Contents:
The Order-in-Council in Canada
In the Origins of New Brunswick
The order-in-council of June 18, 1784 was in response to a report from the Board of Trade on the form and cost of the government of the planned province of New Brunswick, and also St. John’s Island (P. E. I.) and Cape Breton.
The report began with a preamble that described the Loyalist situation and noted that “His Majesty having taken the same into His Royal Consideration has thought it proper that the Province of Nova Scotia should be divided into two parts, by drawing the line of separation from the Mouth of the Musquat River to it’s [sic] source, and from thence across the Isthmus into the nearest part of the Bay Verte, and that the Tract of Country bounded by the Gulph of St. Lawrence on the East, the Province of Quebec on the North; the Territories of the United States on the West, and the Bay of Fundy on the South; should be erected into a Government under the Name of New Brunswick with a Civil Establishment suitable to it’s [sic] Extent.”
After the preamble, the report recommended that New Brunswick should have a government “analogous to that of Nova Scotia” with an annual cost of £3100 to commence June 24. It also requested permission to begin appointing officials for the new province. What the order-in-council actually did was to approve this report and the annual expenses, and to authorize Lord Sydney to appoint officials:
“HIS MAJESTY taking the said Report into Consideration, was pleased, with the advice of His Privy Council, to approve thereof, and also of the Estimates of the Annual Expence of the said Establishments, and to Order, as it is hereby Ordered, that the Right Honourable Lord Sydney, One of His Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State, do receive His Majesty’s Royal Pleasure for the appointment of the several Officers proposed as necessary for the Administration of Government, so far as relates to his Department.”
The order-in-council has been reprinted in both the 1952 and 1973 editions of the Revised Statutes of New Brunswick, and also as an appendix to Pincombe (pp. 51-54).
Pincombe (see below) recommended that June 18 be celebrated as a New Brunswick natal day (p. 25). Unfortunately, New Brunswick Day is still celebrated on the first Monday in August, which is a completely meaningless date. (See the New Brunswick Day Act, R.S.N.B., c. N-4.1 on the Province’s website).
Source: Craig Walsh.
Order in Council
Definition of Order in Council by Rand Dyck and Christopher Cochrane (in their book “Canadian Politics: Critical Approaches”) in the context of political science in Canada: A formal, legal decision made by the prime minister and Cabinet (Governor in Council), including regulations and appointments.
Resources
See Also
- Politics
- Political Science
Resources
Further Reading
If you’re interested in diving deeper, our reading included:
- Hamilton, William B. The Macmillan Book of Canadian Place Names. Macmillan Co. of Canada Ltd. Toronto. 1978. p. 81.
- Hamilton, William B. Place Names of Atlantic Canada. University of Toronto Press. Toronto. 1996. p. 22.
- Jarvis, W. M. “Royal Commission and Instructions to Governor Thomas Carleton, August, 1784”. Collections of the New Brunswick Historical Society. No. 6 (1905). pp. 391 – 438.
- Lawrence, J. W. Foot-Prints; or Incidents in Early History of New Brunswick (1783 – 1883). J. & A. McMillan. Saint John. 1883. p. 6. (CIHM Microfiche 08948)
- Lawson, Jessie I. and Sweet, Jean M. Our New Brunswick Story. Canada Publishing Co. Ltd. Toronto. c1945-52. p. 149-150.
- New Brunswick. Revised Statutes of New Brunswick, 1952. Volume IV. pp. 5-7.
- New Brunswick. Revised Statutes of New Brunswick, 1973. Index & Appendices. Appendix III.
- Pincombe, C. Alexander. The Birth of a Province: Pertinent Historic Dates in the Bicentennial Year: 1984. New Brunswick Bicentennial Office. 1980.
- Raymond, W. O. “A Sketch of the Life and Administration of General Thomas Carleton, First Governor of New Brunswick.” Collections of the New Brunswick Historical Society . No. 6 (1905). pp. 439 – 480.