Parliament of the Province of Canada Parlement de la Province du Canada | |
|---|---|
| First Parliament, 1841 – 1844 | |
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| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Legislative Council Legislative Assembly |
Term limits | Four years, subject to earlier dissolution |
| History | |
| Founded | February 10, 1841 |
New session started | 2nd Parliament of the Province of Canada, 1844–1847 |
| Leadership | |
Lord Sydenham, 1841 Major-General John Clitherow (Deputy), 1841 Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Downes Jackson (Administrator), 1841–1842 | |
Samuel Harrison, 1841–1842 (Reform) William Henry Draper, 1842 (Upper Canada Tories) Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, 1842-1843 (Reform) Sir Dominick Daly, 1843 (Acting premier) William Henry Draper, 1843-1847 (Upper Canada Tories) | |
William Henry Draper, 1841–1842 (Upper Canada Tories) Charles Richard Ogden, 1842 (Government supporter) Robert Baldwin 1842-1843 (Reform) Denis-Benjamin Viger 1843-1846 (Groupe canadien-français) | |
Austin Cuvillier, 1841–1844 (Groupe canadien-français) | |
| Seats | Legislative Council: 24 Legislative Assembly: 84 |
| Elections | |
Legislative Council voting system | Life appointments |
Legislative Assembly voting system | Single member constituencies First-past-the-post voting Open ballot system Adult male franchise with property qualification |
| Constitution | |
| Act of Union 1840 | |
The First Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in 1841, following the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada as the Province of Canada on February 10, 1841. The Parliament continued until dissolution in late 1844.
The Parliament of the Province had two chambers: the elected lower house, the Legislative Assembly, and the appointed upper house, the Legislative Council. The first general election for the Legislative Assembly was held in April, 1841. Canada East (formerly Lower Canada) and Canada West (formerly Upper Canada)) each had forty-two seats in the Legislative Assembly. The members of the Legislative Council, twenty-four in number, were appointed by the British Governor General, Lord Sydenham.
All sessions were held at Kingston, Canada West, with the first session of the Parliament called in June 1841. The Parliament had three annual sessions, but then was prorogued for close to a year due to a political crisis in the relations between the Legislative Assembly and the Governor General. The Parliament was dissolved in September, 1844, triggering the second general election for the Province, and the second Parliament, which met in Montreal.
In 1841, the District Councils Act was passed which established a system of local government in Canada West based on district councils. Prior to 1841, local affairs were dealt with by the District Court of Quarter Sessions.