| Jurisdiction: | CA |
| #: | 1st |
| Type: | Majority |
| Houseimage: | Canadian Parliament Layout 1867.svg |
| Status: | inactive |
| Term-Begin: | September 24, 1867 |
| Term-End: | July 8, 1872 |
| Sc: | Hon. James Cockburn |
| Scterm: | November 6, 1867 – March 25, 1874 |
| Pm: | Rt. Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald |
| Pm-Begin: | 1867-07-01 |
| Pm-End: | 1873-11-05 |
| Ss: | The Hon. Joseph-Édouard Cauchon |
| Ssterm: | November 5, 1867 – May 16, 1869 |
| Gsl: | Alexander Campbell |
| Gslterm: | July 1, 1867 – November 5, 1873 |
| Osl: | Luc Letellier de St-Just |
| Oslterm: | July 1, 1867 – November 5, 1873 |
| Party: | Conservative Party & Liberal-Conservative |
| Party2: | Liberal Party |
| Party3: | Anti-Confederation Party |
| Sessionbegin: | November 6, 1867 |
| Sessionend: | May 22, 1868 |
| Sessionbegin2: | April 15, 1869 |
| Sessionend2: | June 22, 1869 |
| Sessionbegin3: | February 15, 1870 |
| Sessionend3: | May 12, 1870 |
| Sessionbegin4: | February 15, 1871 |
| Sessionend4: | April 14, 1871 |
| Sessionbegin5: | April 11, 1872 |
| Sessionend5: | June 14, 1872 |
| Monarchterm: | 1 July 1867 – 22 Jan. 1901 |
| Viceroy: | The Viscount Monck |
| Viceroyterm: | 1 July 1867 – 14 Nov. 1868 |
| Viceroy2: | Lord Lisgar |
| Viceroyterm2: | 2 Feb. 1869 – 25 June 1872 |
| Viceroy3: | The Earl of Dufferin |
| Viceroyterm3: | 25 June 1872 – 25 Nov. 1878 |
| Ministry: | 1st Canadian Ministry |
| Ministrybegin: | July 1, 1867 |
| Ministryend: | November 5, 1873 |
| Members: | 180 |
| Senators: | 72 |
| Nextparl: | 2nd |
The 1st Canadian Parliament was in session from November 6, 1867, until July 8, 1872. The membership was set by the 1867 federal election from August 7 to September 20, 1867. It was prorogued prior to the 1872 election.
It was controlled by a majority coalition between the Conservative Party and the Liberal-Conservative Party under Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald and the 1st Canadian Ministry. The Official Opposition was the Liberal Party, led by Edward Blake from 1869 to 1871, followed by a vacancy in the Liberal leadership.
The Speaker was James Cockburn. See also List of Canadian electoral districts (1867–1871) for a list of the ridings in this parliament.
Following is a full list of members of the first parliament by province. Cabinet members are bolded.
Electoral districts denoted by an asterisk (*) indicates that district was represented by two members.
| Electoral district | Name | width=20% | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annapolis | William Hallett Ray | Anti-Confederate then Liberal1 | ||||
| Antigonish | Hugh McDonald | Anti-Confederate then Liberal-Conservative1 | ||||
| Cape Breton | James Charles McKeagney | Anti-Confederate then Liberal-Conservative1 | ||||
| Colchester | Archibald McLelan to June 21, 1869 (appointed to Senate) | Anti-Confederate then Liberal-Conservative1 | ||||
| Adams George Archibald from September 9, 1869, to May 19, 1870 (named Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories) | Liberal-Conservative | |||||
| Frederick M. Pearson from November 8, 1870 | Liberal | |||||
| Cumberland | Charles Tupper | Conservative | ||||
| Digby | Alfred William Savary | Anti-Confederate then Conservative1 | ||||
| Guysborough | Stewart Campbell | Anti-Confederate then Liberal-Conservative1 | ||||
| Halifax | Alfred Gilpin Jones | Anti-Confederate then Independent | ||||
| Patrick Power | Anti-Confederate then Liberal1 | |||||
| Hants | Joseph Howe | Anti-Confederate then Liberal-Conservative1 | ||||
| Inverness | Hugh Cameron | Anti-Confederate then Liberal-Conservative1 | ||||
| Kings | William Henry Chipman to April 9, 1870 (death) | Anti-Confederate then Liberal1 | ||||
| Leverett de Veber Chipman from June 23, 1870 | Liberal | |||||
| Lunenburg | Edmund Mortimer McDonald | Anti-Confederate then Liberal-Conservative1 | ||||
| Pictou | James William Carmichael | Anti-Confederate then Liberal1 | ||||
| Queens | James Fraser Forbes | Anti-Confederate then Liberal1 | ||||
| Richmond | William Croke to March 11, 1869 (death) | Anti-Confederate then Conservative1 | ||||
| Isaac Le Vesconte from April 20, 1869 | Conservative1 | |||||
| Shelburne | Thomas Coffin | Anti-Confederate then Liberal-Conservative1 | ||||
| Victoria | William Ross | Anti-Confederate then Liberal1 | ||||
| Yarmouth | Thomas Killam to December 15, 1868 (death) | Anti-Confederate | ||||
| Frank Killam from April 20, 1869 | Liberal |
Note:
1 – The Anti-Confederate Party dissolved after failing to secure Nova Scotia's secession from Confederation. In 1869 its members joined other parties, or in one case sat as an independent.
| Electoral district | Name | width=20% | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=24% | Albert | John Wallace | Liberal | ||
| Carleton | Charles Connell | Liberal | |||
| Charlotte | John Bolton | Liberal | |||
| City and County of Saint John | John Hamilton Gray | ||||
| City of Saint John | Samuel Leonard Tilley | Liberal-Conservative | |||
| Gloucester | Timothy Warren Anglin | Liberal | |||
| Kent | Auguste Renaud | Liberal | |||
| King's | George Ryan | Liberal | |||
| Northumberland | John Mercer Johnson to September 8, 1868 (death) | Liberal | |||
| Richard Hutchison from December 24, 1868 | Liberal | ||||
| Queen's | John Ferris | Liberal | |||
| Restigouche | John McMillan to February 15, 1868 (appointed Inspector of Post Offices) | Liberal | |||
| William Murray Caldwell from March 13, 1868, to September 29, 1870 (death) | Liberal | ||||
| George Moffat from November 29, 1870 | Conservative | ||||
| Sunbury | Charles Burpee | Liberal | |||
| Victoria | Liberal-Conservative | ||||
| Westmorland | Albert James Smith | Liberal | |||
| York | Charles Fisher to October 3, 1868 (appointed to the Supreme Court of New Brunswick) | Liberal | |||
| John Pickard from October 28, 1868 | Independent Liberal |
| Electoral district | Name | width=20% | Party | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=24% | Argenteuil | John Abbott | Liberal-Conservative | |||||||
| Bagot | Pierre-Samuel Gendron | Conservative | ||||||||
| Beauce | Christian Pozer | Liberal | ||||||||
| Beauharnois | Michael Cayley | Conservative | ||||||||
| Bellechasse | Louis Napoléon Casault to May 26, 1870 (appointed to Superior Court of Quebec) | Conservative | ||||||||
| Télesphore Fournier from August 15, 1870 | Liberal | |||||||||
| Berthier | Anselme Pâquet | Liberal | ||||||||
| Bonaventure | Théodore Robitaille | - | Brome | Christopher Dunkin4 to October 24, 1871 (appointed to Superior Court of Quebec) | Conservative | |||||
| Edward Carter from November 17, 1871 | ||||||||||
| Chambly | Pierre Benoit | Conservative | ||||||||
| Champlain | John Jones Ross | Conservative | ||||||||
| Charlevoix | Simon Xavier Cimon | |||||||||
| Châteauguay | Luther Holton | Liberal | ||||||||
| Chicoutimi—Saguenay | Pierre Alexis Tremblay | Liberal | ||||||||
| Compton | John Henry Pope5 | Liberal-Conservative | ||||||||
| Dorchester | Hector-Louis Langevin | |||||||||
| Drummond—Arthabaska | Louis Adélard Sénécal | |||||||||
| Gaspé | Pierre Fortin | Conservative | ||||||||
| Hochelaga | Antoine Dorion | Liberal | ||||||||
| Huntingdon | John Rose2 to September 29, 1869 (resigned) | Liberal-Conservative | ||||||||
| Julius Scriver from October 30, 1869 | Liberal | |||||||||
| Iberville | François Béchard | Liberal | ||||||||
| Jacques Cartier | Guillaume Gaucher | Conservative | ||||||||
| Joliette | François Benjamin Godin | Liberal | ||||||||
| Kamouraska | no election in 1867 due to rioting | |||||||||
| Charles Pelletier from February 17, 1869 | Liberal | |||||||||
| Laprairie | Alfred Pinsonneault | |||||||||
| L'Assomption | Louis Archambeault | Liberal-Conservative | ||||||||
| Laval | Joseph Bellerose | Conservative | ||||||||
| Lévis | Joseph Blanchet | Liberal-Conservative | ||||||||
| L'Islet | Barthélemy Pouliot3 | |||||||||
| Lotbinière | Henri Joly De Lotbinière | Liberal | ||||||||
| Maskinongé | George Caron | Conservative | ||||||||
| Mégantic | George Irvine | Conservative | ||||||||
| Missisquoi | Brown Chamberlin to June 6, 1870 (resigned to become Queen's Printer) | Conservative | ||||||||
| George Baker from July 5, 1870 | Liberal-Conservative | |||||||||
| Montcalm | Joseph Dufresne to July 13, 1871 (resigned) | Conservative | ||||||||
| Firmin Dugas from September 15, 1871 | Conservative | |||||||||
| Montmagny | Joseph-Octave Beaubien | Conservative | ||||||||
| Montmorency | Joseph-Édouard Cauchon to November 1, 1867 | Conservative | ||||||||
| Jean Langlois from December 11, 1867 | Conservative | |||||||||
| Montreal Centre | Thomas Workman | Liberal | ||||||||
| Montreal East | George-Étienne Cartier | Liberal-Conservative | ||||||||
| Montreal West | Thomas D'Arcy McGee to April 7, 1868 (assassinated) | Liberal-Conservative | ||||||||
| Michael Patrick Ryan from April 20, 1868 | Liberal-Conservative | |||||||||
| Napierville | Sixte Coupal dit la Reine | Liberal | ||||||||
| Nicolet | Joseph Gaudet | Conservative | ||||||||
| Ottawa (County of) | Alonzo Wright | Liberal-Conservative | ||||||||
| Pontiac | Edmund Heath | |||||||||
| Portneuf | Jean Brousseau | Conservative | ||||||||
| Quebec-Centre | Georges-Honoré Simard | |||||||||
| Quebec County | Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau | Conservative | ||||||||
| Quebec East | Pierre Huot to June 14, 1870 (resigned to become Postmaster of Quebec) | Liberal | ||||||||
| Adolphe Guillet dit Tourangeau from July 18, 1870 | Conservative | |||||||||
| Quebec West | Thomas McGreevy | Liberal-Conservative | ||||||||
| Richelieu | Thomas McCarthy to September 23, 1870 (death) | Conservative | ||||||||
| Georges Isidore Barthe from November 18, 1870 | ||||||||||
| Richmond—Wolfe | William Hoste Webb | |||||||||
| Rimouski | George Sylvain | |||||||||
| Rouville | Guillaume Cheval dit St-Jacques | Liberal | ||||||||
| Saint Maurice | Louis Léon Lesieur Desaulniers to September 29, 1868 (resigned) | Conservative | ||||||||
| Élie Lacerte from October 30, 1868 | ||||||||||
| Shefford | Lucius Huntington | Liberal | ||||||||
| Town of Sherbrooke | Alexander Galt | Liberal-Conservative | ||||||||
| Soulanges | Luc Masson | |||||||||
| St. Hyacinthe | Alexandre Kierzkowski to August 4, 1870 (death) | Liberal | ||||||||
| Louis Delorme from September 1, 1870 | Liberal | |||||||||
| St. John's | François Bourassa | Liberal | ||||||||
| Stanstead | Charles Colby | Liberal-Conservative | ||||||||
| Témiscouata | Charles Bertrand | Conservative | ||||||||
| Terrebonne | Louis Masson | Conservative | ||||||||
| Three Rivers | Louis Boucher De Niverville to September 30, 1868 (resigned) | Conservative | ||||||||
| William McDougall from October 17, 1868 | Conservative | |||||||||
| Two Mountains | Jean-Baptiste Daoust | |||||||||
| Vaudreuil | Donald McMillan | |||||||||
| Verchères | Félix Geoffrion | Liberal | ||||||||
| Yamaska | Moïse Fortier | Liberal |
Four Quebec members recontested their seats in byelections, and were re-elected:
2 – John Rose was reelected in Huntingdon on November 28, 1867, after being named Minister of Finance.
3 – Barthélemy Pouliot was unseated on petition, but was reelected in L'Islet on July 14, 1869.
4 – Christopher Dunkin was reelected in Brome on November 29, 1869, after being named Minister of Agriculture.
5 – John Henry Pope was reelected in Compton on November 11, 1871, after being named Minister of Agriculture following Dunkin's resignation from Parliament.
Note:
6 – One Ontario MP, Alexander Morris, recontested his seat in a byelection. He was reelected in Lanark South on November 29, 1869, after being appointed Minister of Inland Revenue.
Manitoba joined Confederation in 1870. Byelections to choose Manitoba's representatives were held on March 2 and March 3, 1871.
| Electoral district | Name | width=20% | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=24% | Lisgar | John Christian Schultz from March 2, 1871 | Conservative | ||
Marquette
| James S. Lynch from March 2, 1871 | Liberal | |||
| Angus McKay from March 2, 1871 | Conservative | ||||
| Selkirk | Donald Alexander Smith from March 2, 1871 | Independent Conservative | |||
| Provencher | Pierre Delorme from March 3, 1871 | Conservative |
British Columbia joined Confederation in 1871. Byelections to choose the province's representatives were held in November and December of that year.
| Electoral district | Name | width=20% | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=24% | Cariboo District | Joshua Spencer Thompson from December 19, 1871 | Liberal-Conservative | ||
| New Westminster District | Hugh Nelson from December 13, 1871 | Liberal-Conservative | |||
| Vancouver | Robert Wallace from December 15, 1871 | Conservative | |||
| Victoria | Amor De Cosmos from November 24, 1871 | Liberal | |||
| Henry Nathan, Jr. from November 24, 1871 | Liberal | ||||
| Yale District | Charles Frederick Houghton from December 19, 1871 | Liberal |
| Colony | Assembly | |
|---|---|---|
| Province of Canada | 8th Parliament | |
| Nova Scotia | 22nd General Assembly | |
| New Brunswick | 21st Legislative Assembly |
See main article: By-elections to the 1st Canadian Parliament.
On Thursday November 7, 1867. The 1st session of the 1st parliament of the Dominion of Canada opened with a speech from the throne by the governor general, Charles Stanley Monck (The Viscount Monck).
In the speech, the governor general remarks the creation of the Dominion of Canada itself and the future expansion of the country from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. Some notable objectives for this first government would be to determine "Currency, Customs, Excise, and Revenue generally,-for the adoption of a uniform Postal System,-for the proper management and maintenance of the Public Works and Properties of the Dominion,-for the adoption of a well considered scheme of Militia Organizationand Defence, for the proper administration of Indian affairs,-for the introduction of uniform Laws respecting Patents of Invention and Discovery,-the naturalization of Aliens,-and :the assimilation of the Criminal Law, and the Laws relating to Bankruptcy and Insolvency." He also notes the imperative immediate construction of the intercolonial railway. As well as the protection and development of Fisheries and Marine Interests. Finally, he speaks on the necessity to establish uniform laws regarding elections.[1]
On Thursday April 15, 1869. The 2nd session of the 1st parliament of the Dominion of Canada opened with a speech from the throne by the governor general, John Young (The Lord Lisgar).
In the speech, the governor general speaks on confederation and the initiatives to bring parts of the Hudson Bay Company (The Northwest Territory) and Newfoundland into the union. He also speaks on the assimilation of provincial criminal laws into federal criminal laws. He also touches on future bills focusing on Elections, Bankruptcy and Insolvency, and Patents of invention and discovery.[2]
On Tuesday February 15, 1870. The 3rd session of the 1st parliament of the Dominion of Canada opened with a speech from the throne by the governor general, John Young (The Lord Lisgar).
In the speech, he remarks the growing economy of the Dominion - specifically noting the fisheries. He also speaks on the difficulties faced in acquiring the Northwest Territory and the desire to go through with the assimilation. He continues in speaking on making the election process uniform among the country. He also notes the necessity to create a Court of Appeal as well as the need to prepare for the upcoming 1871 census.[3]
On Wednesday February 15, 1871. The 4th session of the 1st parliament of the Dominion of Canada opened with a speech from the throne by the governor general, John Young (The Lord Lisgar).
In the speech, he highlights the menace of invasion from the United States. He also celebrates the creation of the province of Manitoba and looks forward to the same from British Columbia. On that topic, he speaks on the importance of the interoceanic railway to be created. He encourages more immigration to these new territories. He recommends the swift standardization of currency to not fall into the divisiveness seen in Europe. He says the census will occur on April 3, 1971. He briefly touches on some future bills pertaining to Parliamentary Elections, Weights and Measures, Insurance Companies, Savings Banks, and for the Consolidation and amendment of the Inspection Laws.[4]
On Thursday April 11, 1872. The 5th session of the 1st parliament of the Dominion of Canada opened with a speech from the throne by the governor general, John Young (The Lord Lisgar).
In the speech, he highlights the threat of invasion of Manitoba from the United States. He remarks on a conference held in Ottawa in September 1871 on the subject of immigration. He recognizes the adoption of British Columbia into the union and the continuation of the railway project. He encourages the development of canals and a direct water communication between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy. He notes that the census has taken place. He briefly mentions future bills pertaining to Judges of Superior Courts-to the regulation and management of the Public Lands and Mines of the Dominion in Manitoba and the North West Territories, aid for the amendment of the laws relating to the Public Health.[5]
