THE EVOLUTION of PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY in NOVA SCOTIA by Brian Cuthbertson Ph.D., Historical Researcher

THE EVOLUTION OF PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY IN NOVA SCOTIA by Brian Cuthbertson Ph.D., Historical Researcher THE ORIGIN OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT Mi’kmaw Territory At first European contact around 1500, the traditional Mi’kmaw territory ran from Cape Breton Island through mainland Nova Scotia, all of New Brunswick east of the Saint John River and north to the Gaspé Peninsula. For much of the year the Mi’kmaw relied on marine life while going inland during the winter months to hunt. The pre-contact population, generally estimated at 15,000, was soon decimated by epidemics of European imported diseases. During the “great dying” the Mi’kmaw suffered a mortality rate between 75 and 90 percent. French Acadia Although throughout the 16th century, the Mi’kmaw had seasonal contact with French and Portuguese fishermen, it was not until the founding of Port-Royal Habitation in 1605 that the French became permanent settlers. Good relations developed between the French and the Mi’kmaw and especially with their great chief Membertou. There was inter-marriage and the developing trade in furs for European goods provided a living for the few French who resided permanently in Acadia. By 1650, there were between 45 and 50 households at Port-Royal engaged in agriculture and the dyking of salt marshes had become the accepted practice. Since the first French and English settlements, there had been imperial rivalry. The English had attacked Port-Royal three times. In 1654, England gained possession of Acadia and would retain it until 1670. However, there was only nominal English rule and no attempt at English settlement, though a considerable trade grew up between Acadia and New England. During this period the Acadian population continued to grow. During the four decades after 1670 the Acadian expansion became most marked as family after family moved to seek out good marshlands up the Annapolis River, around the Minas Basin with its great meadow, Grand Pré, and at Beaubassin on the Chignecto Isthmus. In 1647, the French Crown had taken over responsibility for governing Acadia from the Company of New France. Administration now lay with a governor appointed by the king. After the re-establishment of French sovereignty in 1670, Acadia became a royal colony under the jurisdiction of the Governor of New France at Quebec. There grew up at Port-Royal over succeeding decades a small governing class composed of appointed officials and officers of the garrison. Outside of Port-Royal, however, the government was unable to exercise much more than nominal authority. Failure to Establish Civil Government Between 1689 and 1763 there would be a series of French-English wars that usually had their origins in the European conflicts of the period. After a number of attempts, the English captured Port- Royal in 1710. By the Treaty of Utrecht signed in 1713 the French ceded Acadia to Great Britain. However, the French retained both Ile St-Jean (Prince Edward Island) and Ile Royale (Cape Breton Island). In 1719, they began the construction of Fortress Louisbourg, the largest such fortification in 1 North America. Meanwhile, in honour of Queen Anne, Port-Royal became Annapolis Royal. With its small garrison and a few civilians, Annapolis Royal much resembled its previous French governing establishment, but in population it remained essentially an Acadian town. Initially, the Mi’kmaw were not much affected by the British presence at Annapolis Royal. In various Anglo-French wars they had joined with their Abenaki and Maliseet brethren from Maine and the Saint John River Valley in siding with the French in resisting the New England expansion into Maine. Advancing settlement in Maine and the increasing friction with New England fishermen off the Nova Scotia coast caused the Mi’kmaw to join their brethren in a war of resistance during which they attacked Annapolis Royal, but did not succeed in capturing it. Although a peace treaty was signed in 1726 at Annapolis, it provided no more than an uneasy truce. Political instability in Britain and bureaucratic inertia in the immediate years after the Treaty of Utrecht meant that no policy was provided for establishing civil government or for attracting settlement. There developed, however, some interest by private individuals who proposed a number of settlement schemes, all of which came to naught. Finally, in 1719, the government appointed Colonel Richard Philipps as Governor and provided him with instructions, mainly for making new settlements. It was expected that the colony would soon be peopled by settlers of British origin and that Nova Scotia would then have an elected Legislative Assembly similar to those in the other North American colonies. Once Philipps had established a civil government, he was to govern with the advice and consent of a council and Assembly. After his arrival at Annapolis Royal in April 1720, Philipps appointed a civil Council of twelve members. The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor and the Council constituted the Government of Nova Scotia while the seat of government remained at Annapolis Royal until the founding of Halifax in 1749. In practice, it was no more than an “ill-disguised military government, with virtually no semblance of even incipient representative institutions.” There would never be enough English to warrant an Assembly, but without an Assembly laws could not be enacted and settlers attracted. This conundrum was never resolved. As a means of dealing with problems of governing without an Assembly, governors issued proclamations with the approval of the Council. The government had furnished Philipps with a copy of the instructions to the Governor of Virginia. In following the Virginia model, the Governor and Council constituted themselves into a General Court to try cases brought before it. In dealing with Acadians they relied on deputies elected in the various districts. Among their duties the deputies superintended road making, dealt with land disputes, adjusted differences and executed orders from the government at Annapolis. By 1748 the system of deputies had become formalized as integral part of what government existed with eight deputies chosen from eight districts on the Annapolis River and Basin and sixteen others from the outlying districts around Minas and the Chignecto Isthmus. The Acadian population had grown to around 10,000 for these districts. Founding of Halifax Since the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 Britain and France had been at peace, but in 1744 the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe. It soon spread to North America when French forces from Louisbourg seized Canso. They next struck at Annapolis Royal and again in 1745. They, with their Mi’kmaw allies, came near to capturing the town and peninsular Nova Scotia. An expeditionary force of New Englanders succeeded in laying successful siege to Fortress Louisbourg in 1745, only to have it returned to France as part of the peace negotiations of 1748 to much anger in New 2 England. However, at the urging of the Earl of Halifax, President of the Board of Trade and Plantations (often referred to as the Lords of Trade), which was responsible for advising on colonial policy, the British government concluded that, to thwart French determination to recover Nova Scotia, it must bear the expense of establishing a fortified town and naval base at the great natural harbour of Chebucto. To undertake this, the government appointed Colonel Edward Cornwallis as Governor and Commander of the military forces. In the spring of 1749 about 2700 settlers of British origin arrived at what would be named Halifax. Soon a considerable number of New Englanders arrived. Starting in 1750 more than 2500 “foreign Protestants” from Switzerland and the Rhineland immigrated at British government expense. Many of them would become the founders of Lunenburg in 1753. Continued Government by Governor-in-Council As part of the recruitment of settlers, the government promised that a “civil government” would be established with “all the liberties, privileges and immunities enjoyed by His Majesty’s subjects in any other of the Colonies and Plantations in America...” In its instructions to Cornwallis, he was to convene an Assembly as soon as it was expedient to do so. The Board anticipated that representatives in an Assembly were to be elected by freeholders (only those who met the property qualifications could vote; that is, those who owned property in free hold) in each township, but until further settlers arrived only Halifax had sufficient numbers of qualified electors. In the case of Lunenburg, nearly all the settlers would have to wait for seven years before they could be naturalized as British subjects. Moreover, Cornwallis was not enamoured with the idea of convening an Assembly. He preferred to govern with his appointed Council. Nevertheless, there was sufficient agitation by 1751 for an Assembly that 250 inhabitants reportedly signed a remonstrance petitioning for an Assembly. But on being told that such agitation might jeopardize the large Parliamentary grant upon which the inhabitants, directly or indirectly, depended for their livelihoods, those behind the remonstrance decided to drop the question while “waiting for a fitter opportunity.” In establishing the town and constructing fortifications, Cornwallis exceeded the annual Parliamentary grant. In 1751, the Board of Trade told Cornwallis that if he so continued, he would not retain the good opinion of Parliament. Cornwallis, believing he was not receiving the support of the government that he expected, resigned the Governorship and returned to England. His successor Colonel Peregrine Hopson received the same instructions on convening an Assembly, but he took no action before severe eye trouble forced him to turn over the government to Charles Lawrence and he left for England in November 1753, though he did not resign the Governorship until 1755. Like his predecessors Lawrence was army officer.

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