The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

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). Creation of the Parl ...

. The

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) 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 ...

consisted of the former province of

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

, then known as Canada East (now

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

), and

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, 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 Queb ...

, then known as

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) 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 ...

(now

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

). It was created by the

Act of Union 1840 The ''British North America Act, 1840'' ( 3 & 4 Vict. c. 35), also known as the ''Act of Union 1840'', () was approved by Parliament in July 1840 and proclaimed February 10, 1841, in Montreal. It abolished the legislatures of Lower Canada and ...

. 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. The

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

of the legislature was called the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

. 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 Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. 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 Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Subsequent parliaments were held in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

and Toronto, except for the last session June–August 1866 of the eighth and final parliament, which was held in the newly built

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

building in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, the capital chosen for the Dominion of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The

British North America Act 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (30 & 31 Vict. c. 3) (),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 1867'' (BNA Act), ...

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 The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

Seat of Government and Parliament Buildings

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). * 1841–1843 three sessions were held at the three-storey Kingston General Hospital * 1843 Parliament moves to Montreal and sites at renovated St. Anne's Market; burned down in 1849; rebuilt as market only and burned down again in 1902; site later was a parking lot and now public square called Place d'Youville. * 1849 temporary sites for Parliament at Bonsecours Market and the Freemason's Hall, Montreal for single session. * 1849–1850 Parliament returns to Toronto to the site of the Third Parliament Buildings at Front and Simcoe Streets. * 1851 Parliament relocates to

in 1851 to the Quebec Parliament Building until fire destroys the building in 1854. * 1854–1859 Parliament remains in Quebec City and relocates to Quebec Music Hall and Quebec City Courthouse. * 1859 Parliament returns to Toronto to the site of the last parliament held there in 1849–1851 sessions. * 1860–1865 Parliament returns to Quebec to the newly re-built Parliament Buildings, Quebec at Parc Montmorency; re-used as Parliament of the Province of Quebec 1867–1883 * 1866 Parliament assembles in Ottawa on Parliament Hill in the original

Centre Block The Centre Block () is the main building of the Parliament of Canada, Canadian parliamentary complex on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons and Senate of Canada, Senate chambers, as we ...

for one sitting June–August 1866. This Centre Block became the Parliamentary building of the

July 1, 1867. It was destroyed by fire in 1916 and replaced by the current Centre Block.

List of Parliaments

* 1st Parliament of the Province of Canada 1841–1843 * 2nd Parliament of the Province of Canada 1844–1847 * 3rd Parliament of the Province of Canada 1848–1851 * 4th Parliament of the Province of Canada 1852–1854 * 5th Parliament of the Province of Canada 1854–1857 * 6th Parliament of the Province of Canada 1858–1861 *

7th Parliament of the Province of Canada The 7th Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in July 1861, following the general election for the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, Legislative Assembly in June 1861. It first met on July 15, 1861, and was dissolved in M ...

1861–1863 * 8th Parliament of the Province of Canada 1863–1866

Speakers

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 The speaker of the House of Commons () is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. A member of Parliament (MP), a speaker is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. The speaker's role in pre ...

References

Reading

*''Upper Canadian politics in the 1850s'', Underhill (and others), University of Toronto Press (1967) *''Alfred Todd. General Index to the Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Parliaments 1852–1866. (Ottawa: Hunter Rose & Co., 1867)'' https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_00957/3. * David B. Knight, ''Choosing Canada's Capital: Conflict Resolution in a Parliamentary System'' (McGill-Queens University Press, 1991) https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt80qgn.

External links