Union of Upper and Lower Canada

This series has four easy 5 minute installments. This first installment: Opinion Divided on the Durham Report.

Introduction
In response to the rebellion of 1838 the Liberal administration in Great Britain sent the Earl of Durham to be Governor General and High Commissioner of British North America. On his recommendation the British government united the two colonies of Canada. The Union was proclaimed in Montreal. This is the story of how that happened.

This selection is from The Last Fourty Years by John Charles Dent published in 1881. For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

John Charles Dent (1841-1888) was a Canadian journalist, author and historian.

Time: 1841
Place: Montreal

Lord Durham’s report was seed sown in good ground. From the time when it became public property it formed a prominent topic of discussion among British statesmen, and added not a little to his reputation, as well as to that of his secretary, Mr. Charles Buller. Most people approved of it; a few found fault with some of its clauses; but there was no difference of opinion as to the great ability and industry which had gone to its production as a whole. In Upper Canada, the Reform party, which had long been struggling against the Family Compact under great disadvantages, and which had strenuously contended for many of the principles recognized by the report, received it with enthusiasm. The Legislative Assembly of that Province passed a resolution in favor of union. The Conservatives, however, were very well satisfied with the existing order of things, and were, almost to a man, opposed to any change.

The Honorable (afterward Sir) John Beverley Robinson, Chief Justice of Upper Canada, who had long been the chief guide, philosopher, and friend of the dominant faction in the Province, went to England at this time, and during his stay there, toward the close of the year 1839, published what was intended as a counterblast to Lord Durham’s report, under the title of “Canada and the Canada Bill.” It strove to show that the division of the Provinces in 1791 had worked satisfactorily, and that the carrying out of Lord Durham’s recommendations would by no means remove existing evils or promote the welfare of the country. Mr. Robinson had sixteen years before been an advocate of such a union as he now opposed, but had subsequently seen reason for changing his views. His little book was well written, and presented the case from his side with clear ness, but it was like arguing against the doctrine of gravitation.

In Lower Canada public opinion was much divided. A large majority of the British population approved of the project of union, but there was a considerable minority on the other side. The French-Canadians were almost unanimous in their disapproval of the scheme. It thus seemed probable that there would be no slight difficulty in obtaining general assent to the carrying out of Lord Durham’s recommendations. But, the will being present, a way was soon found. During the session of 1839 a bill for reuniting the Canadas was introduced into the Imperial Parliament by Lord John Russell. When it came to be dealt with by a committee of the House of Commons it was found that some additional information was needed. It was also thought desirable to obtain the formal concurrence of the Canadians, as expressed through their respective Legislatures. To effect these objects it was necessary to send out some clear-headed man, possessed of a large share of tact, and with a due sense of how much was involved in his enterprise.

The gentleman fixed upon to undertake this important mission was Charles Poulett Thomson, better known to Canadians by his subsequent title of Lord Sydenham. Mr. Thomson, though still a young man to be entrusted with a matter of such importance, had had large experience as a politician and diplomatist. He was particularly well informed respecting mercantile affairs, having been bred to commercial pursuits, and was an ardent disciple of free-trade doctrines. Though neither a thorough nor a profound statesman, he was at least a very clever politician, and it is doubtful whether any man could have been found throughout England better fitted, alike by nature and by training, to carry out Lord Durham’s policy in Canada than was Charles Poulett Thomson. He at this time sat in the House of Commons for the important constituency of Manchester, and held the office of president of the board of trade in the Ministry of the day. Having been appointed Governor- General of Canada, and having enjoyed the great advantage of frequent personal interviews with Lord Durham on the subject of his mission, he set out for Quebec in September, 1839. He reached his destination on October 17th following, and two days after ward issued a proclamation announcing that he had assumed the reins of government.

The task before him was one of no ordinary difficulty. It has been seen that the people and the Legislatures were by no means unanimous in approving the proposed measures, and yet it was necessary that he should obtain their consent. Owing to the suspension of the Lower Canadian Constitution, there was, strictly speaking, no Legislature in that Province to be consulted. The body that did duty for a Legislature was the Special Council, and this was summoned to meet at Montreal on November 11th.

No change whatever was made in its composition. It consisted of eighteen members, nearly all of whom belonged to the British party. It had been nominated (after Lord Durham’s departure from Canada) by Sir John Colborne, acting in behalf of the Crown, and the body as a whole did not by any means represent the views generally entertained among the inhabitants of the Lower Province. It was Lord Sydenham’s mission, however, to carry out his instructions, and to obtain a formal con sent from the existing body which stood in the place of a Legislature. Had a fairly representative body been in existence, it would never have given its consent to a union which for a time blotted out the political influence of the French-Canadian population. But no potent opposition was to be dreaded from such a body as the Special Council. The Provincial Constitution was suspended, and the factious spirits were either effectually silenced or in exile. After several days’ discussion the Council adopted the union resolutions by a majority of twelve to three. The Governor-General was thus enabled to report to the Secretary of State in England that the assent of the Lower Province had been obtained. He then made his way without loss of time to Toronto, to obtain the concurrence of the Legislature of the Upper Province.

In the Upper Canadian Legislature His Excellency had no Special Council to deal with, but a regularly constituted legislative body, with a due sense of its own importance and an unequivocal disposition to stand upon its rights. With the Assembly no trouble was to be anticipated, as it had already passed resolutions in favor of union, and was desirous of seeing responsible government conceded without delay. In the Legislative Council very different sentiments prevailed. Its members had everything to lose and nothing to gain by the proposed change. A large majority of them belonged to the Family Compact. Their power and patronage would go, and the principles to which they had always opposed themselves would triumph, in the event of a union of the Provinces and the concession of executive responsibility. They dreaded a coalition between the Liberals of the two Provinces. Their position, however, was such that they could not with any show of consistency refuse their as sent to the resolutions proposed by His Excellency.

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