Council for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec

The Council for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec, more commonly called the Legislative Council of Quebec (but not to be confused with the later institution with that same name), was an advisory body constituted by section XII of the Quebec Act of 1774. Together with the representative of the Crown (the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor or the temporary Administrator of the province), it acted, between 1774 and 1791, as the legislature of the old Province of Quebec.

Powers The Council had the "Power and Authority to make Ordinances for the Peace, Welfare, and good Government, of the said Province, with the Consent of his Majesty's Governor, or, in his Absence, of the Lieutenant-governor, or Commander in Chief for the Time being.", excepting the power to:

Eligibility Section VII of the Quebec Act opened the door of all provincial offices to Roman Catholic subjects. The section exempted Catholics from taking the Test Oath (the abjuration of the Catholic faith) and made them take an alternative oath of allegiance to the British Crown:

Because of this special oath they were required to vow, Canadian Catholics, who formed the immense majority of the population in the province, were permitted to take a more direct part to the legislation of their native country. In practise however, Catholic Legislative Councillors remained a minority in the Council from its creation in 1774 to its abolition in 1791.

Composition Councillors numbered between at least seventeen and no more than twenty-three. In 1775, Colonial Secretary Lord Dartmouth instructed Governor General Guy Carleton to call in these individuals to fill in the Council:

NameFirst AppointedNo. of termsNotesHector Theophilus de Cramahé17751st termLieutenant GovernorHugh Finlay17751st termThomas Dunn17751st termJames Cuthbert17751st termColin Drummond17751st termFrançois Lévesque17751st termEdward Harrison17751st termJohn Collins17751st termAdam Mabane17751st termGaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry17751st termPaul-Roch de Saint-Ours 17751st termPécaudy de Contrecœur17751st termGeorge Waters Allsopp17751st termCharles-François Tarieu de La Naudière17751st termLa Corne Saint-Luc17751st termAlexander Johnstone17751st termConrad Gugy17751st termFrançois-Marie Picoté de Belestre17751st termCharles-Régis Des Bergères de Rigauville17751st termJohn Fraser17751st term

Some of these members had been sitting on the first Council of Quebec constituted by Governor General James Murray in 1764 to advise on all matters of State.The Council members appointed by James Murray were Chief Justice William Gregory, Paulus Aemilius Irving, Hector Theophilus de Cramahé, Adam Mabane, Walter Murray, Samuel Johannes Holland, Thomas Dunn and François Mounier. Burpee, Lawrence J. (1926). The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Canadian History, London and Toronto: Oxford University Press, 699 p., pp. 350-351. (online) About 12 years later, in May 1787, the Council's composition was:

NameFirst AppointedNo. of termsHector Theophilus de Cramahé17752nd termWilliam Smith17871st termEdward Harrison17752nd termAdam Mabane17752nd termGaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry17871st termJohn Fraser17752nd termWilliam Grant17871st termFrançois Baby17871st termSamuel Johannes Holland17871st termRené-Amable Boucher de Boucherville17871st termHugh Finlay17752nd termJohn Collins17752nd termGeorge Pownall17871st termFrançois-Marie Picoté de Belestre17752nd termHenry Caldwell17871st termPaul-Roch de Saint-Ours17752nd termJoseph-Dominique-Emmanuel Le Moyne de Longueuil17871st termJohn Johnson,17871st termJean-Baptiste Le Comte Dupré17871st term

With the adoption of the Constitutional Act of 1791, the sections of the Quebec Act dealing with the Council, its composition, and powers, were repealed. However, most of the members then sitting on the Council were called into the new Legislative Council of Lower Canada created by the said act.

Notes

References

Quebec Act or 14 Geo. 3. c. 83 (UK), 1774

See also Constitutional history of Canada