The Second Parliament of Ontario (or the 2nd Legislature of Ontario, as it was known then) was the legislature of Ontario that consisted of representative elected in the Ontario general election held on March 21, 1871, and held office until December 23, 1874, just prior to the 1875 general election. It is now generally accepted that the Ontario Liberals led by Edward Blake have won a majority of the eighty-two seats in this legislature.
During the course of this legislature, the Edward Blake and his Liberal ministry replaced incumbent Premier John Sandfield Macdonald and his Patent Combination ministry in December 1871, effecting the province very first transition of power. The Blake ministry governed the province for only ten months. Blake and his finance minister Alexander Mackenzie, who later served as Prime Minister of Canada, along with a few key members on the Conservative side, resigned in late 1872 in order to contest the 1872 dominion election (as federal election was then known as). Blake however persuaded Oliver Mowat, a former member of a number of pre-confederation ministries, to resign his judicial role and succeed him as premier. The Mowat ministry, consisted of some members who served in the Blake ministry and some new members, took office on October 25, 1872. Accordingly, the first three Ontario Premiers – Macdonald, Blake, and Mowat – held office during the course of this parliament.
Richard William Scott served as speaker for the assembly until he was named to cabinet on December 21, 1871. James George Currie succeeded Scott as speaker, serving until his resignation on March 29, 1873. Rupert Mearse Wells then succeeded Currie as speaker.
There were 82 seats in the second legislature, 58 in the Liberal strongholds of Western, Central, and Northern Ontario, and 24 in much more conservative Eastern Ontario.
Disputed election outcome Even though the election was held in March 1871, its results was not reflected in the make up of the Ontario government until December that year. While it is now generally accepted that the Ontario Liberals led by Edward Blake secured a slim edge over the incumbent Conservatives led by Premier John Sandfield Macdonald, such an understanding was partially developed with the benefit of hindsight on a period during which the Liberals' ousted the Sandfield Macdonald ministry, commenced the building of a far more expansive administration, and within a year carried out an orderly transition of its party and the government leadership while largely remained stable and united, in doing so ushering in the longest-tenured ministry in the province's history. Few would have predicted the decades of stable government in the early months of this parliament, however, as the event followed the election harkened back to the disputes and gridlocks that plagued the government of the province of Ontario before confederation. 2nd Parliament of Ontario Liberal: 43 Conservative: 38 Conservative-Liberal: 1 seats vacated pending byelection when parliament first met in December 1871
Government defeat Parliament was called into session on Friday December 7, 1871. An additional Liberal member resigned on the fourth sitting day. By the time substantive debate regarding non-confidence on the government took place, eight seats were vacant, reducing the rank of the Conservatives by five and Liberals by three.
During the debate on the speech from the throne, the Sandfield Macdonald ministry suffered defeats in three recorded divisions on three consecutive days, respectively on December 13th, 14th, and 15th and each unmistakably expressed parliament's non-confidence on the ministry. The incumbent Conservative ministry initially refused to accept the recorded divisions as binding expression of non-confidence on the grounds that a tenth of the seats were vacant, but the government's position became untenable following the resignation of Provincial Treasurer Edmund Burke Wood on December 15 and defeats in two further recorded divisions on December 18, each by margin of close to 20 votes. Premier Macdonald announced the resignation of the ministry on December 19.
The transition of power mandated by this election was effected nine months after on December 20, 1971, with the formation of the province's first Liberal ministry led by Premier Edward Blake and featuring future Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie as Treasurer. While Blake and Mackenzie remained in their provincial offices for only a year, the Liberal Party led the Ontario government for 33 more years after their departures.
Byelections for the eight vacancies noted, along with four ministerial byelections necessitated by the formation of the Blake ministry, were held in the following January. The two parties each gain a seat against the other, result in no change to their respective standings in parliament.
Transition to the Mowat era After a short tenure of a year, Blake resigned the premiership and his seat in the legislature departed to contest the 1872 dominion election. Departed with Blake was the Treasurer of his ministry Alexander Mackenzie. Blake led the national Liberal Party in three dominion elections (in 1872, 1882, and 1887) but was never able to secure the premiership of Canada. Mackenzie however was successful in doing so in 1874, and thus became the first Liberal Prime Minister of Canada.
Blake and George Brown, the spiritual leader of the Liberal movement, convinced their former colleagues Oliver Mowat to resign from the judicial bench and to return to electoral politics to succeed Blake. The move kicked off a three decade long Liberal rule in Ontario.
Members Key figures
GovernmentOppositionVictoria Queen of the United Kingdom William Pearce Howland (1868–1873)John Willoughby Crawford (1873–75) Lieutenant GovernorPremierLiberal Party Leader Edward Blake (1871–72)Bruce South Matthew Crooks CameronToronto EastLeader of the OppositionConservative Party Leader Oliver Mowat (1873–96)Oxford North John Sandfield MacdonaldCornwallPremier (1867–71)Chief Government WhipLiberal Whip Conservative Whip