6th Parliament of the Province of Canada

The 6th Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in January 1858, following the general election for the Legislative Assembly in December 1857. Sessions were held in Toronto in 1858 and then in Quebec City from 1859. The Parliament was dissolved in May 1861.

The 1857 election was flawed by voter fraud. John A. Macdonald had been unwilling to be drawn into granting a wide franchise and also been unwilling to use old restricted franchise rules so the 6th Parliament of the Province of Canada was elected using complex rules and a reliance on a multitude of oaths.[1] In Quebec City, it was reported that about three times as many votes were cast as the number of qualified voters. Widespread voter fraud occurred in nine ridings in Canada East and three ridings in Canada West. Grown sons living at home and others who were neither property owners nor renters passed themselves off as renters and voted.[2] When the 6th Parliament began its first legislative session, in January 1858, the Speech from the Throne gave the government's intent to secure proper voter registration and protect the value of the vote of qualified voters.[3]

The 1858 parliamentary session was one of the longest and nastiest in Canadian history. It opened in January 1858 just as news arrived from London that Queen Victoria had chosen Ottawa as the permanent seat for the government of the Province of Canada.[4] In August 1858 the Macdonald-Cartier ministry carried out the divisive "double shuffle" that allowed the ministry to stay in power without facing by-elections.[5]

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly was Sir Henry Smith.

Electoral system

Each voter could cast as many votes as there were seats to fill in the district (First-past-the-post voting).[6]

Montreal and Quebec City elected three members; Toronto elected two members. All others elected just one member. (Previous to the next election, all districts were changed to single-member districts.)

Members

Canada East – 65 seats

Riding Member Party First elected/previously elected
Argenteuil Sydney Robert Bellingham[a] Reformer 1854
John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (1860) Liberal 1860
Bagot Maurice Laframboise Rouge 1858
Beauce Dunbar Ross Rouge 1850,[b] 1854
Beauharnois Gédéon Ouimet Bleu 1858
Bellechasse Octave-Cyrille Fortier Bleu 1854
Berthier Eugène-Urgel Piché Rouge 1858
Bonaventure John Meagher Reformer 1854
Brome James Moir Ferres Conservative 1854
Chambly Louis Lacoste Bleu 1843, 1849, 1858
Champlain Joseph-Édouard Turcotte Bleu 1841,[c] 1851
Charlevoix Cléophe Cimon Bleu 1858
Châteauguay Henry Starnes Conservative 1858
Chicoutimi—Saguenay David Edward Price Conservative 1855
Compton John Henry Pope Conservative 1858
Deux-Montagnes Jean-Baptiste Daoust Reformer 1854
Dorchester Hector-Louis Langevin Bleu 1858
Drummond—Arthabaska Christopher Dunkin Conservative 1858
Gaspé John Le Boutillier Reformer 1844,[d] 1854
Hochelaga Joseph Laporte Bleu 1854
Huntingdon Robert Brown Somerville Independent 1854
Iberville Charles Laberge Rouge 1854
Jacques-Cartier François-Zéphirin Tassé Bleu 1858
Joliette Joseph-Hilarion Jobin Rouge 1851
Laprairie Thomas-Jean-Jacques Loranger Bleu 1858
Kamouraska Jean-Charles Chapais Reformer 1851
L'Assomption Louis Archambeault Bleu 1858
Laval Pierre Labelle Bleu 1854
Lévis François-Xavier Lemieux Liberal-Conservative 1847
L'Islet Louis-Bonaventure Caron[e] Rouge 1858
Charles-François Fournier (1858) Reformer 1848, 1858
Lotbinière John O'Farrell[f] Conservative 1854
Lewis Thomas Drummond (1858) Liberal 1844, 1858
Maskinongé Louis-Honoré Gauvreau[g] Bleu 1858
George Caron (1858) Bleu 1858
Mégantic Noël Hébert Rouge 1858
Missisquoi Hannibal Hodges Whitney Conservative 1854
Montcalm Joseph Dufresne Bleu 1854
Montmagny Joseph-Octave Beaubien Bleu 1858
Montmorency Joseph-Édouard Cauchon Bleu 1844
Montreal John Rose Conservative 1858
Antoine-Aimé Dorion Rouge 1854
Thomas D'Arcy McGee Rouge 1858
Nicolet Joseph Gaudet Bleu 1858
Napierville Jacques-Olivier Bureau Rouge 1854
Ottawa Denis-Émery Papineau Rouge 1858
Pontiac Edmund Heath Conservative 1858
Portneuf Joseph-Élie Thibaudeau Reformer 1854
Quebec County Charles Panet Bleu 1858
Quebec City Charles Joseph Alleyn Conservative 1858
Georges-Honoré Simard Bleu 1856
Hippolyte Dubord[h] Bleu 1858
Pierre-Gabriel Huot (1860) Rouge 1854,[i] 1860
Richelieu Jacques-Félix Sincennes Bleu 1858
Richmond—Wolfe[j] William Hoste Webb Conservative 1858
Rimouski Michel-Guillaume Baby Bleu 1857
Rouville Thomas Edmund Campbell Conservative 1858
St. Hyacinthe Louis-Victor Sicotte Bleu 1851
Saint-Jean François Bourassa Rouge 1854
Saint-Maurice Louis-Léon Lesieur Desaulniers Bleu 1854
Shefford Lewis Thomas Drummond[k] Liberal 1844
Asa Belknap Foster (1858) Conservative 1858
Sherbrooke Alexander Tilloch Galt Liberal-Conservative 1849, 1853
Soulanges Dominique-Amable Coutlée Bleu 1858
Stanstead Timothy Lee Terrill Moderate 1852
Témiscouata Benjamin Dionne Reformer 1854
Terrebonne Louis-Siméon Morin Bleu 1857
Trois-Rivières William McDonell Dawson Conservative 1858
Vaudreuil Robert Unwin Harwood[l] Conservative 1858
Jean-Baptiste Mongenais (1860) Bleu 1848, 1860
Verchères George-Étienne Cartier Bleu 1848
Yamaska Ignace Gill Conservative 1854

Canada West – 65 seats

Riding Member Party First elected/previously elected
East Brant David Christie[m] Reformer 1855
Hugh Finlayson (1858) 1858
West Brant Herbert Biggar Reformer 1854
Brockville George Sherwood Conservative 1858
Carleton William F. Powell Conservative 1854
Cornwall John Sandfield Macdonald Reformer 1841
Dundas James William Cook Reformer 1858
East Durham Francis H. Burton Conservative 1854
West Durham Henry Munro Reformer 1854
East Elgin Leonidas Burwell Reformer 1858
West Elgin George Macbeth Conservative 1854
Essex John McLeod Conservative 1858
Frontenac Henry Smith, Jr Conservative 1841
Glengarry Donald Alexander Macdonald Reformer 1858
Grenville William Patrick Reformer 1851
Grey John Sheridan Hogan[n] Independent Liberal 1858
J.T. Purdy (1861) Reformer 1861
Haldimand William Lyon Mackenzie[o] Reformer 1851
Michael Harcourt (1858) Reformer 1858
Halton John White Reformer 1858
Hamilton Isaac Buchanan Independent 1858
North Hastings George Benjamin Conservative 1856
South Hastings Lewis Wallbridge Reformer 1858
Huron & Bruce John Holmes Reformer 1858
Kent Archibald McKellar Reformer 1858
Kingston John A. Macdonald Liberal-Conservative 1844
Lambton Malcolm Cameron[p] Grit 1841,[q] 1858
Hope Fleming Mackenzie (1860) Reformer 1860
North Lanark Robert Bell Reform 1854
South Lanark Andrew W. Playfair 1858
North Leeds & Grenville Basil R. Church[r] Reformer 1854
Ogle Robert Gowan (1858) Conservative 1858
South Leeds Benjamin Tett Conservative 1858
Lennox and Addington David Roblin Reformer 1854
Lincoln William Hamilton Merritt[s] Reformer 1844
John Charles Rykert (1860) Reformer 1860
London John Carling Liberal-Conservative 1858
East Middlesex Marcus Talbot[t] Conservative 1858
Robert Craik (1860) Reformer 1860
West Middlesex John Scatcherd[u] 1854
Angus Peter McDonald (1858) 1858
Niagara (town) John Simpson Conservative 1858
Norfolk Walker Powell Reformer 1858
East Northumberland John R Clark Reformer 1858
West Northumberland Sidney Smith Reformer 1854
North Ontario Joseph Gould Reformer 1854
South Ontario Oliver Mowat Reformer 1858
Ottawa Richard William Scott Liberal-Conservative 1858
North Oxford George Brown[v] Reformer 1851
William McDougall (1858) Reformer 1858
South Oxford George Skeffington Connor Reformer 1858
Peel James Cox Aikins Clear Grit 1854
Perth Thomas Mayne Daly Liberal-Conservative 1854
Peterborough Thomas Short Reformer 1858
Prescott Henry Wellesly McCann Conservative 1854
Prince Edward Willet C Dorland Conservative 1858
Renfrew John Lorn McDougall[w] Reformer 1857
William Cayley (1858) Tory 1846,[x] 1854,[y] 1858
Russell George Byron Lyon-Fellowes[z] Conservative 1848
John W Loux (1859) 1859
North Simcoe Angus Morrison Reform 1854
South Simcoe Thomas Roberts Ferguson Conservative 1858
Stormont William D. Mattice Reformer 1851
Toronto George Brown Reformer 1851
John Beverley Robinson Conservative 1858
Victoria John Cameron Conservative 1858
North Waterloo Michael Hamilton Foley Reform 1854
South Waterloo William Scott Conservative 1858
Welland Gilbert McMicken Reformer 1858
North Wellington Charles Allan[aa] 1858
James Ross (1859) Reformer 1859
South Wellington David Stirton Reformer 1858
North Wentworth William Notman Reformer 1848,[ab] 1858
South Wentworth Joseph Rymal Reformer 1858
East York Amos Wright Reformer 1851
North York Joseph Hartman[ac] Reformer 1851
Adam Wilson (1860) Reformer 1860
West York[ad] William Pearce Howland Reformer 1858

Notes

  1. ^ election was declared invalid after an appeal; John Joseph Caldwell Abbott was declared elected in March 1860 after an inquiry by a committee of the Legislative Assembly.
  2. ^ Mégantic
  3. ^ Saint-Maurice
  4. ^ Bonaventure
  5. ^ election was declared invalid; Charles-François Fournier was declared elected in June 1858.
  6. ^ election was declared invalid; Lewis Thomas Drummond was elected in a by-election in October 1858.
  7. ^ died in office in 1858; George Caron was elected in a by-election in December 1858.
  8. ^ election was declared invalid in April 1860; Pierre-Gabriel Huot was elected in a by-election in May 1860.
  9. ^ Saguenay
  10. ^ formerly Sherbrooke (county) and Wolfe
  11. ^ defeated in a by-election in Shefford in September 1858 after he was appointed to cabinet; Asa Belknap Foster was elected to the seat.
  12. ^ resigned his seat to run for a seat on the Legislative Council; Jean-Baptiste Mongenais was elected in a by-election in November 1860.
  13. ^ resigned after being elected to the Legislative Council in 1858; Hugh Finlayson was elected in a by-election in 1858.
  14. ^ missing from 1 December 1859; his murdered body was discovered in the Don River.
  15. ^ resigned his seat in August 1858; Michael Harcourt was elected in an October 1858 by-election
  16. ^ resigned after being elected to the Legislative Council in 1860; Hope Fleming Mackenzie was elected to the seat in a by-election in 1860.
  17. ^ Lanark/Kent/Huron
  18. ^ died in 1858; Ogle Robert Gowan was elected in a by-election later that year.
  19. ^ resigned after being elected to the Legislative Council in 1860; J.C. Rykert was elected to the seat in a by-election in 1860.
  20. ^ died in March 1860; Robert Craik was elected to his seat in 1860.
  21. ^ died in June 1858; Angus Peter McDonald was elected to his seat in 1858.
  22. ^ George Brown, elected in both North Oxford and Toronto, chose to sit for Toronto; William McDougall elected in a May 1858 by-election
  23. ^ resigned his seat to allow William Cayley to be elected in a by-election held in March 1858.
  24. ^ Huron
  25. ^ Huron
  26. ^ election declared fraudulent in October 1859; John W Loux elected in a December 1859 by-election.
  27. ^ election appealed; ames Ross was elected in an 1859 by-election.
  28. ^ Middlesex
  29. ^ died in November 1859; Adam Wilson was elected to his seat in 1860.
  30. ^ formerly South York; prior to that, 1st York

References

  1. ^ Garner, Franchise and Politics in BNA, p. 109-110
  2. ^ Garner, Franchise and Politics in BNA, p. 110
  3. ^ Garner, Franchise and Politics in BNA, p. 111
  4. ^ Ged Martin, John A. Macdonald: Canada's first prime minister (Toronto: Dundurn, 2013), p. 19
  5. ^ Double Shuffle https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/double-shuffle
  6. ^ Parliamentary Guide
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.
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