Legislative Council of the Province of Canada
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The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada was the
upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of
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 ...
, then known as Canada East and later the province of
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 ...
, and
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 th ...
, then known as
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 ...
and later the province of
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 C ...
. It was created by The Union Act of 1840. The first session of parliament began in Kingston in Canada West in 1841. It succeeded the
Legislative Council of Lower Canada The Legislative Council of Lower Canada was the upper house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The upper house consisted of appointed councillors who voted on bills passed up by the Legislative Assembly ...
and
Legislative Council of Upper Canada The Legislative Council of Upper Canada was the upper house governing the province of Upper Canada. Modelled after the British House of Lords, it was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. It was specified that the council should consist ...
. The 24 legislative councillors were originally appointed for life. In 1854, the British Parliament authorized their election, and implementing legislation was passed by the Province of Canada in 1856. It was provided that: :* The present appointed councillors would continue to hold their positions until they had vacated them. :* Members were to be elected for eight-year terms from each of 48 divisions (24 in each of Canada East and Canada West). :* The order in which divisions were to be selected for elections was to be determined by lot. :* 12 members were elected every two years from 1856 to 1862. The British North America Act of 1867 divided the Province of Canada into the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, each with representation in the unelected Senate of Canada. As a province, Ontario never created a Legislative Council; however, Quebec had its own Legislative Council until 1968. Both the provincial and federal upper houses used (and, in the case of the Senate, continues to use to the present day) the same 24 divisions for Quebec as had been used for Canada East by the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada prior to Confederation.


List of legislative councillors

= died in office = elected in byelection = resigned from office = elected by
acclamation An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...
= unseated


Speakers of the Legislative Council

The Speaker was the presiding officer of the Legislative Council, and was appointed by the Queen-in-Council. He was styled "The Honourable, the Vice-Chancellor, Speaker." The office was preceded by the Speaker of Legislative Council of Upper Canada and Speaker of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada. The following table displays the names and political parties of the Speakers between 1841 and 1866.


Parliament Buildings

The Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada sat a various buildings in Toronto, Kingston, Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa: * 1841-1843 three sessions were held at the 3 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 as 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 Street. * 1851 Parliament relocates to Quebec City in 1851 to the
Quebec Parliament Building The Parliament Building of Quebec (french: Hôtel du Parlement du Québec, links=no) is an eight-floor structure and is home to the National Assembly of Quebec (french: Assemblée Nationale du Québec, links=no), located in Quebec City, Quebec, Ca ...
until fire in destroys the building in 1854. * 1854-1859 Parliament remains in Quebec and relocates to Quebec Music Hall and
Quebec City Courthouse 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 thirteen p ...
. * 1859 Parliament return to Toronto to the site of the last parliament held there in 1849-1851 sessions. * 1860-1865 Parliament returns to Quebec and new Parliament Buildings, Quebec at Parc Montmercy; re-used as Parliament of Quebec 1867-1883 * 1866-1867 Parliament locates in Ottawa on Parliament Hill to the completed and original Centre Block, as well as the East and West Block; Centre Block was later destroyed by fire


See also

* List of by-elections to the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada


References

{{reflist


External links


Assemblée nationale du Québec (French)''The Canadian parliamentary companion : first year'', HJ Morgan (1862)''The Canadian parliamentary companion'', HJ Morgan (1867)
Political history of Canada Province of Canada Defunct upper houses in Canada * 1841 establishments in Canada