CANADA HISTORY - Responsible Government

The transition to responsible government in Canada between 1839 and 1849 marked a shift from oligarchic rule to a system where elected representatives held real power. Under the leadership of Charles Poulett Thomson, or Baron Sydenham, this process began with the unification of Upper and Lower Canada, a key recommendation from Lord Durham’s report. At the time, Upper Canada had a population of 400,000 and significant debt, while Lower Canada had 600,000 residents, including 150,000 English speakers, and was relatively debt-free. The aim of the Union was to create a political landscape where the French population would be outnumbered and overwhelmed by the English. The Union granted equal representation to both regions, with governance led by the Governor General on the advice of an executive council from the elected legislative assembly. However, reformers in Upper Canada allied with those in Lower Canada, including the bleus, disrupting the plan to suppress French influence. The final step toward responsible government was shifting power from the Governor to the Legislative Assembly, requiring that executive council members be chosen from the elected body, thus empowering representatives to act as the colony’s executive authority.