Editing Province of Canada (section)

===Governors general===
{{main article|List of governors general of Canada}}
[[File:United Canada 1840.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Political organization under the ''Act of Union'', 1840]]
The Governor General remained the head of the civil administration of the colony, appointed by the British government, and responsible to it, not to the local legislature. He was aided by the Executive Council and the Legislative Council. The Executive Council aided in administration, and the Legislative Council reviewed legislation produced by the elected Legislative Assembly.

====Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham (1839–1841)====
[[File:Lord Sydenham.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.57|Charles Poulett Thomson]]
{{main|Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham}}
Sydenham came from a wealthy family of timber merchants, and was an expert in finance, having served on the English Board of Trade which regulated banking (including the colony). He was promised a barony if he could successfully implement the union of the Canadas, and introduce a new form of municipal government, the District Council. The aim of both exercises in state-building was to strengthen the power of the Governor General, to minimise the effect of the numerically superior French vote, and to build a "middle party" that answered to him, rather than the Family Compact or the Reformers. Sydenham was a [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] who believed in rational government, not "responsible government". To implement his plan, he used widespread electoral violence through the [[Orange Order in Canada|Orange Order]]. His efforts to prevent the election of [[Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine|Louis LaFontaine]], the leader of the French reformers, were foiled by [[David Willson (1778–1866)|David Willson]], the leader of the [[The Children of Peace|Children of Peace]], who convinced the electors of the 4th Riding of York to transcend linguistic prejudice and elect LaFontaine in an English-speaking riding in Canada West.<ref>{{cite DCB|url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3693|title=THOMSON, CHARLES EDWARD POULETT, 1st Baron SYDENHAM}}</ref>

====Charles Bagot (1841–1843)====
[[File:SirCharlesBagot.JPG|thumb|left|upright=0.57|Charles Bagot]]
{{main|Charles Bagot}}
Bagot was appointed after the unexpected death of Thomson, with the explicit instructions to resist calls for responsible government. He arrived in the capital, Kingston, to find that Thomson's "middle party" had become polarised and he therefore could not form an executive. Even the Tories informed Bagot he could not form a cabinet without including LaFontaine and the French Party. LaFontaine demanded four cabinet seats, including one for Robert Baldwin. Bagot became severely ill thereafter, and Baldwin and Lafontaine became the first real premiers of the Province of Canada.<ref>{{cite book |last=Saul |first=John Ralston |title=Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine & Robert Baldwin |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Toronto |pages=130–3}}</ref> However, to take office as ministers, the two had to run for re-election. While LaFontaine was easily re-elected in 4th York, Baldwin lost his seat in Hastings as a result of Orange Order violence. It was now that the pact between the two men was completely solidified, as LaFontaine arranged for Baldwin to run in [[Rimouski]], Canada East. This was the union of the Canadas they sought, where LaFontaine overcame linguistic prejudice to gain a seat in English Canada, and Baldwin obtained his seat in French Canada.<ref>{{cite book |last=Saul |first=John Ralston |title=Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine & Robert Baldwin |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Toronto |pages=134–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite DCB|url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3224|title=BAGOT, Sir CHARLES}}</ref>

====Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe (1843–1845)====
[[File:Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe by George Chinnery.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.57|Charles Metcalfe]]
{{main|Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe}}
The Baldwin–LaFontaine ministry barely lasted six months before Governor Bagot also died in March 1843. He was replaced by Charles Metcalfe, whose instructions were to check the "radical" reform government. Metcalfe reverted to the Thomson system of strong central autocratic rule. Metcalfe began appointing his own supporters to patronage positions without Baldwin and LaFontaine's approval, as joint premiers. They resigned in November 1843, beginning a constitutional crisis that would last a year. Metcalfe refused to recall the legislature to demonstrate its irrelevance; he could rule without it. This year-long crisis, in which the legislature was prorogued, "was the final signpost on Upper Canada's conceptual road to democracy. Lacking the scale of the American Revolution, it nonetheless forced a comparable articulation and rethinking of the basics of political dialogue in the province."<ref>{{cite book |last=McNairn |first=Jeffrey |title=The Capacity to Judge: Public Opinion and Deliberative Democracy in Upper Canada 1791–1854 |year=2000 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |pages=237}}</ref> In the ensuing election, however, the Reformers did not win a majority and thus were not called to form another ministry. Responsible government would be delayed until after 1848.<ref>{{cite DCB|url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3561|title=METCALFE, CHARLES THEOPHILUS, 1st Baron METCALFE}}</ref>

====Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart and Baron Greenock (1845–1847)====
{{main|Charles Cathcart, 2nd Earl Cathcart}}
Cathcart had been a staff officer with Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars, and rose in rank to become commander of British forces in North America from June 1845 to May 1847. He was also appointed as Administrator then Governor General for the same period, uniting for the first time the highest Civil and military offices. The appointment of this military officer as Governor General was due to heightened tensions with the United States over the [[Oregon boundary dispute]]. Cathcart was deeply interested in the natural sciences, but ignorant of constitutional practice, and hence an unusual choice for Governor General. He refused to become involved in the day-to-day government of the conservative ministry of William Draper, thereby indirectly emphasising the need for responsible government. His primary focus was on redrafting the Militia Act of 1846. The signing of the Oregon Boundary Treaty in 1846 made him dispensable.<ref>{{cite DCB |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cathcart_charles_murray_8E.html |title=Murray, Charles, 2nd Earl Cathcart |volume=8 |last=Cooke |first=O. A |last2=Hillmer |first2=Norman}}</ref>

====James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin (1847–1854)====
[[File:Felice Beato (British, born Italy - Portrait of Lord Elgin, Plenipotentiary and Ambassador, Who Signed the Treaty - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.57|James Bruce, Lord Elgin]]
{{main|James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin}}
Elgin's second wife, Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, was the daughter of [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|Lord Durham]] and niece of [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey|Lord Grey]], making him an ideal compromise figure to introduce responsible government. On his arrival, the Reform Party won a decisive victory at the polls. Elgin invited LaFontaine to form the new government, the first time a Governor General requested cabinet formation on the basis of party. The party character of the ministry meant that the elected premier – and no longer the governor – would be the head of the government. The Governor General would become a more symbolic figure. The elected Premier in the Legislative Assembly would now become responsible for local administration and legislation. It also deprived the Governor of patronage appointments to the civil service, which had been the basis of Metcalfe's policy.<ref name="biographi.ca">{{cite DCB|url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4324|title=BRUCE, JAMES, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine}}</ref> The test of responsible government came in 1849, when the Baldwin–Lafontaine government passed the Rebellion Losses Bill, compensating French Canadians for losses suffered during the [[Rebellions of 1837]]. Lord Elgin granted [[royal assent]] to the bill despite heated [[Tory]] opposition and his own personal misgivings, sparking riots in Montreal, during which Elgin himself was assaulted by an English-speaking Orange Order mob and the Parliament buildings were burned down.<ref name="biographi.ca"/>

====Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet (1854–1861)====
[[File:Edmund Walker Head.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.57|Edmund Walker Head]]
{{main|Edmund Walker Head}}
It was under Head, that true political party government was introduced with the [[Liberal-Conservative Party]] of [[John A. Macdonald]] and [[George-Étienne Cartier]] in 1856. It was during their ministry that the first organised moves toward Canadian Confederation took place.<ref>{{cite DCB|url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4490|title=HEAD, Sir EDMUND WALKER}}</ref>

====Charles Monck, 4th Viscount Monck (1861–1868)====
{{main|Charles Monck, 4th Viscount Monck}}
It was under Monck's governorship that the [[Great Coalition]] of all of the political parties of the two Canadas occurred in 1864. The Great Coalition was formed to end the political deadlock between predominantly French-speaking Canada East and predominantly English-speaking Canada West. The deadlock resulted from the requirement of a "double majority" to pass laws in the Legislative Assembly (i.e., a majority in both the Canada East and Canada West sections of the assembly). The removal of the deadlock resulted in three conferences that led to confederation.<ref>{{cite DCB|url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6306|title=MONCK, CHARLES STANLEY, 4th Viscount MONCK}}</ref>