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Many of us are unaware that at one time the Parliament of Canada prior to Confederation was located in Montreal and more particularly around todays Place d'Youville.
This was when Canada was comprised of only Upper and Lower Canada or, as they are known today as Ontario and Quebec. Unfortunately for Montreal, in the year 1849 there was a riot due to the passing of a very controversial law known as the Rebellion Losses Bill and on the 25th of April the Parliament buildings that were situated in Montreal were burned down by a mob of angry people. The main objective of the law was to compensate those individuals who had incurred property losses in Lower Canada (Quebec) during the political Rebellion of 1837-38. There was no differentiation between the rebels and the loyalists when it came to compensation. This angered the opposition Tory party who were loyal to the Queen of England and they felt it was unheard of to reward those who had opposed the Throne, especially when the money was to be taken from the taxes collected from the same public purse. Lord Elgin, who was Governor General at the time, found himself in a difficult predicament. On the one hand he did not believe it was a wise move to enact such legislation, however, on the other hand he felt that as the majority of the Canadian Parliament voted in favour of the law, he had no other choice but to give it royal assent. This sparked a riot in the streets of Montreal and eventually led to the burning down of the Parliament Buildings. From the time of it's burning down the Parliament buildings had alternated between Quebec City and Toronto until December of 1857 when they were permanently moved to Ottawa. We can only speculate what would have been if Montreal had become the capital of Canada? Would this have made a difference in future relations between English and French Canada? A few years ago the Montreal Gazette published an article written by Charles Enman pertaining to an interview that was conducted with John Ralston Saul, who is the husband of the present Governor General of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson . It is quite noteworthy that according to Saul due to the inaction of the Canadian government to the burning down of Montreal's Parliament Buildings, "this was an existential moment of Canadian history, the formal birth of our instinctive politics of inclusion." Go To Page: 1
The copyright of the article The Burning Down Of The Parliament Buildings In Montreal in Montreal is owned by Norman P. Goldman. Permission to republish The Burning Down Of The Parliament Buildings In Montreal in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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