Parliament of the Province of Canada Parlement de la Province du Canada |
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Type | |
Type | |
Houses |
Legislative Council Legislative Assembly |
History | |
Founded | February 10, 1841 |
Disbanded | July 1, 1867 |
Preceded by | Special Council of Lower Canada Parliament of Upper Canada |
Succeeded by |
Parliament of Canada (federally) Parliament of Ontario Legislature of Quebec |
The Parliament of the Province of Canada was the legislature for the United Province of Canada, made up the two regions of Canada West (formerly Upper Canada, later Ontario) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada, later Quebec). It was established by the Act of Union 1840 and replaced the two separate legislatures of Upper and Lower Canada, following the Rebellions of 1837 and Lord Durham's 1839 Report to the British Government recommending a legislative union between the two colonies.
As in other Westminster-style legislatures, it consisted of three components:
This legislature was convened eight times in its history:
Following the Province of Canada's entry into Canadian Confederation on 1 July 1867, the Parliament of the Province of Canada ceased to exist. Because the new country of Canada was a federation, the Parliament's powers were divided between levels of government. Its section 91 powers were assigned to the current Parliament of Canada, while its section 92 powers were assigned to the current Parliament of Ontario (for Canada West) and the Legislature of Quebec (for Canada East).