1. Democratic Decision Making in Early Canada

2. Democratic Values Modern democracies vary different from ancient times
Operates according to rules in written constitution
Values that guide democratic society include
Rule of Law
Common Good
Majority Rule
Minority Rights

3. Rule of Law - Laws apply to all people
No one is above the law
Common Good – Best interest of the people
Majority Rule – What most people want
Needs to be balanced with minority rights
Minority Rights – rights are recognised and protected by the majority ( ie; Language)

4. French Rule
Early 1600’s, French started to settle in Canada in Nova Scotia and along the St Lawrence. British in Newfoundland
Called New France
Viewed as business ventures
Not interested in governing them
Placed control in hands of merchants for revenue
(fur Trade)

5. French Rule Cont’ Iroquois waged war to drive out invaders
King Louis XIV declared colony a royal province
Council run
Made up of - Governor
An Intendant
Roman Catholic Bishop
And five councillors

6. British Conquest During the 1700’s
1759 British captured Quebec City marking the end of New France
Treaty of Paris (1763) handed New France to the British

7. British Rule Take over of New France set country on different course
British law only allowed Protestant men to be elected until 1829
People of Quebec were French Roman Catholic
No decision making power of most for most

8. British Rule Cont’ James Murray first British appointed Governor
Understood the misrepresentation
In 1774 British Parliament passed Quebec Act
Affirmed religious and land rights
Quebec stayed loyal to the King and refused to join the American colonists’ independence fight

9. British North America Expansion
Constitutional Act of 1791 split Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada
Upper Canada west of the Ottawa River and Lower Canada to the east
French speaking in Lower Canada
Each had its own Governor
Representative government was created but not responsible government

10. Rebellion
Upper and Lower Canada were still run by elite groups. Governor had veto power so even though there was representation of the people there still wasn’t much power sharing
By 1830 two vocal critics emerged on governing of the colonies
Loius-Joesph Papineau in Lower Canada
William Lyon Mackenzie in Upper Canada

11. Rebellion Con’t
All they wanted was responsible government but to no avail
By 1837 they and more radical followers decided armed rebellion was the only way
More battles erupted in Lower Canada
Papineau and Mackenzie fled to the US as political refuges
Mackenzie
Papineau

12. Battle for Responsible Gov’t
Violence shocked the British Government
They sent Lord Durham for cause and solution in 1839
He recommended uniting Upper and Lower Canada and introducing responsible government (more say in decision making)
Durham’s solution was assimilation
Report on affairs of
British North America

13. Responsible Government Cont
Canadians were outraged over the idea of assimilation and anti-french measures
More upset about Britain’s refusal to grant responsible Govt
Political reformer lead by Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine were peaceful in their persuasion
Britain wanted them more financially independent Canada wanted more say in their destiny. They agreed but for different reasons

14. This victory marked an important step forward in the struggle.
No British appointed governor went against the wishes of the elected assembly from 1848 to 1867.
Confederation 1867

15. Confederation
By 1850 the immigration influx from Great Britain and Ireland grew Canada West’s population
Wanted representation by population
Government changed 12 times in 6 years ( )
Faced with the threat of America’s bloody battle heading north they figured unity was the best defence

16. Confederation cont’
All Atlantic colonies planned to meet in Sept to discuss maritime union
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, And Newfoundland
Upper and Lower Canada asked to attend which surprised the Atlantic colonies
They agreed to unite and Canada East would be Quebec and Canada West would be Ontario in the Dominion of Canada. Capital of the country would be Ottawa

17. British North America Act
Representatives of the colonies worked out their differences and drafted the British North America Act (BNA)
Important part of the constitution
Needed approval of Britain
Approval granted march 29, 1867
July 1, 1867 Canada officially came to be

18. BNA cont’ Confederation did not give Canada total independence
Britain still exercised control for decades
Parliament took over internal matters however relations with other countries were still the responsibility of Great Britain

19. Federal State John A. Macdonald wanted a strong National government
Felt the American civil war was a result of to much state power and not enough central power
Colonies didn’t want to give up their local assemblies so they decided on two tiers
Federal would have the power to make laws for peace, order, and good government and the provinces would make decisions about people that lived in their provinces

20. Responsibilities

21. A Constitutional Monarchy
Power of the Monarch is limited by the constitution
Monarch is Canada’s Head of State
Largely ceremonial
In Canada we have the Governor General to represent the Monarchy

22. A Parliamentary Democracy
Kind of an indirect or representative democracy
Prime minister is the leader of an elected party
Parliament made up of two houses
House of commons is elected. Each member elected from a constituency (district or area)
Because of population differences and the fear of improper representation the senate was created to ensure equal representation. Senators were appointed by the governor general.
It was hoped the Senate would be a moderating influence on any radical or extreme laws that may be passed by the House of Commons