When was responsible government given to canada

Two failed rebellions discredited radicals who had tried to change the political system by force. Canadian reformers continued to work within the parliamentary system to achieve responsible government. This term refers to a government which depends upon the support of the elected assembly. Many Tories condemned responsible government as disloyal and anti-British. Reformers noted that it had long been practised in Britain itself. Toronto reformers John Henry Dunn and Isaac Buchanan emphasized this point with banners featuring the imperial crown and a pro-British motto.

They should direct all their efforts toward this end; and to bring it about, we need the colonial administration to be formed and directed by and with the majority of representatives of the people.

The Act of Union brought together French- and English-speaking reformers in a single elected assembly. Despite their linguistic and cultural differences, Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin joined forces to achieve responsible government. Their Reform Party won a solid majority in the election. Due to new priorities, British attitudes had softened toward reform in the colonies. Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine and Robert Baldwin put responsible government to immediate use, restoring French as an official language.

Macdonald were different. On the Reformer side, matters were hardly better. For every pro-parliamentary moderate Reformer like Robert Baldwin, there seemed to be a pro-American-republicanism Radical. Recognizing these divisions, astute Canadien politicians like Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine agreed to build bridges across the linguistic divide to shore up Reform numbers and to obtain the support needed to acheive responsible government. More conservative elements on the Canada East side of the assembly of course objected, although they found it hard to find in their ideological cousins — the anglophone Tories — much that would work to their advantage.

In Francis Hincks another leading Reformer in Toronto achieved his goal of building an alliance between French and English Reformers. With Lafontaine and Baldwin he was appointed to the executive council. This was a pivotal moment in the political history of Canada: English and French politicians collaborating to achieve a greater degree of democratic accountability.

Durham had been unimpressed by Lafontaine, which was clearly an error on his part. Lafontaine was bringing responsible government within reach. The governor at the time, Sir Charles Bagot , was in some respects acting as though responsible government was a done deal.

Bowing to pressure from Lafontaine and Baldwin he appointed an executive that was dominated by Reformers from Canada East and Canada West but in which no single political party held a majority. These events constituted a turning point because they indicate how far the project of isolating and assimilating the French had failed, the extent to which political parties governed by ideologies were emerging something the British had also wanted to avoid , and the effective arrival in fact if not in law of responsible government.

There would be attempts in the s to roll back these changes, none of which had any lasting impact. In the winter of , formal and official responsible government finally arrived — in Nova Scotia.

In the spring it was proclaimed in New Brunswick. A Country by Consent is a national history of Canada which studies the major political events that have shaped the country, presented in a cohesive, chronological narrative. Many of these main events are introduced by an audiovisual overview, enlivened by narration, sound effects and music.

This was the first digital, multimedia history of Canada. It started out as a laserdisc in and the CD-ROM version has been used in schools across the country. It has been approved as a curriculum-supporting resource by provincial and territorial ministries of education.

This online, public domain site is the fifth edition of the project. Home About Site Map Contact. Letter 3 - Howe concludes his rebuttal to Lord Russell's June 3, speech. Letter 4 - Howe illustrates how he would change the present systems to become more accountable to the people. He maintains his seat in the House of Assembly.