Executive Council of the Province of Canada
The Executive Council of the Province of Canada had a similar function to the Cabinet in England but was not responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from its inception in 1841 to 1848.
Members were advisers to the Governor and later to the Premier of the Province of Canada. Members of the Executive Council were generally members of the elected Legislative Assembly, but there were also some members from the appointed Legislative Council of the Province of Canada. The council replaced the Executive Councils of Upper and Lower Canada. It lasted from 1841 to 1867, when the Province of Canada was abolished as part of Canadian Confederation. It was replaced at the federal level by the Queen's Privy Council of Canada, and at the provincial level by the executive councils of the two new provinces, Ontario and Quebec.
The Executive Council sat at several capitals of the Province of Canada:
- Kingston 1841–1843
- Montreal 1843–1849
- Toronto 1849–1852
- Quebec City 1852–1856
- Toronto 1856–1858
- Quebec City 1859–1866
- Ottawa 1866–1867
Presidents of the Executive Council
[edit]- William Morris 1846–1848
- James Leslie 1848
- Philip Michael Matthew Scott VanKoughnet 1856
- Isidore Thibaudeau, May 16, 1863 – March 29, 1864
- George Brown June 30, 1864 – December 1865
- Adam Johnston Fergusson Blair 1866
Clerks
[edit]- Samuel Boies Smith - son of Samuel Smith, British Army officer and former member of the Executive Council of Upper Canada (1817-1818, 1820) and Administrator of Upper Canada 1817-1818