Editing Responsible government (section)

====Implementation====
[[File:Young Canada Delighted with Responsible Government c092201-v8.jpg|thumb|A [[political cartoon]] from ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' in Canada, in 1849, depicting a "young Canada" being delighted by [[James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin|Lord Elgin]] pulling the strings of a puppet, representing responsible government]]

The first instance of responsible government in the [[British Empire]] outside of the United Kingdom itself was achieved by the colony of [[Nova Scotia]] in January and February 1848, through the efforts of [[Joseph Howe]]. Howe's push for responsible government was inspired by the work of [[Thomas McCulloch]] and [[Jotham Blanchard]] almost two decades earlier.<ref>Ritchie, Holly. ""For Christ and Covenant:" A Movement for Equal Consideration in Early Nineteenth Century Nova Scotia." Master's Thesis. Saint Mary's University, 2017. pp. 112–116. http://library2.smu.ca/handle/01/27387#.XMmNDrdKg_4</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Beck|first=J.M.|date=Spring 1974|title='A Fool for a Client': The Trial of Joseph Howe|url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/viewFile/11353/12103|journal=Acadiensis|volume=3|pages=27–28}}</ref> The [[Commemorative plaque|plaque]] erected by the [[Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada]] in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly reads:
<blockquote>First Responsible Government in the British Empire.<br>
The first [[Executive Council (Commonwealth countries)|executive council]] chosen exclusively from the party having a majority in the representative branch of a colonial legislature was formed in Nova Scotia on 2 February 1848. Following a vote of want of confidence in the preceding council, [[James Boyle Uniacke]], who had moved the resolution, became attorney general and leader of the government. Joseph Howe, the long-time campaigner for this "peaceable revolution", became [[provincial secretary]]. Other members of the council were Hugh Bell, Wm.F. Desbarres, Lawrence O.C. Doyle, Herbert Huntingdon, James McNab, Michael Tobin, and George R. Young.</blockquote>

The colony of [[New Brunswick]] soon followed in May 1848,<ref>{{cite book |last=Forsey |first=Eugene A. |title=How Canadians Govern Themselves |edition=9 |date=2016 |location=Ottawa |publisher=Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada |page=3 |url=https://lop.parl.ca/About/Parliament/senatoreugeneforsey/book/assets/pdf/How_Canadians_Govern_Themselves9.pdf |access-date=2019-03-09 |isbn=978-0-660-04488-0 }}</ref> when [[Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick|Lieutenant Governor]] Edmund Walker Head brought in a more balanced representation of members of the Legislative Assembly to the Executive Council and ceded more powers to that body.

In the [[Province of Canada]], responsible government was introduced when Elgin swore-in the ministry of [[Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine]] and [[Robert Baldwin]] on 11 March 1848. It was put to the test in the following year, when Reformers in the legislature passed the [[Rebellion Losses Bill]], which provided compensation to French-Canadians who suffered losses during the Rebellions of 1837–1838. Elgin had serious misgivings about the bill, but, nonetheless [[Royal Assent|assented]] to it, despite demands from the Tories that he refuse to do so. Elgin was physically assaulted by an English-speaking mob for this and the parliament building in [[Montreal]] was burned to the ground in the [[Montreal Riots|ensuing riots]]. Nonetheless, the Rebellion Losses Bill helped entrench responsible government into Canadian politics.

In time, the granting of responsible government became the first step on the road to complete independence. Canada gradually gained greater autonomy through inter imperial and Commonwealth diplomacy, including the [[British North America Act, 1867]]; the [[Statute of Westminster, 1931]]; and the patriation of the [[Constitution Act, 1982]].