Responsible Government
No formal provision for responsible government was included in the Act of Union 1840. Early Governors of the province were closely involved in political affairs, maintaining a right to make Executive Council and other appointments without the input of the legislative assembly.
However, in 1848 the Earl of Elgin, the then Governor General, appointed a Cabinet nominated by the majority party of the Legislative Assembly, the Baldwin-Lafontaine coalition that had won elections in January. Lord Elgin upheld the principles of responsible government by not repealing the Rebellion Losses Bill, which was highly unpopular with some English-speaking Loyalists who favoured imperial over majority rule.
Read more about this topic: Province Of Canada
Famous quotes containing the words responsible and/or government:
“Although the stupid, unthinking world may approve what you have done, in your heart you know that, but for your treachery, the boy you loved would be alive today. If anyone is responsible for his death, you killed him, and for that murder you will live and die in the contempt and loathing of your own heart.”
—Karl Brown (1897–1990)
“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men ... you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)