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Responsible Government in Canada

Responsible Government in Canada

Canadian Parliament Responsible Government

One of the main tenets of the Canadian constitution is responsible government, or holding the government accountable to the people of Canada. Specifically, the prime minister and cabinet ministers are accountable to the House of Commons and must maintain the support of a majority of its members. Central to the concept of responsible government are the principles of ministerial responsibility. These principles were derived from the parliamentary experience of Britain and were adopted in Canada when the country was founded. There are two parts to the doctrine of ministerial responsibility: collective and individual. (1)

The Struggle for Responsible Government in Newfoundland

Documents which trace the evolution of Newfoundland from a British fishing station to a largely independent self-governing Dominion.

The Newfoundland Act of 1832: An Act of the British Parliament which continued in force several earlier Acts pertaining to Newfoundland, and provided for the appropriation and application of funds raised in the Colony.
Commission Appointing Sir Thomas Cochrane Governor, 1832
Instructions to Sir Thomas Cochrane, 1832
Royal Instructions to the Governor of Newfoundland, 1832
Proclamation defining Electoral Districts, 1832
The Newfoundland Act, 1842: Provided for an amalgamated Assembly with a combined membership of elected and appointed members.
The Newfoundland Act, 1846: The Newfoundland Act of 1842 was, by its Article VIII, to expire on September 1, 1846. This Act continued it in force until September 1, 1847.
The Newfoundland Act, 1847: The Newfoundland Act of 1842 was in force until September 1, 1847. By this Act it was allowed to expire, returning Newfoundland to its pre-1842 constitution. At the same time, Articles I, II, II, and IV of the 1842 Act, dealing with property and residency restrictions on membership in the Assembly, the appropriation of revenues, and simultaneous elections, were made permanent.
Instructions to Governor Darling, 1855: Established the principles of Responsible Government in Newfoundland, whereby the executive authority is responsible to the elected legislature.
Letters Patent, 1876: Made permanent the Office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Newfoundland “and its Dependencies.” Prior to this, the office was reconstituted with the Letters Patent appointing each successive Governor. The Letters Patent also make certain provisions relating to the Executive Council, the Legislative Council, the General Assembly, and the powers of the Governor.
Letters Patent, 1905: Modified the Letters Patent of 1876 to provide for the administration of the Government during the absence of the Governor.
Motion by A.P. Herbert, 1949: A motion circulated in the British House of Commons by Independent M.P. A.P. Herbert, who favoured restoration of Responsible Government to Newfoundland.
Proposed amendment to the Newfoundland Act, 1949: An amendment to the Newfoundland Act proposed by Independent M.P. A.P. Herbert, who had toured Newfoundland and Labrador as part of a delegation from the British House of Commons.
Proposed Newfoundland (Liberation) Act, 1949: A Private Member’s Bill drafted by Independent M.P. A.P. Herbert, who favoured restoration of Responsible Government to Newfoundland.

Responsible Government: History

Responsible Government, without ” Representation. by Population”

In recommending that responsible government should be brought into effect in the united province, Lord Durham expressly warned against any union of Upper and Lower Canada which should not be based on the principle of representation by population. “I am averse,” he said, “to every plan that has been proposed for giving an equal number of members to the two provinces, in order to attain the temporary end of out numbering the French, because I think the same object will be obtained without any violation of the principles of representation.” When Poulett Thomson, afterwards Lord Sydenham, was sent out to carry into effect Lord Durham’s recommendations, this warning was, however, ignored. The Act of Union of 1841 gave to each part of the united province an equal representation in the united legislature; and thus introduced into the government of the colony a dualism or quasi-federalism that ultimately brought about the breakdown of all government. Under these circumstances, the inauguration of responsible government in united Canada did not proceed under the best auspices. Sydenham, it is true, set up in Canada the machinery of responsible government. He transformed the old Executive Council, the members of which seldom sat in the Legislative Assembly, and sometimes not even in the Legislative Council, into a counterpart of the British cabinet, the members of which were not only (as a rule) heads of departments, but were also members of parliament. But, because he was unwilling to admit the rebellious majority in French Canada to a share in government, he was unwilling to admit the principle of responsible government. With him the Council was “a council to be consulted and no more.” He presided over the meetings of council, and in fact dominated it, so that he became virtually his own prime minister. His dexterity enabled him to preserve the unstable equilibrium of this position during his short period of office; but his system of government broke down under his successor Sir Charles Bagot. Bagot’s ill-health compelled him to absent himself frequently from the council board, so that the office of prime minister began to emerge; and in 1843 he was compelled to accept a ministry reflecting the majority in the Legislative Assembly, including a number of the rebels of 1837. The principle of responsible government had a brief set-back under Bagot’s successor, Sir Charles (afterwards, Lord) Metcalfe, who, like Sydenham, regarded the Council as a body “to be consulted, and no more,” and who, after a disagreement with his council, appealed to the country in 1845, and won a temporary triumph at the polls. But in 1848 there came out to Canada as governor-general Lord Elgin, the son-in-law of Lord Durham, who was resolved to put the principle of responsible government into full operation; and the triumph of this principle was achieved by Elgin’s admittance to office of the Baldwin-Lafontaine administration in 1848 and his assent to the Rebellion Losses Bill in 1849 [See the British reaction to the Bill]. In the other provinces of British North America , responsible government was introduced shortly after this.

The sphere in which responsible government operated was, however, at first circumscribed. Durham had recommended that it should be operative “except on points involving strictly imperial interests”; but these interests were deemed to be such important matters as crown lands, trade relations, defence, and foreign policy. It was not long before the crown lands were handed over to the Canadian parliament for administration; the control of the tariff, and hence of trade relations, was successfully asserted by the Canadian government in 1859; and most of the British troops in Canada were withdrawn in 1862. But the control of foreign policy was postponed for over half a century; and there were still in 1874 so many shackles on the will of the Canadian people that Edward Blake was able to describe them as “four millions of Britons who are not free.” The constitutional history of Canada since 1849 has, indeed, been the story of the way in which these shackles have been gradually struck off.

Source: W. Stewart WALLACE, “History, Constitutional”, in The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. 3, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 396p., pp. 147-153.

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