Quebec (Province). Councils : The publication of the Proclamation of 7 October 1763 declared the granting by the King of Letters Patent to erect the Province of Quebec within a portion of the territory ceded by France under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (10 February 1763). The Royal Proclamation announced the creation of a new constitution for the Province and the intended introduction of civil government within its boundaries, to replace the military governments which had existed since the French capitulation in 1760. The colony existed as the Province of Quebec - albeit with different boundaries after 1774 and 1783 - until 1791. Throughout the Province's life its government operated under two distinct constitutions. The constitution initially established for the colony was superseded as a result of the passage in 1774 in the British Parliament of An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec in North America (commonly referred to as the Quebec Act). It is useful to bear these constitutional distinctions in mind when looking at the councils created in the colony, since the institutions put in place before and after the coming into effect of the Quebec Act differ.
The Council during the period 1764-1774: The Proclamation of 7 October 1763 announced, broadly, the features which it was intended that the government of the Province should take. The Governor sat at the apex of the administration, exercising the civil powers delegated to him by his Commission from the King, in accordance with Royal Instructions. A "council" the role of which was to advise and assist the governor in the performance of his executive and legislative functions, was a usual feature of British colonial governments of the period. The Proclamation of 7 October 1763, as well as the Commission and Instructions issued to James Murray as Captain-General and Governor in Chief of the Province of Quebec, all make mention of such a council and, collectively, identify its role and powers in the administration. These documents do not refer to the body as an "executive council". Indeed, the early council's role in advising and assisting the Governor in the exercise of his powers was not restricted to the executive sphere of government.
A number of the clauses in the Instructions issued to Governor Murray deal specifically with aspects of the Council's composition and activities. They discuss, among others, such matters as: the method for replacement, suspension or removal of councillors; the quorum required for the transaction of business; and the situations in which the Governor was required to seek the advice and/or consent of council. Provision was also made in both the Governor's Commission and the Instructions that, in the event of the absence or death of the Governor and Lieutenant Governors and the absence from the Province of any commissioned Commander in Chief, the "Eldest Councillor" (also referred to as the President of the Council) should take on the administration of government, executing the powers and authorities contained in the Governor's Commission and Instructions.
The documents which laid the foundation in 1763 for civil government in the Province of Quebec demonstrate the intent of the British government that the colony should also have an assembly made up of representatives of the people. However, it was recognized that, given the circumstances of the colony, it might be impracticable to summon one immediately. In the meantime, Murray was instructed to make, with the advice of his Council, such rules and regulations "as shall appear necessary to the peace, order and good government" of the Province, with the proviso that all such rules and regulations be forwarded to London for approval. Instructions issued to Guy Carleton on his appointment as Governor in 1768 reiterated the intention to call an assembly when circumstances permitted. However, no popular assembly was called together during the years 1764-1774. In the absence of an assembly, the appointed Council in the Province of Quebec took on a legislative role in that period in addition to its other duties in advising and assisting the Governor.
Murray's Instructions directed him to establish an initial Council composed of four Crown appointees as well as eight other persons to be chosen by the Governor and whose appointments were subject to approval from London. The Council held its first meeting on 13 August 1764. When Carleton succeeded Murray to the office of Governor in 1768, the appointees to council numbered eleven. The membership of the Council changed over the years with the death or dismissal of incumbents and new or replacement appointments.
In fulfilling their executive role, councillors analysed issues brought to their attention by the Governor and recommended appropriate responses. On some matters the Governor was compelled by his Instructions to consult the Council; on other matters he had discretion in whether to consult. Business was brought before the Governor in Council by means of submissions. The Governor gave effect to his decisions, made with the advice of Council, through orders-in-council. The deliberations and decisions of the Governor and Council were recorded as minutes in books maintained by the Clerk of the Council.
As the volume of business presented to the Council increased, committees were nominated from among the Council members to investigate individual issues and their findings were presented to Council and entered as reports into the minutes. The Council committees of the first decade of civil government were temporary, although a more permanent committee structure did develop later.
In the judicial sphere, the Governor and Council constituted a court of appeal (termed the Court of Chancery in equity matters before 1775, and the Court of Appeal in all other matters, before and after 1775) to hear certain cases previously adjudicated by the lower courts. In their legislative capacity, Council members participated in the formulation of ordinances. Whether the matter under consideration fell within the executive, legislative or judicial realms of government, members of the Council could only recommend action. For a decision to be made and authorization given, the Governor's assent was required.
As the government evolved, a broad range of issues came to occupy the Council. Questions requiring the expert opinion of officials who did not sit on the Council were referred to them for report and the findings entered into the minutes. As the volume of business presented to the Council increased, committees were nominated from among the Council members to investigate individual issues as they arose, and their findings were presented to Council and entered as reports into the minutes. Although a more permanent committee structure did begin to develop later, the Council committees of the first decade of civil government were temporary.
Councils during the period 1775-1791: The Quebec Act of 1774 provided the Province of Quebec with a new constitution. The provisions made under the previous constitution with respect to civil government were revoked, effective 1 May 1775. As regards the apparatus of government, the colony was expressly denied a popular assembly. Rather, the Act authorized the appointment by the Crown of a legislative council of from 17 to 23 people with power and authority to make, subject to Royal approval and with some specified limitations, ordinances for the peace, welfare, and good government of the said Province, with the consent of His Majesty's Governor. Governor Carleton's Instructions named the appointees to the Legislative Council and stipulated, further, that any five councillors "shall constitute a board of council for transacting all business, in which their advice and consent may be requisite, acts of legislation only excepted." Legislation was to be passed only with a majority of the whole Council. The Council was also given a direct role to play in the administration of justice, the Instructions providing for a court of appeal to be composed of any five councillors, with the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor or Chief Justice.
Whatever may have been the intent of the framers of the Quebec Act, the system for governing now established by Carleton, in effect, compartmentalized the legislative and the executive functions of the Council. Under Carleton and his successors, the Council met not in a single forum but, rather, in two - the full Council in its legislative capacity, and a "Board" (often referred to in the records as "the privy council"), the membership of which was drawn from the larger body and which might best be likened to an executive committee of the Council. The Council summoned on 8 August 1776 included only five councillors, whom Carleton then proceeded to designate "a Board of Privy Council." For the remainder of Carleton's term as Governor this Board (comprising his most trusted allies from among the larger body of councillors) met to carry out the executive functions of government. Provision had been made for other members of the Council to be called to assist the Board as the need arose, so membership was not restricted to the original five designated by Carleton. The number of Board attendees varied over time and according to the issues being discussed. Usually composed of fewer than ten councillors, the Board was frequently presided over by the Lieutenant-Governor, with the presence of the Governor required only when his approval was necessary to authorize some action.
Frederick Haldimand, who replaced Carleton as Governor in June 1778, continued the Board system created by his predecessor for the prosecution of the executive business of government. However, following censure from London for his use of a "privy council" to advise and assist him in place of summoning his full Council, Haldimand did come to include a larger group of councillors than had previously been the case. The Instructions issued in 1786 to Carleton (now Lord Dorchester) on his return to Quebec as Governor reiterated the point that the proviso permitting the calling of a board of council should not be interpreted as permission to govern with the advice of only a small clique of councillors. In the final years of the Province's existence, most councillors attended Board meetings and the executive decision-making of the government was no longer the preserve of a select few.
The picture that emerges of the committee system through which the Council carried out its functions during these years is one of transition. For some issues, such as the regulation of land-related matters, "permanent" committees were appointed. For others, even where the business was onerous and regular, the Council continued to appoint temporary committees. The committee system is discussed further in the relevant series descriptions elsewhere within this fonds.
While the executive decisions of government were being made by the Governor with the advice and assistance of a Board/Executive Council, the larger Council had a legislative function to perform. Carleton's Instructions in 1775 stated that in matters of legislation he could act only with a majority of the whole Council. The Legislative Council met in the first quarter of each calendar year to hear the address of the Governor in which his legislative program was laid out. Councillors then met under the presidency of the Lieutenant-Governor or President of the Council and debated the matters at hand and passed legislation for the subsequent approval of the Governor. Temporary committees were struck within the Legislative Council to investigate issues in detail, and their reports recorded. Other matters were discussed in a committee of the whole. Many of the reports presented to the Board/Executive Council were also laid before the Legislative Council during its sessions, naturally enough, since the work of the Legislative Council was essentially the legislative extension of that of the executive arm of government. Deliberations and recommendations, the readings of ordinances, the votes taken on legislation and the record of the Governor's approval were documented in journals. These formal journals of proceedings, along with supporting documentation on the questions under consideration were maintained by the Clerk of Council and his staff.
The passage in the British Parliament of An Act to Repeal certain Parts of an Act, passed in the Fourteenth Year of His Majesty's Reign, intituled, An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province of Quebec, in North America; and to make further Provision for the Government of the said Province (commonly referred to as the Constitutional Act of 1791) paved the way for the division of the Province of Quebec into the two separate Provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada. The intent of the Act was carried out through a British order-in-council dated 24 August 1791 and a subsequent proclamation announced that the Act would come into effect 26 December 1791. The Legislative Council of the Province of Quebec, acting in its legislative role, had already been prorogued for the final time 30 April 1791. The last meeting of the Council in its executive capacity took place 24 December 1791.