The Canadian seat of government dispute was a long-running political issue in the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1866. During that time, the seat of government moved six times, to five different cities. Originally located in Kingston, the seat of government moved to Montreal, to Toronto (twice), to Quebec City (twice), and finally to Ottawa. Significant political debates occurred each time it moved, as the issue triggered strong regional rivalries.
Numerous votes in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1841 onward failed to establish a fixed seat of government. In 1857, the government of John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier, possibly following a suggestion from Governor General Sir Edmund Walker Head, proposed that the matter be referred to Queen Victoria to decide. The Legislative Assembly passed a resolution calling on the Queen to make the decision. Late in 1857, Victoria decided in favour of Ottawa.
Even with the Queen's decision, the proposal for Ottawa did not gain immediate support. In 1858, the Macdonald–Cartier ministry resigned after losing a confidence vote on the proposed move to Ottawa. They were able to return to office after a few days, in the Double Shuffle, but the issue remained divisive. In 1859, there was another motion in the Assembly to establish Ottawa as the seat of government. That motion passed after a lengthy debate, on the condition that the Parliament would move again to Quebec during the construction of parliament buildings in Ottawa. The issue was raised again in 1860, when Ottawa was finally confirmed as the seat of government by a strong majority in the Assembly.
In 1860, construction began in Ottawa. Significant cost overruns temporarily halted construction, but by 1865 the new Parliament Buildings were complete. In 1866, the Parliament of the Province of Canada met in the new buildings for its final session. After Canadian Confederation, the new Parliament of Canada met in the buildings for the first time in November 1867.
Creation of the Province of Canada, 1841
Following the Rebellions of 1837–1838 in Lower Canada and Upper Canada, the British government decided to unify the two Canadas into a single province, based on the recommendation of Lord Durham in the Durham Report.Gerald M. Craig, Upper Canada: The Formative Years, 1784–1841 (McClelland and Stewart, 1963), p. 270. The British Parliament passed the Union Act, 1840, which created the Province of Canada, effective February 10, 1841. The two Canadas became administrative regions in the new province: Lower Canada became Canada East (now Quebec), and Upper Canada became Canada West (now Ontario). The Union Act created a single parliament for the new province.J.M.S. Careless, The Union of the Canadas — The Growth of Canadian Institutions, 1841–1857 (McClelland and Stewart, 1967), pp. 1–5.Union Act, 1840, 3–4 Vict., c. 35 (UK), s. 12.
The Union Act did not determine the location of the seat of government for the new Parliament. Instead, the act gave the Governor General the power to determine where Parliament would meet.Wilfrid Eggleston, The Queen's Choice: A Story of Canada's Capital (Queen's Printer (Canada), 1961), pp. 99–101.Union Act, 1840, s. 30. Prior to unification, Toronto had been the seat of government for Upper Canada, and Quebec for Lower Canada.Craig, Upper Canada: The Formative Years, 1784–1841, p. 271.Careless, The Union of the Canadas, pp. 1–2, 7.
Locations of the seat of government, 1841–1865
Kingston (1841–1843)
The first governor general of the new province was Charles Poulett Thomson, later Lord Sydenham. Appointed prior to the Union Act coming into force, his first task was to win support for the union in the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. In that process, he advised the members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada that there was a strong likelihood that the seat of government of the new province would be in Canada West. When the Union Act came into force, he fulfilled that commitment by summoning the new Parliament to Kingston, a city of about 6,000 inhabitants in Canada West, but close to the boundary with Canada East."Proclamation by Governor General Lord Sydenham", February 15, 1841; printed in Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 1st Parl., 1st sess., vol. 1 (1841), pp. vi–vii. Since there was no major public building in Kingston, the Parliament met in the Kingston Hospital.Wilfrid Eggleston, The Queen's Choice: A Story of Canada's Capital (Queen's Printer (Canada), 1961), pp. 99–101.Government of Canada–Designations of National Historic Significance: Meetings of Parliament, 1841–1866.Careless, The Union of the Canadas, pp. 7–8, 27.Kingston Health Sciences Centre: "Canada's first Parliamentary building".
The choice did not prove popular with most of the members of the Parliament. Discussion about moving the seat of government began in the very first session in 1841, and continued into the sessions of 1842 and 1843. In March 1843, a committee of the provincial Executive Council prepared a report, with one dissenting opinion, calling on the British government to move the seat of government to Montreal in Canada East.Careless, The Union of the Canadas, pp. 77, 82."Report of a Committee of the Executive Council", March 16, 1843; printed in the Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 1st Parl., 3rd sess., vol. 3 (1843), pp. 25–28 (October 6, 1843).
In October 1843, Governor General Sir Charles Metcalfe advised the Legislative Assembly (the lower house of the Parliament) that the British government was not prepared to direct any change to the seat of government without having the concurrence of the Legislative Assembly, and a commitment from the Assembly to pay the costs of transferring the seat of government. He also advised that the British government considered that either Kingston or Montreal could serve as seat of government, but that both Toronto and Quebec were too far from the centre of the province to be the seat of government.Donald R. Beer, "Metcalfe, Charles Theophilius, 1st Baron Metcalfe", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. VII (1836–1850), University of Toronto / Université Laval."Message of the Governor General", October 6, 1843; printed in Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 1st Parl., 3rd sess., vol. 3 (1843), p. 25 (October 6, 1843).
The leaders of the Executive Council, Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, then introduced a motion in the Assembly proposing that the seat of government move to Montreal. A lengthy debate arose. Alternative proposals were made, such as remaining in Kingston, moving to some other location in Canada West, or deferring the decision entirely to the British government. On November 3, 1843, by a vote of 54–22, the Legislative Assembly passed the resolution to move to Montreal, and committed the necessary funds for the move.Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 1st Parl, 3rd sess., vol. 3 (1843), pp. 88–92, 108–109 (November 2–4, 1843).
On May 10, 1844, Governor General Metcalfe summoned the second Parliament to meet in Montreal, relying on his power under the Union Act.Careless, The Union of the Canadas, p. 96."Proclamation by Governor General Sir Charles Metcalfe", May 10, 1844; printed in the Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 2nd Parl., 1st sess., vol. 4 (1844–1845), pp. vi–vii.
Montreal (1844–1849)
In 1844, Parliament moved from Kingston to Montreal. Montreal had the attraction of being the largest city in the Province of Canada, with a population of approximately 40,000. It was the commercial centre of the province, with Canada's earliest chartered bank, the Bank of Montreal. Parliament met in the former St. Anne's Market building.Careless, The Union of the Canadas, pp. 21–23, 96.John Ralston Saul, Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin (Penguin Canada, 2012), pp. 159–160.
From 1844 to 1849, Montreal was the seat of government, for the entire term of the second Parliament, 1844 to 1847, and for the first and second sessions of the third Parliament, elected in 1848."Proclamation by Governor General the Earl of Elgin", January 31, 1848; printed in the Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 3rd Parl., 1st sess., vol. 7 (1848), p. x."Proclamation by Governor General the Earl of Elgin", December 9, 1848; printed in the Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 3rd Parl., 2nd sess., vol. 8 (1849), p. viii.
Political tensions rose after the 1848 election, which returned a Reform majority, headed by LaFontaine and Baldwin. In the 1849 legislative session, the LaFontaine–Baldwin ministry introduced the Rebellion Losses Bill. The purpose of the bill was to compensate residents of Canada East who had suffered property losses during the Rebellions of 1837 and 1838. A similar bill had already been passed to compensate individuals in Upper Canada for their losses in the rebellion.Careless, The Union of the Canadas, pp. 123–126.Saul, Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin, pp. 175–184.
The Rebellion Losses Bill was highly controversial. The Tory opposition attacked the bill and the government, arguing that the bill would compensate those who had taken up arms against the Crown. They called on the Governor General, Lord Elgin, to deny royal assent to the bill. When Lord Elgin instead gave royal assent, on the advice of the LaFontaine–Baldwin ministry, the Tories rioted. On the night of April 25, 1849, while the Legislative Assembly was in session, the rioters set fire to the Parliament Building, which burnt to the ground. There was no loss of life, but the Library of Parliament, containing many historical records and texts, was destroyed.Saul, Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine and Robert Baldwin, pp. 184–188.
Itinerant Parliament: Toronto and Quebec (1850–1865)
Following the burning of the Parliament building, the members of Parliament reconvened at Bonsecours Market in Montreal. Henry Sherwood, one of the members for Toronto, introduced a resolution calling on the governor to summon the Parliament alternately at Toronto and Quebec. He suggested that the time in one city would not be more than four years, and then Parliament would move to the other city.Donald Robert Beer, "Sherwood, Henry", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. VIII (1851–1860), University of Toronto / Université Laval.Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, 3rd Parl., 2nd sess., vol. 8 (1849), pp. 317–321 (May 19, 1849).
In the debate on the resolution, other cities were proposed. Henry Sherwood's brother, George Sherwood, member for Brockville, proposed that one central city be chosen as the permanent seat of government, but without specifying the city. John A. Macdonald, member for Kingston, proposed that the seat of government return to Kingston on a permanent basis. George Lyon, member for Russell in the Ottawa area, proposed that Ottawa (then still called Bytown) be the seat of government.