54 JOHN GEORGE BOURINOT ON 
colonies, ordered by the house of commons to be printed as late as March, 1832, “that 
the Vermonters had crossed the line and had partially occupied several townships, bring- 
ing with them their municipal institutions; and that when the impropriety of electing 
their own officers was pointed out to them, they had quietly given them up, and promised 
to conform to those of Canada.” ' 
While the legislature was, to all intents and purposes, a large municipal council for 
the initiation and supervision of all local improvements, the affairs of the differ- 
ent parishes and townships were administered as far as consonant with the old 
French system. The grand voyer and militia captain continued to be important function- 
aries in the administration of local affairs. All the highways and bridges had to be 
repaired and maintained under the direction of the grand voyer or his deputy. Whenever 
it was necessary to open up a new road or to change an old one, it was the duty of 
these officials, on receiving a petition from the locality, to call a public meeting with 
reference to the matter, by a notice published at the parish church door after the morning 
service. The grand voyer or his deputy had the power of dividing every parish, seigniory, 
or township, into such sections as he should think proper, and allot to each an overseer of 
highways and bridges, to be chosen at a meeting of householders, called and presided 
over by the eldest captain or senior officer of militia. These meetings were held 
in the public room of the parsonage of the parish, or at such other place as the captain of 
militia might direct. The grand voyer had alone the power of appointing a surveyor of 
roads and of considering and deciding on reports made by such officers to him on the sub- 
ject of highways. It was the duty of the justices of the peace, assembled in quarter 
sessions, to hear and adjudicate on all questions that might arise under this law. The 
same regulations, however, did not apply to the cities and parishes of Quebec and Mon- 
treal. Here the justices of the peace in sessions had practically the regulation of high- 
ways, streets, and local improvements, and appointed all the officers necessary to carry 
out the same. They also fixed and determined the sums of money that had to be paid 
for such purposes.” 
As a matter of fact, the grands voyers, who lived in Quebec, Montreal and Three Rivers, 
had no very onerous functions to discharge. The people of the parishes and townships 
learned to depend on the legislature and only performed the work imposed on them 
by the law regulating statute labour. The absence of effective municipal institutions 
was particularly conspicuous in the cities of Quebec and Montreal, where it would be 
expected that more public spirit would be shown. “These cities,” I again quote from 
Lord Durham’s Report,’ “ were incorporated a few years ago by a temporary provincial 
act of which the renewal was rejected in 1836. Since that time these cities have been 
without any municipal government and the disgraceful state of the streets and the utter 
absence of lighting are consequences which arrest the attention of all and seriously affect 
the comfort and security of the inhabitants.” » 
In every matter affecting the administration of civil and judicial affairs there appears 
to have been a remarkable absence of anything approaching a workable system by which 
the people might manage their affairs. More than that, there was actually an insufficiency 
of public officers for the administration of justice. Outside the cities, the machinery 


1 Lord Durham’s Report, p. 36. * See Lower Canada Statutes, 1796. * Report, p. 36, 
