The
Province of Canada or the
United Province of Canada 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 Affairs of British North America following the
Rebellions of 1837.
The Province of Canada ceased to exist at
Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, when it was redivided into the modern
Canadian provinces of
Ontario and
Quebec.
History
Before 1841, the territory roughly corresponding to
Southern Ontario in Canada belonged to the British colony of the Province of
Upper Canada, while the southern portion of Quebec and the
Labrador region of
Newfoundland and Labrador belonged to the colony of the Province of
Lower Canada. Upper Canada was primarily anglophone, whereas Lower Canada was francophone. The
Act of Union (1840), passed July 23, 1840, by the British parliament and proclaimed by the Crown on February 10, 1841, merged the two colonies by abolishing the legislatures of Upper and Lower Canada and replacing them with a single
legislative assembly.
While this new legislature maintained equal representation for both of the former colonies, the democratic nature of Lower Canada's elections was fundamentally flawed. Despite the francophone majority in Lower Canada, most of the power was concentrated on the anglophone minority, who exploited the lack of a
secret ballot to intimidate the electorate.
The area that had previously comprised Upper Canada was designated "
Canada West", while the area that had comprised Lower Canada was designated "
Canada East". After the British North America Act was passed by British Parliament, the Province of Canada ceased to exist. Subsequently, Canada West and Canada East were renamed the Province of Ontario and the Province of Quebec, respectively.
Capitals
The location of the
capital city of the Province of Canada changed six times in its 26-year history. The first capital was in
Kingston. The capital moved from
Montreal to
Toronto in 1849 when rioters, spurred by a series of incendiary articles published in
The Gazette, protested the
Rebellion Losses Bill and
burned down Montreal's parliament buildings. In 1857,
Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the permanent capital of the Province of Canada, initiating construction of Canada's current
parliament buildings. The first stage of this construction was completed in 1865, just in time to host the final session of the last
parliament of the Province of Canada before Confederation.
Chronology
Responsible Government
The Act of Union (1840) made no provision for
responsible government (i.e., government responsible to the elected legislature instead of the colonial office); in fact, it explicitly gave the governor general of the province the authority to reject any bill passed by the elected assembly. Early governors general of the province were closely involved in political affairs, maintaining a right to make
Executive Council and other appointments without the input of the legislative assembly, and even manipulating election results using intimidating mobs at polling stations. The secret ballot had not yet been introduced, so the democratic nature of this colony was fundamentally flawed.
However, in 1848 Governor General
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, appointed a cabinet nominated by the majority party of the Legislative Assembly, the
Baldwin-
Lafontaine coalition that had won elections in January. Lord Elgin upheld the principles of responsible government by not repealing the
Rebellion Losses Bill, which was highly unpopular with some English-speaking
Tories who favoured imperial over majority rule.
Legislative deadlock
As Canada East and Canada West each held 42 seats in the
Legislative Assembly, there was legislative deadlock between English (mainly from Canada West) and French (mainly from Canada East). Initially, the majority of the province was
French, which demanded "rep-by-pop" (
representation by population), which the anglophones opposed.
Once the English population, rapidly growing through immigration, exceeded the French, the English demanded rep-by-pop. In the end, the legislative deadlock between English and French led to a movement for a federal union which resulted in the broader
Canadian Confederation in 1867.
Accomplishments
Amongst its accomplishments, the United Province of Canada negotiated the
Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 with the
United States, built the
Grand Trunk Railway, improved the educational system in Canada West under
Egerton Ryerson, reinstated French as an official language of the legislature and the courts, codified the
Civil Code of Lower Canada in 1866, and abolished the
seigneurial system in Canada East.
Longstanding municipal reform was another important achievement. Originally, local government in Canada West operated mainly at the district level, until 1849, when a system based on counties was introduced. In 1841, elected district councils were introduced; prior to that time, officials were appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor.
Population
See also
Political history
Political structure
