The 1st Parliament of Ontario was the inaugural legislature of the Province of Ontario following Canadian Confederation. Its composition was determined by the 1867 Ontario general election held in conjunction with the first Canadian federal election over several weeks in August and September. It was in session from December 27, 1867, until February 25, 1871, just prior to the 1871 general election.
This parliament along with the 1st Quebec Legislature and the 1st Canadian Parliament were joint successor-legislatures of the 8th Parliament of the Province of Canada, the final composition of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada.
John Stevenson served as speaker for the assembly.
Composition
On the surface, the 1867 general election produced a virtual tie between the Conservative Party led by John Sandfield Macdonald and the Liberal Party led informally by Archibald McKellar.
|-
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party
! rowspan=2 | Party leader
! rowspan=2 colspan=1 | Candidates
! rowspan=2 colspan=1 | Seats
! colspan=2 | Votes
|-
!#
!%
|style="text-align:left;"|John Sandfield Macdonald
| 78 || 41 || 80,111 ||50.28%
|style="text-align:left;"|Archibald McKellar
| 80 || 41 || 77,689 ||48.76%
| || 15 || – || 1,523 ||0.96%
|-
! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total
| 173
! 82
! 159,323
! 100.00%
|-
| colspan="5" style="text-align:left;" | Registered electors
| 215,722
|
|-
| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" colspan="3" |Acclamations
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||2
|-
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||4
|}
The partisan make up of the legislature was not as straight forward as the numbers suggest. Political parties in the early days of confederation were characterized by "loose coalitions" that may change from issue to issue. The party labels on official record for those early elections were retroactively applied after partisan political system was more formalized, and thus were not all accurate. For example, Edmund Burke Wood, Ontario's inaugural Treasurer who was also elected to the federal parliament, was recorded as elected to the Ontario legislature as a conservative (likely because he served in the Sandfield Macdonald ministry) and to the House of Commons as a Liberal (likely because he returned to the Liberal fold in 1873 and was later appointed by Liberal prime minister Alexander McKenzie to be chief justice of Manitoba). In 1867 however, he was explicitly repudiated by the South Brant Liberal association, was elected to both seat as a coalitionist, and his opponent for the federal seat, Henry Blakey Leeming was none other than the local Liberal association president.
It was clear however that the Patent Combination, the notional coalition ministry of John Sandfield Macdonald appointed provisionally upon Canada's confederation, was able to command the support of more than half of the members of this parliament, usually with comfortable margin. During this parliament's first session, Of the nine recorded divisions that were reported from the first sesson of thei
while those oppose were in minority, allowing the ministry to continue in government., that more than half of the members returned were supportive of
Dual mandate
In the first several years of Confederation, individuals could hold seats in federal and provincial parliaments simultaneously. The following men were elected to both the House of Commons and the Ontario legislature in 1867:
- Edward Blake, elected MP for Durham West and MLA for Bruce South, later Premier of Ontario and federal Liberal leader
- John Carling, elected MP and MLA for London, a key lieutenant of Sir John A Macdonald and later a member of his federal cabinet
- Thomas Roberts Ferguson, elected MP for Cardwell and MLA for Simcoe South
- John Sandfield MacDonald, elected MP and MLA for Cornwall, Ontario's first Premier
- Edmund Burke Wood, elected MP and MLA for Brant South, Ontario's first Treasurer in the Macdonald ministry
Two further members were elected to the federal parliament during this parliament:
- John Lorn McDougall, MLA for Renfrew South, was elected MP for the same electoral district in a 1869 by-election
- Frederick William Cumberland, MLA for Algoma, was elected MP for the same electoral district in a 1871 by-election
Sessions
There were four sessions in duration of the first Ontario Parliament:
- 1st session - December 27, 1867 to March 4, 1868
- 2nd session - November 3, 1868 to January 23, 1869
- 3rd session - November 3 to December 24, 1869
- 4th session - December 7, 1870 to February 15, 1871
List of Members
‡ Concurrently an MP. Names in bold indicate member of cabinet (Sandfield Macdonald ministry)
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! class="sortable"|
! Electoral District
! Member
! Party
! First elected
! class="sortable"| Note
|-
||
|Addington
|Edmund John Glyn Hooper
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Algoma
|Frederick William Cumberland ‡
|Conservative
|1867
|Concurrently MP from 1871
|-
||
|Bothwell
|Archibald McKellar
|Liberal
|1867
|Leader of the Opposition, 1867–1870
|-
||
|Brant North
|Hugh Finlayson
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Brant South
|<small>Hon.</small> Edmund Burke Wood ‡
|Conservative
|1867
| Treasurer in Sandfield Macdonald ministry
|-
||
|Brockville and Elizabethtown
|William Fitzsimmons
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Bruce North
|Donald Sinclair
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Bruce South
|Edward Blake ‡
|Liberal
|1867
|Leader of the Opposition, 1870–1872; Concurrently MP for Durham West
|-
||
|Cardwell
|Thomas Swinarton
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Carleton
|Robert Lyon
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Cornwall
|<small>Hon.</small> John Sandfield Macdonald ‡
|Liberal-Conservative
|1867
| Premier and Attorney General in Sandfield Macdonald Ministry Before confederation: Solicitor General for Canada West 1849–51), Speaker 1852–53; Joint-premier 1862–64
|-
||
|Dundas
|Simon S. Cook
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Durham East
|Arthur Trefusis Heneage Williams
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Durham West
|John McLeod
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Elgin East
|Daniel Luton
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Elgin West
|Nicol McColl
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Essex
|Solomon Wigle
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|rowspan="2"|Frontenac
|<small>Hon. Sir</small> Henry Smith
|Conservative
|1867
| Died September 18, 1868;
Before confederation: Solicitor General for Canada West 1854–58, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly 1858–61
|-
||
|Delino Dexter Calvin (1868)
|Conservative
|1868
|Elected October 19, 1868
|-
||
|Glengarry
|James Craig
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Grenville South
|Mcneil Clarke
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Grey North
|Thomas Scott
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Grey South
|Abram William Lauder
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Haldimand
|Jacob Baxter
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Halton
|William Barber
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Hamilton
|James Miller Williams
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Hastings East
|Henry Corby
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Hastings North
|George Henry Boulter
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Hastings West
|Ketchum Graham
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Huron North
|William Torrance Hays
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|rowspan="2"|Huron South
|Robert Gibbons
|Liberal
|1867
|Unseated on December 9, 1868
|-
||
|Isaac Carling (1868)
|Conservative
|1868
|From December 14, 1868 - sworn in and seated
|-
||
|Kent
|John Smith
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Kingston
|Maxwell W. Strange
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Lambton
|Timothy Blair Pardee
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Lanark North
|Daniel Galbraith
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|rowspan="2"|Lanark South
|William McNairn Shaw
|Conservative
|1867
|Died January 6, 1869
|-
||
|Abraham Code (1869)
|Conservative
|1869
|Elected February 3/4, 1869
|-
||
|Leed North and <br> Grenville North
|Henry Dolphus Smith
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Leeds South
|Benjamin Tett
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Lennox
|<small>Hon.</small> John Stevenson
|Conservative
|1867
|Speaker
|-
||
|Lincoln
|John Charles Rykert
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|London
|<small>Hon.</small> John Carling ‡
|Conservative
|1867
| Commissioner of Agriculture and Public Works in Sandfield Macdonald ministry
|-
||
|Middlesex East
|James Evans
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Middlesex North
|James Sinclair Smith
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Middlesex West
|Nathaniel Currie
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Monck
|George Secord
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|rowspan="2"|Niagara
|Donald Robertson
|Conservative
|1867
|Did not take seat.
|-
||
|<small>Hon.</small> Stephen Richards (1867)
|Conservative
|1867
|Elected in by-election on December 11, 1867 ;<br>Commissioner of Crown Lands in Sandfield Macdonald ministry
|-
||
|Norfolk North
|James Wilson
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Norfolk South
|Simpson McCall
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Northumberland East
|John Eyre
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Northumberland West
|Alexander Fraser
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Ontario North
|Thomas Paxton
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Ontario South
|William McGill
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Ottawa
|Richard William Scott
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Oxford North
|George Perry
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Oxford South
|Adam Oliver
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Peel
|John Coyne
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Perth North
|Andrew Monteith
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Perth South
|James Trow
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Peterborough East
|George Read
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Peterborough West
|John Carnegie
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Prescott
|James P. Boyd
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|rowspan="2"|Prince Edward
|Absalom Greeley
|Liberal
|1867
|resigned December 7, 1870
|-
||
|William Anderson (1870)
|Conservative
|1870
|elected June 29, 1870
|-
||
|rowspan="2"|Renfrew North
|John Supple
|Conservative
|1867
| resigned October 22, 1869
|-
||
|Thomas Murray (1869)
|Conservative
|1869
|elected December 1, 1869
|-
||
|Renfrew South
|John Lorn McDougall
|Liberal
|1867
|From 1869, concurrently MP for Renfrew South
|-
||
|Russell
|William Craig
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Simcoe North
|William Lount
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Simcoe South
|Thomas Ferguson ‡
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Stormont
|William Colquhoun
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Toronto East
|<small>Hon.</small> Matthew Crooks Cameron
|Conservative
|1867
| Provincial Secretary and Registrar in Sandfield Macdonald ministry
|-
||
|Toronto West
|John Wallis
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Victoria North
|Alexander Peter Cockburn
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Victoria South
|Thomas Matchett
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Waterloo North
|Moses Springer
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Waterloo South
|Isaac Clemens
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Welland
|William Beatty
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Wellington Centre
|Alexander David Ferrier
|Conservative
|1867
|
|-
||
|Wellington North
|Robert McKim
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Wellington South
|Peter Gow
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Wentworth North
|Robert Christie
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|Wentworth South
|William Sexton
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|York East
|Hugh Powell Crosby
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|York North
|<small>Hon.</small> John McMurrich
|Liberal
|1867
|
|-
||
|York West
|Thomas Grahame
|Conservative
|1867
|
|}
Changes to composition
The make up of the first parliament was fairly stable, with only a few changes.
{|class="wikitable" style="border: none;"
|-
!rowspan="2" | Electoral District
!colspan="4" | Departed Member
!colspan="3" | New Member
|-
!colspan="2" | Member
!Vacated
!Reason
!colspan="2" | Member
!Elected
|-
|Niagara
||
|Donald Robertson
|December 27, 1867
|Resignation before taking seat
| |
|Stephen Richards
|December 11, 1867
|-
|Frontenac
| | || <small>Hon. Sir</small> Henry Smith
|||Death
| | ||Delino Dexter Calvin||
|-
|Huron South
| |
|Robert Gibbons
|
|Election overturned
| |
|Isaac Carling
|
|-
|Lanark South
| |
|William McNairn Shaw
|January 6, 1869
|Death
| |
|Abraham Code
|February 6, 1869
|-
|Renfrew North
| |
|John Supple
|October 22, 1869
|Resignation
| |
|Thomas Murray
|December 1, 1869
|-
|Prince Edward
| |
|Absalom Greeley
|December 7, 1870
|Resignation <small>(acceptance of office of emolument from Crown)</small>
| |
|William Anderson
|June 30, 1870
|}
Notes
References
External links
- All Members serving in Parliament 1