Lecture 3

Lecture 5 Effects of Immigration in Canadian Politics French and Quebec Act (1774)  The French were present from the early 16 century and on  By the time the French were conquered in 1759, there was 55,000 French  With the conquest of New France, for decades they were a small minority that formed a political and economic elite o Ex: Court system, businessmen, fur trade  The Royal Proclamation established the first English legislation over New France o It introduced English institutions in France and tried to assimilate the French with English laws but the Quebec Act changed that and recognized the French legal system, the land-owning system and rights that were established under the French regime, Catholicism, etc. o The English conquered New France but assimilation was not working therefore the best option was to let the French be French and try to win their loyalty by extending concessions (ex: recognizing historic rights) o The new province of Quebec established in 1774 went down into the American mid- west and was a big territory o The Quebec Act saw Canada for the first time as bicultural Loyalists and Constitutional Act (1791)  The next big influx were the Loyalists into Quebec o They were American colonists who did not agree with the separation from England and the American revolution and decided to move to British North America o The Constitutional Act chopped Quebec into Lower Canada and Upper Canada  It gave rise to modern day Quebec and Ontario  It called for an elected legislation  There was expectations for there to also be the democratic rights and institutions from the United States  Elections, debates in legislature, laws, taxation o Even though there was an establishment of Upper Canada, the governor still had an enormous amount of power  The governor represents the Queen  Before a law is established, it needs the governor’s signature  The governor had the power of veto and was able to say no to laws from the legislature o It established English speaking Ontario and introduced a limited level of democratic government because of the veto o A lot of the Loyalists that went to Nova Scotia ended up in New Brunswick  There had been an old established French speaking community  Acadians were French speaking settlers in the Eastern part of Canada  Acadia had been a separate French colony  Once the English conquered the Atlantic portion of Canada, they expelled the Acadians in 1755 through an ethnic cleansing  The French had been there for generations and had established farming communities  The English wanted the rich farming grounds and decided to expel the Acadians  The English said that the Acadians were unwilling to swear allegiance to the British crown  The Acadians wanted to remain neutral between England and France  Those who swore allegiance were allowed to stay and resulted in a minority  Some of those who left to Louisiana came back to their homes British and Act of Union (1841)  There was large scale British emigration after 1815  Once the Napoleon Wars ended, the unemployment in Britain increased o Soldiers could not find work, decrease in economic activity in factories, etc.  With the increase in British immigration, there was agitation for greater political rights on behalf of the legislative assembly o They wanted to get rid of the governor and its power to say yes or no to proposed laws o They wanted RESPONSIBLE government  Executive branch is responsible to the elected legislative assembly  They wanted representative and responsible government  The governor would be supported by a cabinet and advisors who were appointed by the governor  The people who were elected in the legislative assembly could still have their proposed laws denied but with the assistance of the council and executive branch  The governor is appointed by the Crown o The reformers wanted a system where passed laws would become the law of the land  The governor could act as head of state but could not veto the will of the people  The governor still had control over clergy reserves (ex: Anglican Church) and the church was a land owner to support itself, government land, etc.  The family compact in Upper Canada meant that the ruling circle around the governor got the best land  There was a reform movement that emerged which led to the rebellions of 1867  The rebellions happened in both Upper and Lower Canada o In Lower Canada, the leader of the rebellion was Louis Papinou o In Uppe