Section IL, 1915 [223] Trans. R.S.C. 



Some Notes on the First Legislative Assembly of Ontario and its Speaker, 

 Hon. John Stevenson. 



By W. S. Herrington, K.C, 

 Presented by Dr. C. C. James, C.M.G., F.R.S.C. 



(Read May Meeting, 1914.) 



The year 1867 may properly be regarded as the most important 

 year in our national development since 1759. The latter gave to 

 Great Britain the sovereignty over the northern half of North America; 

 the former determined the form of government that sovereignty was 

 to assume. In 1867 we entered upon an era which, it was hoped, held 

 great possibilities for the new Dominion. It was an experimental year 

 a year viewed with nervous apprehension by all our great statesmen. 

 Precedents were to be established and all who participated in the 

 public events of that year were pioneers in laying the foundations of 

 our national institutions as they exist to-day. 



The inevitable destiny of the colonies of British North America 

 was a confederation or union of some kind. This appears to have been 

 fully realized long before the Fathers of Confederation took the first 

 steps in that direction, and, now that it has been successfully accom- 

 plished, the wonder is, not that it was brought about, but that it was 

 not brought about at an earlier date. For more than half a century 

 the question had been seriously discussed more or less in different 

 quarters and from different standpoints.^ It may fairly be argued 

 then that all the more honor is due to those who found a satisfactory 

 solution of a problem that had baffled the statesmen of the colonies 

 for over fifty years. Many proposals had been suggested, much or- 

 atory spent and spirited correspondence carried on over the question 

 of confederation; but its formal adoption was not sanctioned by 

 any legislative body until 1854 when the assembly of Nova Scotia 

 passed a resolution that "The union or confederation of the British 

 provinces while calculated to perpetuate their connection with the 

 parent state, will promote their advancement and prosperity, in- 

 crease their strength and influence and elevate their position." 



Then too for the first time the imperial government seriously took 

 up the question and frequently during the next decade, when discuss- 

 ing colonial matters, favored the federation movement. The agita- 

 tion continued in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward 



1 See "Alphabet of First Things in Canada" by George Johnson, 3rd Edition, 

 1897, page 55. 



