Stormont (Province of Canada electoral district) explained

Stormont
Canada West
Province:Province of Canada
Prov-Status:defunct
Prov-Created:1841
Prov-Abolished:1867
Prov-Election-First:1841
Prov-Election-Last:1863

Stormont was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada West (now Ontario). It was created in 1841, upon the establishment of the Province of Canada by the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Stormont was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly. It was abolished in 1867, upon the creation of Canada and the province of Ontario.

Boundaries

Stormont electoral district was based on Stormont County, Canada West (now part of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario). It was located in the eastern part of Canada West, on the Saint Lawrence River.

The Union Act, 1840 had merged the two provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada, with a single Parliament. The separate parliaments of Lower Canada and Upper Canada were abolished.[1] The Union Act provided that the pre-existing electoral boundaries of Upper Canada would continue to be used in the new Parliament, unless altered by the Union Act itself.[2]

Stormont County had been an electoral district in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada,[3] and its boundaries were not altered by the Union Act. Those boundaries had originally been set by a proclamation of the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, in 1792:

The boundaries had been further defined by a statute of Upper Canada in 1798:

The effect of these boundaries was to reduce the size of Stormont County, with several townships removed to form the new Russell County, Ontario.[4]

Since Stormont County was not changed by the Union Act, those boundaries continued to be used for the new electoral district. Stormont electoral district was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.[2]

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Stormont was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.[2] The following were the members for Stormont.

Abolition

Stormont electoral district was abolished on July 1, 1867, when the British North America Act, 1867 came into force, creating Canada and splitting the Province of Canada into Quebec and Ontario.[7] It was succeeded by two electoral districts named Stormont, one in the House of Commons of Canada[8] and one in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.[9]

References


Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Union Act, 1840 . 2024-05-23 . www.solon.org.
  2. Web site: The Union Act, 1840 . 2024-05-23 . www.solon.org.
  3. Web site: Journal of the House of Assembly of Upper Canad... - Canadiana . 2024-05-23 . www.canadiana.ca.
  4. Web site: The statutes of Upper Canada, to the time of th... - Canadiana . 2024-05-23 . www.canadiana.ca.
  5. https://archive.org/details/politicalappoint00cotj_0/page/42 J.O. Côté, Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada, 1841 to 1860, (Quebec: St. Michel and Darveau, 1860), pp. 43-58.
  6. For party affiliations, see Paul G. Cornell, Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841-67 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015), pp. 93-111.
  7. Web site: Branch . Legislative Services . 2020-08-07 . Consolidated federal laws of canada, THE CONSTITUTION ACTS, 1867 to 1982 . 2024-05-23 . laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.
  8. Web site: Branch . Legislative Services . 2020-08-07 . Consolidated federal laws of canada, THE CONSTITUTION ACTS, 1867 to 1982 . 2024-05-23 . laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.
  9. Web site: Branch . Legislative Services . 2020-08-07 . Consolidated federal laws of canada, THE CONSTITUTION ACTS, 1867 to 1982 . 2024-05-23 . laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.