Quebec City was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada East (now Quebec). It was created in 1841 and included much of Quebec City. Its boundaries were specifically drawn by the British Governor General, Lord Sydenham, to include voters of British background and to dilute the voting strength of francophone Canadien voters, an example of an ethnic and linguistic gerrymander. Sydenham's purpose was to gain support in the Legislative Assembly for the new Province of Canada, which had merged the formerly separate provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada, as well as for his government.

Twelve years later, in a redistribution of the electoral districts, the provincial Parliament re-drew the boundaries of the Quebec constituency, adopting the municipal boundaries of Quebec as the basis for the electoral district. The redistribution ended the Sydenham gerrymander.

Quebec City was a multi-member constituency. From 1841 to 1854, it was represented by two members in the Legislative Assembly. In 1854, an additional member was added, for a total of three members. The three-member constituency was abolished in 1861, when it was split into three single-member ridings.

Boundaries

Quebec City electoral district covered much of the municipality of Quebec City, one of the largest centres in Canada East. However, portions of the municipality were carefully excised from the electoral district of Quebec City and added to the surrounding Quebec County electoral district, in furtherance of the Governor General's plan to increase the voting strength of British voters who would support his government.Irving Martin Abella, "The 'Sydenham Election' of 1841" (1966), 47 Canadian Historical Review 326, at p. 327-328 [subscription needed].

The Union Act, 1840, passed by the British Parliament, merged the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada, with a single Parliament. The separate parliaments of Lower Canada and Upper Canada were abolished.Union Act, 1840, 3 & 4 Vict. (UK), c. 35, s. 2. The Union Act provided that the pre-existing electoral boundaries of Lower Canada and Upper Canada would continue to be used in the new Parliament, unless altered by the Union Act itself.Union Act, 1840, ss. 16, 18.

Quebec City was one of the electoral districts specifically defined by the Union Act. In the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, the municipality of Quebec had been included in the surrounding Quebec County,An Act to make a new and more convenient subdivision of the Province into Counties, for the purpose of effecting a more equal Representation thereof in the Assembly than heretofore, SLC 1829 (9 Geo. IV), c. 73, s. 1, para. 37. but had not been part of the county for voting purposes. The municipality of Quebec had been divided into two electoral districts, called Quebec Upper Town and Quebec Lower Town,An Act to make a new and more convenient subdivision of the Province into counties..., s. 1, closing paragraph. which elected their members separately from Quebec County.An Act to make a new and more convenient subdivision of the Province into Counties ..., s. 2.

The Union Act changed this situation by providing that the city and town of Quebec would be one district, represented by two members.Union Act, 1840, s. 20. The Union Act gave the Governor General the power to set the boundaries for the district.Union Act, 1840, s. 21. Any parts of the city which were not included in the boundaries set by the Governor General would be included in the adjoining electoral district.

The first Governor General, Lord Sydenham, exercised the power to draw boundaries by a proclamation issued shortly after the formation of the Province of Canada in early 1841.Proclamation, March 4, 1841. Reproduced in the Journal of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada, 1841, pp. xiii. His overall goal in drawing the boundaries was to ensure that supporters of the creation of the new Province of Canada and of his government would be elected. The boundaries did not follow the normal municipal boundaries, rather being drawn along certain streets and geographic features. This new electoral district was designed to exclude as many francophone Canadien voters as possible, and to include as many voters of British background as possible, since they generally supported the union and Lord Sydenham's government. It was an example of an ethnic and linguistic gerrymander.Abella, "The 'Sydenham Election' of 1841", at p. 334. The areas of the municipality of Quebec which were not included in the new electoral district of Quebec City instead were included in Quebec County. The result was the effective dilution of Quebec francophone voters in the 1841 election.

In 1853, after the establishment of responsible government and local control, the provincial Parliament passed a statute to expand the number of seats in the Assembly and re-draw the boundaries. As part of that redistribution, the new boundaries for the Quebec electoral district were based on the municipal boundaries of the city, instead of the highly specific boundaries used by Sydenham..

Members of the Legislative Assembly (1841–1860)

Quebec City was a multi-member constituency. Under the Union Act, 1840, it was originally entitled to two members in the Legislative Assembly. In the 1853 redistribution, it was given an additional member, allowing it to return three members to the Legislative Assembly.An Act to enlarge the Representation of the People of this Province in Parliament, s. 3.

The following were the members of the Legislative Assembly for Quebec City. The party affiliations are based on the biographies of individual members given by the National Assembly of Quebec, as well as votes in the Legislative Assembly. "Party" was a fluid concept, especially during the early years of the Province of Canada.J.O. Côté, Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada, 1841 to 1860 (Quebec: St. Michel and Darveau, 1860), pp. 43–58.Québec Dictionary of Parliamentary Biography, from 1764 to the present.Paul G. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841–67 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015), pp. 93–111.

ParliamentMember Years in Office Party1st Parliament1841–1844 Henry Black 1841–1844 Unionist; "British" Tory David Burnet 1841–1843 Unionist; independent Jean Chabot 1843–1844(by-election)French-Canadian Group 2nd Parliament1844–1848 Thomas Cushing Aylwin 1844–1848 French-Canadian Group Jean Chabot 1844–1848 French-Canadian Group 3rd Parliament1848–1851 Thomas Cushing Aylwin January 24, 1848 to March 11, 1848; March 28, 1848 to April 26, 1848 French-Canadian Group Jean Chabot 1848–1851 French-Canadian Group François-Xavier Méthot June 9, 1848 to 1851 (by-election) French-Canadian Group, later Ministerialist 4th Parliament 1851–1854 Hippolyte Dubord 1851–1854 Independent George Okill Stuart Jr. 1851–1854 Independent Tory 5th Parliament 1854–1857 Charles Joseph Alleyn 1854–1857 Ministerialist Jean Blanchet 1854–1857 Ministerialist Jean Chabot 1854–1856 Bleu Georges-Honoré Simard 1856–1857 (by-election) Bleu George Okill Stuart Jr. 1857 (by-election) Independent Tory 6th Parliament 1858–1860 Charles Joseph Alleyn 1858–1860 Conservative Hippolyte Dubord 1858–1860 Bleu Georges-Honoré Simard 1858–1860 Bleu

Notes

Significant elections

In 1841, in the first general election in the new Province of Canada, the Governor General intervened heavily in the voting in individual ridings, to ensure he had a majority in the Legislative Assembly. In Quebec City, this intervention took the form of pressure on government officials and pensioners to vote for Sydenham's preferred candidates. One of Sydenham's preferred candidates dropped out, but the other, Henry Black, continued. Of the hundred and forty-eight voters in this group, one hundred and forty-five voted for Black.Abella, "The 'Sydenham Election' of 1841", p. 342.

In the general elections of 1858, there was electoral violence in the Quebec City riding, and two individuals were killed. The elections of all three members were set aside in 1860 as a result.Elections Canada: A History of the Vote in Canada, Chapter 1: British North America 1758–1866.J.O. Côté, Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1865 (Ottawa: G.E. Desbarats, 1866, 2nd ed.), pp. 114–115.

Abolition

The Quebec electoral district was abolished in 1860, when it was replaced by three single-member districts, Quebec Centre, Quebec East, and Quebec West. The elections of all three of the members of Quebec City elected in the 1858 general elections had been declared void on April 16, 1860. The Act provided that the three new electoral districts came into force immediately on passage of the Act, on April 23, 1860.

References