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 Parliament of the Province had two chambers: the elected lower house, the Legislative Assembly, and the appointed upper house, the Legislative Council. The first general election for the Legislative Assembly was held in April, 1841. Canada East (formerly Lower Canada) and Canada West (formerly Upper Canada)) each had forty-two seats in the Legislative Assembly. The members of the Legislative Council, twenty-four in number, were appointed by the British Governor General, Lord Sydenham.
All sessions were held at Kingston, Canada West, with the first session of the Parliament called in June 1841. The Parliament had three annual sessions, but then was prorogued for close to a year due to a political crisis in the relations between the Legislative Assembly and the Governor General. The Parliament was dissolved in September, 1844, triggering the second general election for the Province, and the second Parliament, which met in Montreal.
In 1841, the District Councils Act was passed which established a system of local government in Canada West based on district councils. Prior to 1841, local affairs were dealt with by the District Court of Quarter Sessions.
First government and election
The Governor General, Lord Sydenham, appointed the first members to the Executive Council on February 13, 1841.[1]: 12 All of the members were anglophones, with no francophones. They were appointed as advisors to the Governor General, who continued to exercise the executive powers of the government.
The first general election for the new Legislative Assembly was held in the spring of 1841. There was no single election date. The returning officer in each electoral district chose the date for the election in their district.
The Governor General, following the policy of assimilation set out in Lord Durham's Report, drew boundaries and chose the location of polling stations in Canada East in anglophone areas, in an effort to favour voters of British stock and to make it more difficult for francophone voters to exercise their franchise.[2]
There was electoral violence during the elections. In one case, the threat of riots at the polling station forced Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, a proponent of responsible government, to withdraw his candidacy from the riding of Terrebonne in Canada East. In response, Robert Baldwin in Canada West, also a supporter of responsible government, proposed to his father, William Warren Baldwin, that they should assist Lafontaine's election. Baldwin senior was a candidate for a riding in the Toronto area. He withdrew his nomination to allow Lafontaine to stand for election. Lafontaine was elected.[2] This was the beginning of the Lafontaine-Baldwin alliance which ultimately led to responsible government in the Province of Canada.[3]
Candidates at this time would be loosely affiliated in early political parties, but party structure was not strong, and there were different party groups in Canada East and Canada West. The election resulted in a Legislative Assembly with no single party group with a majority.
Governors General
One of the unusual features of the 1st Parliament was the high turnover in the position of governor general. Charles Poulett Thomson was the governor general from February 1841 until September 1841, when he died from tetanus resulting from a riding accident. His deputy, Major-General John Clitherow, immediately prorogued Parliament. Clitherow was replaced by the Administrator, Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Downes Jackson, shortly afterwards. Jackson acted as Administrator until January 1842, when Sir Charles Bagot was appointed Governor General. Bagot resigned the office in March, 1843 due to ill health, dying shortly afterwards. Sir Charles Metcalfe then took over, and stayed in office until November 1845. He retired to England and died of cancer shortly afterwards.
Legislative Assembly
Canada East
Members elected in the general election
The following members were elected to the Legislative Assembly from Canada East in the 1841 general election. The party affiliations are based on the biographies of individual members given by the National Assembly of Quebec, as well as votes in the Legislative Assembly. "Party" was a fluid concept, especially during the early years of the Province of Canada.[4][5][6][7]
^Seat became vacant on January 1, 1842, when de Salaberry was appointed Clerk of the Court, district of Richelieu, an office of profit under the Crown; defeated in the subsequent by-election.[23][9]: p. 59, note (38)
^Resigned on October 14, 1842 to take appointment as Clerk to the Executive Council.[24][9]: p. 59, note (43)
^Required to resign seat on December 6, 1841, on accepting an offices of profit under the Crown, translator of laws and later appointment as secretary to the Commission on Seigneurial Tenure; re-elected in subsequent by-election.[25][9]: p. 59, note (45)
^Died in office, February 4, 1842.[26][9]: p. 59, note (48)
^Resigned on November 6, 1841, to allow James Leslie to stand as a candidate.[9]: p. 60, note (50) [27]
By-elections during the First Parliament
The following members were elected in by-elections during the First Parliament. The party affiliations are based on the biographies of individual members given by the National Assembly of Quebec, as well as votes in the Legislative Assembly.[1]: 43–45, 59–60 [6][7]
^Vacated seat September 16, 1842, on being appointed Attorney General for Canada West, an office of profit under the Crown. Defeated in the subsequent by-election in Hastings. Elected in by-election in Rimouski riding, Canada East, January 1843.[9]: p. 59 note (10)
^Strachan was originally declared the winner of the seat and participated in the early business of the Assembly, but the election was overturned for irregularities; the other candidate, William "Tiger" Dunlop, was declared the winner of the election and sat as the member until the end of the first Parliament.[28][9]: p. 59, note (12) [29]
^Vacated seat on June 7, 1841, on being appointed Surveyor-General, an office of profit under the Crown. Re-elected in a by-election on July 10, 1841.[9]: pp. 59 note (19), 73
^Campbell was originally declared the winner of the seat and sat in the Assembly for the 1841 session, but the election was overturned in 1842. The other candidate, Henry John Boulton, was declared the winner of the election and sat as the member until the end of the First Parliament.[9]: p. 59, notes (24), (25) [30]
^Vacated seat April 10, 1843, on being appointed to the Legislative Council.[9]: p. 59 note (41)
^Resigned seat January 2, 1843.[9]: p. 59 note (46)
By-elections and election petitions during the First Parliament
The following members were elected in by-elections during the First Parliament, or installed as a result of election petitions challenging an election.[1]
Killaly was elected in the general election, 1841; vacated seat on December 21, 1842, on being appointed Chairman of the Board of Works, an office of profit under the Crown; re-elected in by-election; resigned seat on November 30, 1843.
Parke was elected in the general election, 1841; vacated seat on June 7, 1841, on being appointed Surveyor-General, an office of profit under the Crown; re-elected in by-election.
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