Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada

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Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada

Chambre d'assemblée du Bas-Canada
Type
Type
History
Founded1791 (1791)
Disbanded1838 (1838)
Preceded byCouncil for Affairs of the Province of Quebec (c. 1774)
Succeeded by Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada (following the temporary Special Council of Lower Canada)
The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, in the Chapel of Bishop's Palace, Quebec City SIMPSON Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.jpg
The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, in the Chapel of Bishop's Palace, Quebec City

The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of elected legislative councilors who created bills to be passed up to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, whose members were appointed by the governor general.

Contents

Following the Lower Canada Rebellion, the lower house was dissolved on March 27, 1838, and Lower Canada was administered by an appointed Special Council. With the Act of Union in 1840, a new lower chamber, the Legislative Assembly of Canada, was created for both Upper and Lower Canada which existed until 1867, when the Legislative Assembly of Quebec was created.

Speaker of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada

Electoral Districts

From 1792 to 1829

50 members elected in 23 two-seat districts and four single-seat districts.

Electoral District# of MembersStatus after electoral changes in 1829
Bedford 1Renamed as Rouville.
Buckingham 2 Drummond, Missisquoi, Shefford, Sherbrooke and Stanstead split off from Buckingham during elections in 1829. In 1830 what was left of Buckingham was split into Lotbinière, Nicolet et Yamaska.
Cornwallis 2Divided into Kamouraska and Rimouski.
Devon 2Renamed as L'Islet.
Dorchester 2 Beauce was split from Dorchester.
Effingham 2Renamed as Terrebonne.
Gaspé 1 Bonaventure was separated from Gaspé.
Hampshire 2Renamed as Portneuf.
Hertford 2Renamed as Bellechasse.
Huntingdon 2Divided into Beauharnois, L'Acadie and Laprairie.
Kent 2Renamed as Chambly.
Leinster 2Divided into Lachenaie and L'Assomption.
Comté de Montréal 2No changes
Montréal-Est 2No changes
Montréal-Ouest 2No changes
Northumberland 2Divided into Montmorency and Saguenay.
Orléans 1No changes
Comté de Québec 2No changes
Basse-ville de Québec 2No changes
Haute-ville de Québec 2No changes
Richelieu 2 Saint-Hyacinthe split from Richelieu.
Saint-Maurice 2 Champlain split from Saint-Maurice.
Surrey 2Renamed as Verchères.
Trois-Rivières 2No changes
Warwick 2Renamed as Berthier.
William-Henry 1No changes
York 2Divided into Deux-Montagnes, Ottawa and Vaudreuil.

Buildings

See Old Parliament Building (Quebec)

See also