of fines imposed on Indians under the clauses of the Indian act relating to liquor have been discussed, and Mr. George Jay, Police Magistrate for the County of Victoria and also Stipendiary Magistrate for the County of Victoria, which includes the several Indian Reservations situate in Saanich, Esquimalt and Sooke Districts, has made the following statement and suggestion to the Commission:-

"Under the terms of the Indian Act, Sec. 137,"an Indian who is found in a state of intoxication is liable to a fine of not less than $5.00.  In those cases in which an Indian is found in possession of an intoxicant it is usually confined to a bottle of whiskey or gin, and sometimes only a small flask.

The penalty of $25.00 is an inducement to the possessor to consume the liquor as rapidly as he knows that if only charged with being drunk he escapes with a fine of $5.00 only.

The penalty of $25.00 was fixed by Statute some years ago at a time when it was a practice amongst a certain class to supply large quantities of liquor to Indians in remote Reservations.

With regard to fines for being under the influence of intoxicating liquor, it frequently happens that an Indian appears in the Police Court at the same time as white men charged with the same offence.  The practice for many years here has been in the case of those other than Indians to impose a fine of $2.00 for a first offence and a slightly increased fine in the case to the second or subsequent offence, but with regard to the Indians a Magistrate has no alternative but to impose the minimum fine of $5.00, which must to the Indian appear to be a marked discrimination against him.

I would respectfully recommend that the Indian Act be amended with regard to the penalties for those offences by allowing Magistrates wider discretion and by eliminating the provisions as to minimum fines, thus leaving it to the judgment of the Magistrate dealing with the offence to impose such fine as may in his opinion be proper, not exceeding, of course, the maximum fine provided in the Act.

I may add that I have resided at Victoria for the past 45 years and have had much experience of the habits of the Indians of the southern portion of Vancouver Island and the Islands of the Gulf.

Your Commission are of the opinion that, were these suggestions followed, it would tend to remove from the Indian the feeling that he is looked down on with contempt and his race deemed unworthy of being treated in a manner similar to other British subjects in His Majesty's Dominions, and that the greater latitude allowed Magistrates in their discretion, would have a tendency to elevate rather than debase the Indian."

And of course, the politicians chose to keep it just the way it was, because they hadn't finished plundering the First Nation People and their possessions.