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Nanaimo Board of Health fonds [textual record]. -- 1896 -1931.

          4 cm of textual records (1 v.) 

            The 1893 provincial Board of Health Act, which came into force in 1895, outlined the administrative structure by which public health regulations were to be enforced.  The Act required that there be a local board of health in every municipality and that the municipal council constitute that board.  Municipal Councils were empowered to appoint medical health officers and sanitary inspectors and fix their salaries.  Local boards consisting of more than two persons were to appoint a secretary to record the board's proceedings in a minute book.  The secretary also prepared a report of the sanitary work conducted during the year and the condition of the municipality or health district.  Annual reports were to also include a report from the medical health inspector or sanitary inspector.   The 1893 act also outlined the powers and duties of local boards regarding the abatement of nuisances and the prevention of infectious diseases, empowered officers and inspectors to test and inspect milk, meats and other foods and seek police assistance in enforcing health regulations. The act also allowed for the collection of expenses in the abatement of nuisances and stipulated the penalties for non-compliance.  Nanaimo Council first sat as the Board of Health in December, 1895 with the City Clerk as Secretary.
          The records were transferred to the City Archives Vault at an unknown date. In 1992, they were transferred to the Nanaimo Community Archives.
          Fonds consists of minutes of the Nanaimo Board of Health.  The minutes were typically recorded in this volume but occasionally they were recorded in the City Council Minutes. The annual reports (1895-1897) stipulated in the Act were subsequently published in the Sessional Papers.  Other minutes within this volume include the minutes of: the Board of Revision (1949-1969), the Market Committee (1945), the Board of Appeal (1949-1957), the Waterworks Committee (1955), Public Hearings (1955-1956) and the Zoning Board of Appeal 1957-1967).
             Title based on the contents of the fonds. 

ACCESSION           1992 015 C
LOCATION              NCA Vault A-05-03 Box 5