Russell has been criticised by commentators over the past century as being an outlier in the case-law regarding the "peace, order and good government" power, but has never been formally overruled.

In 1880, the Supreme Court of Canada decision in City of Fredericton v The Queen[2] held that the law was intra vires under the federal trade and commerce power.

In a separate case two years later, Charles Russell, a local pub owner, was convicted under the Canada Temperance Act of selling alcohol.

The declared object of Parliament in passing the Act is that there should be uniform legislation in all the provinces respecting the traffic in intoxicating liquors, with a view to promote temperance in the Dominion.

In the subsequent case of Hodge v. The Queen, followed by others from the Privy Council, the influence of the Supreme Court of Canada diminished and that of the provinces was significantly expanded.

This case is included in the three volume set of significant decisions of the Judicial Committee on the construction and interpretation of the Constitution Act, 1867, prepared on the direction of the then Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Stuart Sinclair Garson.

Following the abolition of Canadian appeals to the Judicial Committee, Garson directed that the Department of Justice prepare the collection "for the convenience of the Bench and Bar in Canada".