3rd Parliament of the Province of Canada
The 3rd Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in 1848, following the general election for the Legislative Assembly in January 1848. The first session was held at Montreal, Canada East. In 1849, rioters protesting the Rebellion Losses Bill burned the parliament buildings. After briefly sitting at Bonsecours Market and Freemason’s Hall, the remaining sessions were held in Toronto. The Parliament was dissolved on November 6, 1851.
During the 1849 session of this parliament, a number of important bills were passed:
- the Act to provide for the Indemnification of Parties in Lower Canada whose Property was destroyed during the Rebellion in the years 1837 and 1838[1] (Rebellion Losses Bill)
- the Baldwin Act, also known as the Municipal Corporations Act, which replaced the local government system based on district councils in Canada West by government at the county level. It also granted more autonomy to townships, villages, towns and cities.
- the Amnesty Act which offered pardons to all those involved in the Rebellions of 1837–8.
In 1850, legislation was passed to regulate the operation of the postal service and to establish a post on the Executive Council for the Postmaster General for the Province of Canada.
The Speaker of this parliament was Augustin Norbert Morin.
Members
Canada East - 42 seats
Canada West - 42 seats
Notes
References
- ^ resigned to accept a position; Louis Lacose was elected in a by-election in September 1849.
- ^ died in 1850; Luc Letellier de Saint-Just was elected to the seat in February 1851.
- ^ seat was declared vacant in 1849 after Daly was named to a commission of inquiry in England; Dunbar Ross was elected in a by-election held in March 1850.
- ^ resigned his seat in 1848 to accept an appointment as judge; François-Xavier Méthot was elected in a by-election held in June 1848.
- ^ died in March 1849; Alexander Tilloch Galt took the seat in April 1849.
- ^ resigned in January 1850; John Sewell Sanborn was elected to the seat in March 1850.
- ^ The general election in Trois-Rivières was not completed and Antoine Polette was elected in a by-election in April 1848.
- ^ accepted an appointment; George-Étienne Cartier was elected to the seat in April 1848.
- ^ died in 1851; William Lyon Mackenzie was elected in an April 1851 by-election.
- ^ was required to seek reelection after being appointed to cabinet; Caleb Hopkins won his seat in a March 1850 by-election.
- ^ formerly West Halton
- ^ unseated on appeal; Adam Johnston Fergusson took the seat in February 1849.
- ^ formerly South Lincoln
- ^ formerly 3rd York
- ^ resigned in 1849; Peter Perry was elected in a by-election.
- ^ formerly 4th York
- ^ formerly 1st York
- ^ formerly 2nd York
- Bibliography
- Upper Canadian politics in the 1850s, Underhill (and others), University of Toronto Press (1967)
- Côté, George Oliver (1860). Political appointments and elections in the province of Canada. 1841 to 1860. St. Michael & Darveau.