Responsible Government in the British Colonial System

Abstract

The present paper deals with the circumstances under which the right of self-government was acquired by the province of Canada. It is concerned chiefly with the period that elapsed between the presentation of Lord Durham's report, in which “responsible government” was recommended, and the passing of the Rebellion Losses Bill of 1849, whose sanction by Lord Elgin indicates the final and complete adoption of this principle. Special emphasis is laid upon the constitutional crisis that occurred under the administration of Sir Charles Metcalfe with a view to placing in its proper historical perspective the influence exercised by the colonial reform party in the evolution of the imperial system. It is the aim of the paper to show that the interpretation of the principle of responsible government now prevailing was not present in the minds of imperial statesmen at the time of the adoption of the Act of Union of 1840, commonly assigned as the date of the inception of self-government. The essay is based upon the papers of Lord Sydenham and Lord Metcalfe, the collection of Baldwin pamphlets in the Toronto Public Library, certain official documents of the Canadian archives, and other original sources which the writer has had occasion to consult in preparing his biographies of Baldwin, LaFontaine, and Hincks in the Makers of Canada Series.