The
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...
was the union of
Canada West
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...
(formerly
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-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 ...
and later
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
) and
Canada East
Canada East (french: links=no, Canada-Est) was the northeastern portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new ...
(formerly
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...
and later
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
). The new Province had a single bicameral Parliament, replacing the parliaments of Lower Canada and Upper Canada. The new Parliament consisted of the elected
lower house
A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...
, the
Legislative Assembly, and the appointed
upper house
An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...
, the
Legislative Council.
The Province of Canada lasted from 1841 to 1867, when it was dissolved upon the creation of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
by the
Confederation process. During its existence, there were eight
general elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
to elect the members of the Legislative Assembly. The first general election was in the spring of 1841, while the eighth and last was in 1863. While party lines were somewhat blurred, there were political parties.
There are many examples of groups of
MPs going against the party line, or splitting a party into two. A good example of this is when a number of Liberal
MPs supported
John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
, a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, and his idea for
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...
, many other
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
members were opposed to Confederation.
After the establishment of the
double majority
A double majority is a voting system which requires a majority of votes according to two separate criteria. The mechanism is usually used to require strong support for any measure considered to be of great importance. Typically in legislative b ...
principle, any bill, to be passed, needed a majority of
MPs from both Canada West and Canada East. This sometimes led to coalitions between Ontario Liberals and Quebec Tories, or vice versa. The elections listed below are divided into "Left" or "Reformer" camps, and "Right" or "Conservative" camps.
1841
The general election began on March 8, 1841, and continued into early April.
Irving Martin Abella, "The 'Sydenham Election' of 1841"
(1966), 47 ''Canadian History Review'' 326, at p. 337. ubscription required./ref>
Four major parties contested the 1841 election. The Reformers from Canada West were a group of pro-democracy, radical Reformers who wanted to change the government. The Family Compact
The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...
from Canada West was a group of rich Tories interested in the status quo.
Canada East had two similar groups. Les Patriotes, a reformist group consisting almost exclusively of French Canadians
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
, and the Tories
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
, a mostly English group.
1844
By 1841, the Family Compact had started calling itself Tories as well. This election also saw the creation of the Liberal Party, made up of pro-Patriot members from Canada East, who spoke English.
1848
By 1848, the Reformers were popular once more in Canada West.
Due to the problems of the last parliament, the Governor General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
was ordered to sign everything that came from this legislature, marking the birth of responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...
in Canada. This was the celebrated Ministry of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine
Sir Louis-Hippolyte Ménard '' dit'' La Fontaine, 1st Baronet, KCMG (October 4, 1807 – February 26, 1864) was a Canadian politician who served as the first Premier of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible governmen ...
and Robert Baldwin
Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canada, Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province ...
.
1851
Before the 1851 election, the Patriotes changed their name to Ministeralists. After being popular and in power for so long, they began to somewhat favour the status quo, and began to lose their "radical" roots. The remaining Patriotes, became "Rouges", or "Reds" in English.
1854
1854 was unique, seeing a new group rise. Some reformers were unhappy with the slow pace of reforms, and began to oppose the reformist government. They called themselves "Clear Grits
Clear Grits were reformers in the Canada West district of the Province of United Canada, a British colony that is now the Province of Ontario, Canada. Their name is said to have been given by David Christie, who said that only those were wanted ...
" in Canada West, and gained the support of the Liberals and Rouges in Canada East. Also, around this time, the Tories began to refer to their group as the "Conservative Party".
To stay in government, the moderate reformers formed a coalition with the Conservatives. The better-formed Conservative party, led by Sir John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...
, took over the Reform Party, and the remaining Reformers left for the Clear Grits, renaming the party, the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party is still known as the 'Grits' in most of English speaking Canada today.
1858
1858 saw the birth of the "Bleu" movement in Quebec. Former Ministeralists became French-Canadian Tories, and took on the name "Bleu" or Blue, to oppose the Rouges. The "new" politics were more Liberal vs. Conservative than Reform vs. the status quo as many former Reformers began to sit with the Conservatives. This Ministry was headed by George Brown George Brown may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter
* George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist
* George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor
* G ...
.
1861
The election of 1861 saw the Liberal party finally become united. This election is notable as exactly 29 Liberals were elected from each half of the Province of Canada, and exactly 35 MPs supportive of the Conservative/Centrist movements were elected from each half, which created a regionally balanced government.
1863
The final election for the Province of Canada took place in 1863. By this time, most liberals and conservatives were in favour of representation by population and confederation. George Brown George Brown may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter
* George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist
* George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor
* G ...
led a group of Upper Canadian liberals to form a coalition with the Upper Canadian conservatives and the Lower Canadian Bleus, and began a discussion on confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
of all of the British North America colonies. The confederation project received wide support from Upper Canada, general opposition from the maritimes and Lower Canada was divided. Confederation was eventually achieved when 3 of the 6 colonies joined together to become the first four provinces of Canada.
This election was followed by the first federal election, the 1867 Canadian federal election, and later on the first provincial elections. 1867 marked the beginning of two founding myth
An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have sto ...
s: the founding of the Canadian nation in English Canada and the pact between two founding peoples in French Canada.
When Canada became a Dominion of the British Empire, the Conservatives and Liberals retained their names, while the former Reformers became Liberal-Conservatives, and continued to work very closely with the Conservative Party.
See also
* List of Joint Premiers of the Province of Canada
* List of Canadian federal general elections
This article provides a summary of results for Canadian general elections (where all seats are contested) to the House of Commons, the elected lower half of Canada's federal bicameral legislative body, the Parliament of Canada. The number of ...
* List of Ontario general elections
This article provides a summary of results for the general elections to the Canadian province of Ontario's unicameral legislative body, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The number of seats has varied over time, from 82 for the first election in ...
* List of Quebec general elections
This article provides a summary of results for the general elections to the Canadian province of Quebec's unicameral legislative body, the National Assembly of Quebec (and its predecessor, the Legislative Assembly of Quebec). The number of sea ...
* Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature 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 C ...
* List of by-elections in the Province of Canada
The list of by-elections in the Province of Canada includes every by-election held in the Province of Canada from its creation in 1841 until Confederation in 1867. By-elections occurred whenever there was a vacancy in the Legislative Assembly. Th ...
References
{{Parliament of the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
Lists of elections in Canada