The 6th Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in January 1858, following the general election for the Legislative Assembly in December 1857. Sessions were held in Toronto in 1858 and then in Quebec City from 1859. The Parliament was dissolved in May 1861.
The 1857 election was flawed by voter fraud. John A. Macdonald had been unwilling to be drawn into granting a wide franchise and also been unwilling to use old restricted franchise rules so the 6th Parliament of the Province of Canada was elected using complex rules and a reliance on a multitude of oaths. [1] In Quebec City, it was reported that about three times as many votes were cast as the number of qualified voters. Widespread voter fraud occurred in nine ridings in Canada East and three ridings in Canada West. Grown sons living at home and others who were neither property owners nor renters passed themselves off as renters and voted. [2] When the 6th Parliament began its first legislative session, in January 1858, the Speech from the Throne gave the government's intent to secure proper voter registration and protect the value of the vote of qualified voters. [3]
The 1858 parliamentary session was one of the longest and nastiest in Canadian history. It opened in January 1858 just as news arrived from London that Queen Victoria had chosen Ottawa as the permanent seat for the government of the Province of Canada. [4] In August 1858 the Macdonald-Cartier ministry carried out the divisive "double shuffle" that allowed the ministry to stay in power without facing by-elections. [5]
The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly was Sir Henry Smith.
Each voter could cast as many votes as there were seats to fill in the district (First-past-the-post voting). [6]
Montreal and Quebec City elected three members; Toronto elected two members. All others elected just one member. (Previous to the next election, all districts were changed to single-member districts.)
| Riding | Member | Party | First elected/previously elected |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Brant | David Christie [m] | Reformer | 1855 |
| Hugh Finlayson (1858) | 1858 | ||
| West Brant | Herbert Biggar | Reformer | 1854 |
| Brockville | George Sherwood | Conservative | 1858 |
| Carleton | William F. Powell | Conservative | 1854 |
| Cornwall | John Sandfield Macdonald | Reformer | 1841 |
| Dundas | James William Cook | Reformer | 1858 |
| East Durham | Francis H. Burton | Conservative | 1854 |
| West Durham | Henry Munro | Reformer | 1854 |
| East Elgin | Leonidas Burwell | Reformer | 1858 |
| West Elgin | George Macbeth | Conservative | 1854 |
| Essex | John McLeod | Conservative | 1858 |
| Frontenac | Henry Smith, Jr | Conservative | 1841 |
| Glengarry | Donald Alexander Macdonald | Reformer | 1858 |
| Grenville | William Patrick | Reformer | 1851 |
| Grey | John Sheridan Hogan [n] | Independent Liberal | 1858 |
| J.T. Purdy (1861) | Reformer | 1861 | |
| Haldimand | William Lyon Mackenzie [o] | Reformer | 1851 |
| Michael Harcourt (1858) | Reformer | 1858 | |
| Halton | John White | Reformer | 1858 |
| Hamilton | Isaac Buchanan | Independent | 1858 |
| North Hastings | George Benjamin | Conservative | 1856 |
| South Hastings | Lewis Wallbridge | Reformer | 1858 |
| Huron & Bruce | John Holmes | Reformer | 1858 |
| Kent | Archibald McKellar | Reformer | 1858 |
| Kingston | John A. Macdonald | Liberal-Conservative | 1844 |
| Lambton | Malcolm Cameron [p] | Grit | 1841, [q] 1858 |
| Hope Fleming Mackenzie (1860) | Reformer | 1860 | |
| North Lanark | Robert Bell | Reform | 1854 |
| South Lanark | Andrew W. Playfair | 1858 | |
| North Leeds & Grenville | Basil R. Church [r] | Reformer | 1854 |
| Ogle Robert Gowan (1858) | Conservative | 1858 | |
| South Leeds | Benjamin Tett | Conservative | 1858 |
| Lennox and Addington | David Roblin | Reformer | 1854 |
| Lincoln | William Hamilton Merritt [s] | Reformer | 1844 |
| John Charles Rykert (1860) | Reformer | 1860 | |
| London | John Carling | Liberal-Conservative | 1858 |
| East Middlesex | Marcus Talbot [t] | Conservative | 1858 |
| Robert Craik (1860) | Reformer | 1860 | |
| West Middlesex | John Scatcherd [u] | 1854 | |
| Angus Peter McDonald (1858) | 1858 | ||
| Niagara (town) | John Simpson | Conservative | 1858 |
| Norfolk | Walker Powell | Reformer | 1858 |
| East Northumberland | John R Clark | Reformer | 1858 |
| West Northumberland | Sidney Smith | Reformer | 1854 |
| North Ontario | Joseph Gould | Reformer | 1854 |
| South Ontario | Oliver Mowat | Reformer | 1858 |
| Ottawa | Richard William Scott | Liberal-Conservative | 1858 |
| North Oxford | George Brown [v] | Reformer | 1851 |
| William McDougall (1858) | Reformer | 1858 | |
| South Oxford | George Skeffington Connor | Reformer | 1858 |
| Peel | James Cox Aikins | Clear Grit | 1854 |
| Perth | Thomas Mayne Daly | Liberal-Conservative | 1854 |
| Peterborough | Thomas Short | Reformer | 1858 |
| Prescott | Henry Wellesly McCann | Conservative | 1854 |
| Prince Edward | Willet C Dorland | Conservative | 1858 |
| Renfrew | John Lorn McDougall [w] | Reformer | 1857 |
| William Cayley (1858) | Tory | 1846, [x] 1854, [y] 1858 | |
| Russell | George Byron Lyon-Fellowes [z] | Conservative | 1848 |
| John W Loux (1859) | 1859 | ||
| North Simcoe | Angus Morrison | Reform | 1854 |
| South Simcoe | Thomas Roberts Ferguson | Conservative | 1858 |
| Stormont | William D. Mattice | Reformer | 1851 |
| Toronto | George Brown | Reformer | 1851 |
| John Beverley Robinson | Conservative | 1858 | |
| Victoria | John Cameron | Conservative | 1858 |
| North Waterloo | Michael Hamilton Foley | Reform | 1854 |
| South Waterloo | William Scott | Conservative | 1858 |
| Welland | Gilbert McMicken | Reformer | 1858 |
| North Wellington | Charles Allan [aa] | 1858 | |
| James Ross (1859) | Reformer | 1859 | |
| South Wellington | David Stirton | Reformer | 1858 |
| North Wentworth | William Notman | Reformer | 1848, [ab] 1858 |
| South Wentworth | Joseph Rymal | Reformer | 1858 |
| East York | Amos Wright | Reformer | 1851 |
| North York | Joseph Hartman [ac] | Reformer | 1851 |
| Adam Wilson (1860) | Reformer | 1860 | |
| West York [ad] | William Pearce Howland | Reformer | 1858 |