Document Information

Date: 1865-09-18
By: Province of Canada (Parliament)
Citation: Province of Canada, Legislative Council, Journals of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada, 8th Parl, 4th Sess, 1865 at 232-234.
Other formats: Click here to view the original document (PDF).
Note: All endnotes come from our recent publication, Charles Dumais & Michael Scott (ed.), The Confederation Debates in the Province of Canada (CCF, 2022).

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 

Monday, September 18, 1865[1]

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly then addressed His Excellency [Viscount Monck] as followeth:—May it please Your Excellency: In reviewing the measures which have engaged the attention of Parliament during the past Session, the chief place must be assigned to the Bill respecting the Civil Code of Lower Canada. This enactment reflects the highest credit upon the skill and learning of the Codificators; and will assuredly obtain for the jurisprudence of Lower Canada the distinguished approbation of the learned profession abroad.

Other Bills for the improvement of the Law in Upper Canada, in relation to the Quieting of Titles, the Law of Property and Trusts, and the Registration of Instruments relating to Lands, which have received the sanction of the Legislature, are calculated to prove highly beneficial, in their operation, to the landed interest in that section of the Province.

Contrasted with the amount of public Legislation, the number and variety of Private Bills which have been entertained by Parliament on this occasion, is very remarkable.

The promotion of agricultural and commercial enterprise, the encouragement of manufacturing industry, and the development of the mineral wealth which lies hidden beneath our soil in every direction, are all matters of vital importance to the community at large.

The increasing frequency with which Petitions for Private Bills have been submitted to Parliament, of late years, is undoubtedly a striking indication of the growing prosperity of the country, its enlarged resources and progress in industrial pursuits, and affords a hopeful prospect of continued improvement for the time to come

The important Despatches which have been presented to Parliament by Your Excellency’s command concerning the Confederation of the British North American Provinces. will, doubtless, contribute to enlighten and instruct the public mind of this country upon the momentous topics to which they relate. Although the time has not yet arrived for further legislative action upon the subject, it may, nevertheless, he confidently anticipated that the discussions which have taken place in Parliament during the present Session will help forward the accomplishment of this great project, upon the success of which the future career of British North America must wholly depend.

I have now the honor to present for Your Excellency’s acceptance a Bill, intituled, “An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money required for defraying certain expenses of the Civil Government for the financial year ending thirtieth June, 1866, and for other purposes connected with the public service.”

The Clerk of this House did thereupon say:—“In Her Majesty’s name, His Excellency the Governor General thanks Her loyal subjects, accepts their benevolence, and assents to this Bill.”

His Excellency the Governor General [Viscount Monck] was then pleased to deliver the following Speech:—Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, Gentlemen of the Legislative Assembly: I am happy to be able to release you from further attendance on your duties in Parliament.

The Act which you have passed for the Codification and Consolidation of the Civil Law of Lower Canada, cannot fail to be attended with beneficial results to those who are to live under the provisions of that Law.

The Acts which you have passed for the abolition of the punishment of death in certain cases, and for the improvement of the registration system, and the Grammar School law of Upper Canada will also, I doubt not, contribute to the prosperity and good Government of the people of this Province.

Gentlemen of the Legislative Assembly: I thank you for the provision you have made for the public service of the Province, and I assure you that it will be the earnest desire of myself and my advisers to administer it with economy.

Honorable Gentlemen and Gentlemen: I congratulate you on the abundant harvest with which it has pleased a beneficent Providence to bless our country, and I trust that on your return to your homes you will use your influence amongst the people you represent, so as to cause them to evince their gratitude to the Almighty, by a conscientious discharge of their social obligations, on which, no less than on the performance of political duties, the general well-being of the community depends.

Then the Honorable the Speaker of this House said: Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, Gentlemen of the Legislative Assembly: It is His Excellency the Governor General’s [Viscount Monck] will and pleasure that this Provincial Parliament be prorogued until Saturday, the twenty-eighth day of October next, to be here holden, and this Provincial Parliament is accordingly prorogued until Saturday, the Twenty-eighth day of October next.

ENDNOTES

[1]      Source: Journals of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada (Sep. 18, 1865), pp. 232-234.