Events,
Issues and Concepts of Quebec History
Last
revised: 23 August 2000 | Responsible
Government
Claude Bélanger,
Department of History, Marianopolis College One
of the important legacies of the British system of Government, cabinet or responsible
government contains three main principles: - The
first component concerns who will be called to form the government. The Lieutenant-Governor
(or the Governor General in the government of Canada) when forming the government
(the cabinet or the executive council as it is sometimes called) appoints only
such people that have the support of the majority (the confidence) of the House.
Thus, in Quebec, the appointed individuals must have the support of the National
Assembly. Ordinarily, the Assembly is organised around political parties and the
leader of the party that has obtained the majority of the seats in the elections
to the National Assembly will be asked by the Lieutenant-Governor to form the
government. A list of other individuals will be drawn up by the appointed premier
and be submitted to the Lieutenant-Governor so that they will also be appointed
to the cabinet.
- The
second principle of Responsible Government defines how long a government may stay
in power. Under its provisions, a government may stay in power as long as it continues
to enjoy the confidence of the National Assembly. Thus, as long as a government
is supported by a majority in the National Assembly, it may stay in power. As
elections to the National Assembly are called at least every five years, if not
sooner in many instances, the issue of the acceptability of the government to
the new assembly is automatically raised every five years. If the result of the
election is that another political party has obtained the majority of seats, then
the first principle outlined above is applied: the defeated government will resign
and the Lieutenant-Governor will call the leader of the new majority to form the
government. While in power, a government must maintain the support of the majority
in the National Assembly on all non-confidence votes, on all money bills, especially
on its budget, and all other tax bills, as well as on all pieces of legislation
deemed important. In this respect, if the government allows a free vote in the
National Assembly, and then all members may vote as they wish without necessarily
following party lines, then the issue of confidence in the government is not raised
by this vote. If the government is defeated on a confidence vote in the National
Assembly, then either it must resign so that the Lieutenant-Governor will call
on the leader of the new majority to form the government, or else elections will
be called. The latter is the preferred course of action of most governments defeated
on one type or another of a confidence vote.
- The
last principle of Responsible Government is that the Lieutenant-Governor shall
follow the advice of the government. In this manner, most of the discretionary
powers that were once in the hands of the monarch or its representative have been
removed.
In the absence
of Responsible Government, such as in the period of 1791 to 1848, the Governor
General called on anyone he wished to be appointed to their council, as the government
was then called. Favourites of the Governor were inevitably appointed and they
had not necessarily the support of the elected house, and even less the support
of the people. Usually the people referred to these appointees as the Chateau
Clique or, in Upper Canada, the Family Compact. These individuals did not have
to account for their actions to anybody but the Governor who had appointed them.
They frequently abused their position and influence, granted themselves privileges,
cumulated functions and income, and were deemed to disregard the public welfare.
They held their positions essentially for life. Calls for reform inevitably arose
and the reformers of both Upper and Lower Canada demanded the application of the
remedy of Responsible Government. In Lower Canada, the problem was further complicated
by the fact that the majority in the elected assembly was inevitably French while
all the councils appointed by the governors between 1791 to 1840 had an English
majority. Thus, power always remained in the hands of anglophones although, seemingly,
a francophone province had been created. This issue fuelled nationalism in the
province prior to the Rebellions of 1837-1838. Responsible
Government was first applied in Nova Scotia in 1847. In the United Province of
Canada, Lord Elgin granted Responsible-Government in 1848. On this occasion, he
called on Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine to form the government. Thus, Lafontaine
became Canadas first premier. ©
1999 Claude Bélanger, Marianopolis College |