1849 riots against the Rebellion Losses Bill in Montreal, then-Province of Canada
The burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal occurred on the night of April 25, 1849, in Montreal, the then-capital of the Province of Canada. The way the matter was handled by then co-prime ministers of the united Province of Canada, Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin, helped develop the Canadian democratic tradition.
The St. Anne's Market building lodging the Legislative Council and Assembly of Canada was burned down by Tory rioters as a protest against the Rebellion Losses Bill while the members of the Legislative Assembly were sitting in session. There were protests right across British North America. The episode is characterized by divisions in pre-Confederation Canadian society concerning whether Canada was the North American appendage of the British Empire or a nascent sovereign nation.
In 1837 and 1838 Canada was hit by an economic depression caused partly by unusually bad weather and the banking crisis in the United States and Europe. A number of Canadians in Upper and Lower Canada (now the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec respectively) demanded political changes in response to the economic downturn. The Rebellions of 1837 occurred first in Lower Canada, then in Upper Canada. After Lord Durham's Report political reforms followed the rebellions.
Many key leaders of the Rebellions would play focal roles in the development of the political and philosophical foundations for an independent Canada, something achieved on July 1, 1867. The Rebellion Losses Bill was intended as amnesty to former rebels (permitting them to return to Canada) and indemnity to people financially hurt by the rebellions. Lord Durham had granted an amnesty to those involved in the first rebellion only. Despite an amendment stating that only those that had not pleaded guilty or been found guilty of high treason would receive compensation, the bill was decried as amounting to "paying the rebels" by the opposition. The bill was eventually passed by the majority of those sitting in the Legislative Assembly, but it remained unpopular with most of the population of Canada East and West. Those in Montreal decided to use violence to demonstrate their opposition. It is the only time in the history of the British Empire and Commonwealth that citizens burned down their Parliamentary Buildings in protest. The Parliament buildings were destroyed by the fire, and a consequent collection of historical records kept in the parliamentary library was lost.
Despite the tense situation and the actions committed by the mob, Lafontaine proceeded cautiously, fought off armed rioters who had shot through his window, and maintained restraint and resolve in his actions. Jailed members of the mob were released on bail soon after their arrest and a force of special constables established to keep the peace. Though there was public concern this might be a crushing blow to the reform movement, Lafontaine persevered despite the opposition, and would continue in his role developing the tenets of Canadian federalism – "peace, order, and good government". Within a decade public opinion had shifted overwhelmingly in the development of a sovereign Canada.
Parliament moved to Montreal.
The Province of Canada (or United Canada) was born out of the legislative union of the provinces of Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec) in February 1841. In 1844, its capital was moved from Kingston, in Canada West (formerly Upper Canada), to Montreal, in Canada East (formerly Lower Canada). St. Anne's Market, located where Place d'Youville stands today, was renovated by architect John Ostell to host the provincial parliament. As part of the moving of the capital, all books in the two parliamentary libraries, as well as those of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council were transported by boat on the St. Lawrence.
General elections were held in October 1844. The Tory party won a majority and Governor Metcalfe had its principal spokesmen enter the Executive Council. The first session of the second parliament opened on November 28 of the same year.
Economic crisis.
In 1843, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the "Canadian Corn Act", which favoured Canada's exports of wheat and flour on the UK markets through the reduction of duties. The protectionist policy of Lord Stanley and Benjamin Disraeli, in continuity with Great Britain's colonial practice during the first half of the 19th century, was overturned in 1846, by the repeal of the "Corn Laws" and the promotion of free trade by the government of Robert Peel.
Canada's chambers of commerce feared an imminent disaster. The "Anti-Corn Law League" was triumphant, but the commercial class and ruling class of Canada, principally English-speaking and conservative, experienced an important setback. The repercussions of the repeal were felt as early as 1847. The Canadian government put pressure on Colonial Secretary Earl Grey to have Great Britain negotiate a lowering of the duties imposed on Canadian products entering the United States market, which had become the only lucrative path to export. A reciprocity treaty was ultimately negotiated, but only eight years later in 1854. During the interval, Canada experienced an important political crisis and influential members of society openly discussed three alternatives to the political status quo: annexation to the United States, the federation of the colonies and territories of British North America, and the independence of Canada. Two citizens' associations appeared in the wake of the crisis: the Annexation Association and the British American League.
After 1847, the fears of the chambers of commerce in Canada were confirmed, and bankruptcies kept accumulating. Property values were in freefall in the cities, particularly in the capital. In February 1849, the introduction in Parliament of an indemnity bill only aggravated the discontent of a part of the population who had watched the passing of a series of legislative measures by the reformist majority, which took power in beginning of 1848, about a year before.
Rebellion Losses Bill.
In 1845, the Draper-Viger government set up, on November 24, a commission of inquiry into the claims the inhabitants of Lower Canada had sent since 1838, to determine those that were justified and provide an estimate of the amount to be paid. The five commissioners, Joseph Dionne, P. H. Moore, Jacques Viger, John Simpson and Joseph-Ubalde Beaudry, submitted their first report in April 1846. They received instructions from the government to distinguish between claims made by persons participating in the rebellion and those who had given no support to the insurrectionist party. The total of the claims considered receivable amounted to £241,965, 10 s. and 5d., but the commissioners were of opinion that following a more thorough enquiry into the claims they were unable to make, the amount to be paid by the government would likely not go beyond £100,000. The Assembly passed a motion on June 9, 1846 authorizing a compensation of £9,986 for claims studied prior to the presentation of the report. Nothing further was accomplished on this question until the dissolution of parliament on December 6, 1847.
The general election of January 1848 changed the composition of the House of Assembly in favour of the opposition party, the moderate reformists led by Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine. The new governor, Lord Elgin, who arrived in the colony on January 30, first formed a government that did not have the support of the majority of the members in the House. These withdrew their support of the Executive by a vote of no-confidence on March 3. On March 7, Governor Elgin called in Baldwin and Lafontaine, respectively leaders of the majority parties in both sections of the united province, to the Executive Council. On March 11, eleven new ministers entered the council.
On January 29, 1849, Lafontaine moved to form a committee of the whole House on February 9 to "take into consideration the necessity of establishing the amount of Losses incurred by certain inhabitants in Lower Canada during the political troubles of 1837 and 1838, and of providing for the payment thereof". The consideration of this motion was pushed ahead on several occasions. The opposition party, which denounced the desire of the government to "pay the rebels", showed itself reluctant to begin the study of the question which was on hold since 1838. Its members proposed various amendments to Lafontaine's motion: a first, on February 13, to report the vote by ten days "to give time for the expression of the feelings of the country"; a second one, on February 20, declaring that the House had "no authority to entertain any such proposition" since the Governor General had not recommended that the House "make provision for liquidating the claims for Losses incurred by the Rebellions in Lower Canada, during the present session". The amendments were rejected and the committee was eventually formed on Tuesday, February 20, but the House was adjourned.
The debates that took place between February 13 and 20 were particularly intense and, in the House, the verbal violence of the representatives soon yielded to physical violence. Tory MPPs Henry Sherwood, Allan MacNab and Prince attacked the legitimacy of the proposed measure, stating that it rewarded the "rebels" of yesterday and constituted an insult to the "loyal" subjects who had fought against them in 1837 and 1838. On February 15, executive councillors Francis Hincks and William Hume Blake retorted in the same tone and Blake even went as far as claiming the Tories to be the true rebels, because, he said, it was they who had violated the principles of the British constitution and caused the civil war of 1837–38. Mr. Blake refused to apologize after his speech, and a mêlée burst out among the spectators standing on the galleries. The speaker of the House had them expelled and a confrontation between MacNab and Blake was avoided by the intervention of the Sergeant at Arms.
The English-language press of the capital ("The Gazette", "Courier", "Herald", "Transcript", "Witness", "Punch") participated in the movement of opposition to the indemnification measure. A single daily, the "Pilot", owned by cabinet member Francis Hinks, supported the government. In the French-language press ("La Minerve", "L'Avenir"), the measure was unanimously supported.
On February 17, the leading Tory MPPs held a public meeting to protest against the measure. George Moffatt was elected chairman and various public men such as Allan MacNab, Prince, Gugy, Macdonald, Molson, Rose and others gave speeches. The meeting prepared a petition to the governor asking him to dissolve the parliament and call new elections, or to reserve the assent of the bill for the Queen's pleasure, that is to say, to defer the question to the UK Parliament. The press reported that Lafontaine was burned in effigy that night.
On February 22, Henry John Boulton, MPP for Norfolk, introduced an amendment that all persons having pleaded guilty or having been found to be guilty of high treason should not receive compensation from the government. The government party supported the amendment, but the gesture had no effect on the opposition, which persisted in denouncing the measure as amounting to "paying the rebels". Certain liberal MPPs, including Louis-Joseph Papineau and Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, opposed the amendment because, according to them, it resulted in the recognition, by the government, of the legality of the military court created by former acting governor John Colborne in order to speedily execute the prisoners of 1839.
On March 9, the Legislative Assembly passed the bill by a vote of 47 to 18. MPPs from the former Upper Canada voted in favour, 17 to 14, while those of the former Lower Canada voted 30 to 4 in favour. Six days later, the Legislative Council approved the project 20 to 14. The project having passed both Houses of the Provincial Parliament, the next step was the assent of Governor Elgin, which came 41 days later, on April 25, 1849.
On March 22, a crowd paraded in the streets of Toronto with effigies of William Lyon Mackenzie, Robert Baldwin, and William Hume Blake. When the group neared Baldwin's residence, and in front of that of a Mr. McIntosh on Yonge Street, where Mackenzie was residing after his return from exile, they set the effigies on fire and threw rocks through the windows of Mr. McIntosh's house. ;
Mob attacks parliament.
On April 25, the cabinet sent Francis Hinks to The Monklands, the governor's residence, to request that Governor Elgin quickly come to town in order to assent a new tariff bill. The first European ship of the year had already arrived in the Port of Quebec and the new law