Parliament of the Province of Canada
The Parliament of the Province of Canada was the legislature for the Province of Canada, made up of the two regions of Canada West (formerly Upper Canada, later Ontario) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada, later Quebec).
Parliament of the Province of Canada
Parlement de la Province du Canada
Parlement de la Province du Canada
Four years from election, unless sooner dissolved
February 10, 1841
July 1, 1867
Legislative Council: 24
Legislative Assembly: 84
Life appointments
Single-member districts
First-past-the-post voting
Open ballot system
Adult male franchise with property qualification
Creation of the Parliament[edit]
The Province of Canada was created by an Act of the British Parliament, the Act of Union 1840,[1] which was proclaimed in force by the Governor General of the Canadas, Lord Sydenham, effective February 10, 1841.[2][3] The Act united the two provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada into a single province, with a single parliament.[4] The parliaments of Lower Canada and Upper Canada were abolished.[4] Lower Canada was renamed Canada East, and Upper Canada was renamed Canada West, but the two regions were administrative divisions only. They did not have separate governments. The Union had been recommended by Lord Durham in his Report on the Affairs of British North America, in response to the Rebellions of 1837–1838 in both Lower Canada and Upper Canada.[5]
Structure of the Parliament[edit]
The new Parliament consisted of the British monarch, represented by the Governor General; the elected lower house, the Legislative Assembly, and the appointed upper house, the Legislative Council. The new parliament had the general power to legislate for the "Peace, Welfare, and good Government of the Province of Canada", provided Canadian laws did not conflict with British statutes which applied to the Province.[6]
The Legislative Assembly was required to have equal representation from Canada East and Canada West,[7] even though the population of Canada East was considerably larger. In 1840, the population of Canada East was estimated at 670,000, while the population of Canada West was estimated to be 480,000.[8] Lord Durham had not recommended this approach, and had instead proposed that the representation should be based on the respective populations of the two regions.[9] The British government rejected that recommendation and instead implemented equal representation, apparently to give the English-speaking population of the new province a dominant voice in the provincial government, furthering the goal of assimilating the French-speaking population.
The Act did not determine the size of the Legislative Council, simply providing that it had to consist of at least twenty members, who were appointed for life.[10] In his initial appointments, Lord Sydenham appointed twenty-four members.[11]
Parliamentary government[edit]
Sittings and duration[edit]
The Parliament was to be summoned by the Governor General at least once per year. Elections of the Legislative Assembly were to occur every four years, subject to earlier dissolution by the Governor General. The Governor General also retained the power to prorogue the Parliament.[22]
Executive government[edit]
Although Lord Durham had recommended that the British government institute responsible government, with the members of the Executive Council responsible to the Parliament, the British government rejected this proposal. Control of the executive initially remained with the Governor General. There was an Executive Council, appointed by the Governor General, but the Governor General was not required to act on their advice. He retained the ability to exercise executive powers on his own initiative alone.[23]
Reservation and disallowance of bills[edit]
The Governor General had the power to grant assent to bills passed by the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, to refuse assent, or to reserve a bill for consideration by the monarch.[24] If a bill was reserved, it was forwarded to London, where the government would decide if the bill should be allowed to come into force. The British Cabinet would advise the monarch whether to grant or withhold royal assent. If the monarch granted assent, the bill came into force. If royal assent was denied, the bill never became law.
Even if the Governor General granted assent, the British government retained the power to disallow a law. All acts had to be sent to the Colonial Office after the Governor General granted assent. The British government could advise the monarch to disallow an Act, at any time up to two years after receipt of the Act. If an Act was disallowed, it ceased to have effect from the date the Governor General advised the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council of the disallowance.[25]
Political parties[edit]
Candidates at this time would be loosely affiliated in early political parties, but party structure was not strong, and there were different party groups in Canada East and Canada West. In the early years of the new Province, the major political debate was over local control of the government. Groups such as the Chateau Clique in Canada East and the Family Compact in Canada West favoured the power of the Governor General, appointed by the British government and taking instructions from Britain. Their opponents, known by various names such as Reformers, Parti patriote, and Groupe canadien-français, argued for local control of the government, under the system of responsible government used in Britain itself.
The Parliament was convened eight times in its history:
Following the Province of Canada's entry into Canadian Confederation on 1 July 1867, the Parliament of the Province of Canada ceased to exist. Because the new country of Canada was a federation, the Parliament's powers were divided between levels of government. Its section 91 powers were assigned to the current Parliament of Canada, while its section 92 powers were assigned to the current Parliament of Ontario (for Canada West) and the Legislature of Quebec (for Canada East).