jan 6, 1830 - The Reformers Want Responsible Government
Description:
In Upper Canada, a group of wealthy, upper-class white men who made up the Executive controlled the economy and government of Upper Canada from the 1790's to the 1830's. There were nicknamed the Family Compact. In Lower Canada, a similar group of men controlled the Executive from the 1810's to the 1840's. There were nicknames the Chateau Clique. They were English speakers who were governing a French majority population. The Chateau Clique pushed to unite Upper and Lower Canada so that English speakers would be the majority population.
By the 1830s, many people within the government were critical of the government system. These critics were called the Reformers. Reformers like Mackenzie were tired of appointed official making most of the decisions. They grew more frustrated that their requests for government reform were rejected repeatedly by the governor general and the Executive. As tensions grew, politicians were divided into two camps. The Reformers were on one side and the Conservatives who supported the existing system were on the other.
Reformers in Lower Canada organized into the Parti Patriote. They believed that French speaking people, not the British should be in control of Lower Canada. The Patriotes were led by Louis-Joseph Papineau. In 1834 the Patriotes wrote a document called the 92 Resolutions which was sent to Britain. The document listed the issues that the Patriotes had with the existing government and their demands for more power for the elected Legislative Assembly.
All Reformers wanted responsible government. With responsible government, the main decision makers in both Upper and Lower Canada would be the elected Legislative Assembly, rather than the appointed members of the Executive. The Legislative Assembly would then control the government, not the governor general. However, the Reformers disagreed on how to achieve responsible government.
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