Lesson 8 — Activity 2: The Act of Union

 As well as a Legislative Assembly of 84 members, half elected by Canada East and the other half by Canada West,there was also to be a governor who was answerable to the British Parliament, an executive council appointed by the governor, and a legislative council of 24 members, appointed for life, also by the governor.

The first provision was contrary to Lord Durham's recommendation. The British government decided to give the same number of representatives to each colony, although there were 200,000 more French settlers than English settlers. They believed that if they gave more power to the English-speaking citizens, the French would be assimilated into the English way of life and this would avoid future conflict.

Understandably, the French colonists were very unhappy with the unfair representation of their population. They also saw the removal of the French language in government documents, and some of their institutions and civil laws would no longer exist.

Some English-speaking people also opposed the idea of responsible government. These were the wealthy people in the Family Compact who would lose a lot of their power.

Despite these issues, over the next 10 to 15 years, several very strong leaders from both groups (such as Robert Baldwin from Canada West and Louis Lafontaine from Canada East) worked together to change some of these unfair laws and create a fairer system.

Within 15 years, many unjust clauses were changed or repealed. Economic prosperity brought wealth and growth to the united colony, and responsible government arrived — changing many of the Act's financial and constitutional provisions.

Another very important event occurred during this time. In 1857, Queen Victoria of England chose Ottawa as the new capital of the province of Canada.

Digging Deeper!