Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada Assemblée législative de la province du Canada | |
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Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Founded | February 10, 1841 |
Disbanded | July 1, 1867 |
Preceded by | Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada |
Succeeded by | House of Commons of Canada Legislative Assembly of Ontario Legislative Assembly of Quebec |
The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada consisted of the former province of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East (now Quebec), and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West (now Ontario). It was created by The Union Act, 1840.
Canada East and Canada West each elected 42 members to the assembly for the first four parliaments. In 1853, following the 1851 Canadian census, the number of seats in the assembly was increased by the 4th Parliament of the Province of Canada from 84 to 130, 65 for each section, even though Canada West had a slightly larger population. The Parliamentary Representation Act of June 1853 was to take effect with the election for the 5th Parliament of the Province of Canada. [1] [2]
The upper house of the legislature was called the Legislative Council. The two houses, the lower house and the upper house, constituted the Parliament of the Province of Canada. (See List of Parliaments below)
The first session of parliament began in Kingston in Canada West in 1841. The second parliament and the first sessions of the third parliament were held in Montreal. On April 25, 1849, rioters protesting the Rebellion Losses Bill burned the parliament buildings. The remaining sessions of the third parliament were held in Toronto. Subsequent parliaments were held in Quebec City and Toronto, except for the last session June–August 1866 of the eighth and final parliament, which was held in the newly built Parliament building in Ottawa, the capital chosen for the Dominion of Canada.
The British North America Act of 1867 divided the Province of Canada into the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, each province having its own Legislative Assembly, as well as representation in the Parliament of Canada.
Parliament for the United Provinces of Canada drifted around the cities of Toronto, Kingston, Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa. For exhaustive detail on how Parliament tried to resolve the issue of a permanent capital, see below David B. Knight, Choosing Canada's Capital: Conflict Resolution in a Parliamentary System (Carleton Library Series, 1991).
The role of speaker began a tradition of alternating between English and French Canada. This tradition carried onto the role of the Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada.
Speaker | Term | Parliament | Affiliation | Residency |
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Austin Cuvillier | 1841–1843 | 1st | Parti canadien | Canada East |
Sir Allan Napier MacNab | 1844–1847 | 2nd | Reformer | Canada West |
Augustin-Norbert Morin | 1848–1851 | 3rd | Parti patriote | Canada East |
John Sandfield Macdonald | 1852–1853 | 4th | Liberal-Conservative | Canada West |
Louis-Victor Sicotte | 1854–1857 | 5th | N/A | Canada East |
Sir Henry Smith | 1858–1861 | 6th | Tory | Canada West |
Joseph-Édouard Turcotte | 1862–1863 | 7th | Reformer | Canada East |
Lewis Wallbridge | 1863–1866 | 8th | N/A | Canada West |
The Province of Canada was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of 1837–1838.
The Province of Upper Canada was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Quebec since 1763. Upper Canada included all of modern-day Southern Ontario and all those areas of Northern Ontario in the Pays d'en Haut which had formed part of New France, essentially the watersheds of the Ottawa River or Lakes Huron and Superior, excluding any lands within the watershed of Hudson Bay. The "upper" prefix in the name reflects its geographic position along the Great Lakes, mostly above the headwaters of the Saint Lawrence River, contrasted with Lower Canada to the northeast.
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Ontario to become law. Together, the Legislative Assembly and Lieutenant Governor make up the unicameral Legislature of Ontario. The assembly meets at the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park in the provincial capital of Toronto.
The First Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in 1841, following the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada as the Province of Canada on February 10, 1841. The Parliament continued until dissolution in late 1844.
The 3rd Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in 1848, following the general election for the Legislative Assembly in January 1848. The first session was held at Montreal, Canada East. In 1849, rioters protesting the Rebellion Losses Bill burned the parliament buildings. The remaining sessions were held in Toronto. The Parliament was dissolved on November 6, 1851.
The 8th Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in August 1863, following the general election for the Legislative Assembly in August 1863. The Parliament was abolished when the British North America Act, 1867 came into force on July 1, 1867, creating the new country of Canada.
The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada was the upper house for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the province of Ontario. It was created by The Union Act of 1840. With the lower house, the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, the two houses constituted the Parliament of the Province of Canada.
Sir Henry Smith was a Canadian lawyer and political figure. He represented Frontenac County in the Parliament of the Province of Canada, and later in the 1st Parliament of Ontario.
Old Parliament Building (Quebec) was the site of the seat of government of Lower Canada (1791-1833), Canada West, Province of Canada and Quebec (1867-1883).
The Executive Council of the Province of Canada had a similar function to the Cabinet in England but was not responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from its inception in 1841 to 1848.
The burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal occurred on the night of April 25, 1849, in Montreal, the then-capital of the Province of Canada. The way the matter was handled by then co-prime ministers of the united Province of Canada, Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin, helped develop the Canadian democratic tradition.
There are currently fourteen legislative buildings in Canada: Parliament in Ottawa, and one for each of the provinces and territories of Canada, though not all contain the words legislative building in their names.
The Parliament of the Province of Canada was the legislature for the Province of Canada, made up of the two regions of Canada West and Canada East.
St. Anne's Market was a public auction house located at Place d'Youville in Old Montreal. From 1844 to 1849, it served as the home of the Legislative Council and Assembly during the pre-Confederation era. On April 25, 1849, the building was burned down by Loyalist rioters.
Chambly was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada East. It was created in 1841, based on the previous electoral district of the same name for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, for an area south of Montreal. It was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.
Two Mountains was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, Canada East, in a rural area north-west of Montreal. It was created in 1841, based on the previous electoral district of the same name for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.
Vaudreuil was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada East, west of Montreal. It was created in 1841, based on the previous electoral district of the same name for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.
Dundas was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada West, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River east of Lake Ontario. It was created in 1841, upon the establishment of the Province of Canada by the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
Section 68 of the Constitution Act, 1867 is a provision of the Constitution of Canada relating to the seats of government of the four original provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec.
Section 16 of the Constitution Act, 1867 is a provision of the Constitution of Canada, making Ottawa the seat of government of Canada.