Ninety-two resolutions are a legislative draft prepared by Louis-Joseph Papino and other members of the Party of Patriots of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were an extensive list of political reforms in the territory of the British colony of Lower Canada.
History
Papino was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada in 1815. His party constantly opposed the unselected colonial government. In 1828, he participated in the development of an early draft resolution, consisting mainly of a list of complaints against the colonial administration. To bring the demands to the attention of the British House of Commons, the Party of Patriots sent its own delegation to London to transmit a petition signed by 87,000 citizens.
On February 28, 1834, Papino submitted 92 resolutions for consideration by the Legislative Assembly. They were approved and shipped to London . The text of the resolution contained, inter alia, the requirement that the Legislative Council become elected, and the Executive Council (government) become accountable to the House of Representatives. In the framework of the then Constitutional Act, the upper house, the Legislative Council, was appointed by the governor of the colony.
Although the deputies expressed their loyalty to the British crown in the resolutions, they expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the London government did not want to correct the injustice caused by the previous colony governments.
Papino’s political project has been ignored for 3 years; meanwhile, the Legislative Assembly made every effort to counteract the unselected upper houses, while avoiding direct rebellion. In the end, the Secretary of State for the Colonies of the British Empire, Lord John Russell, in response to this draft, issued his own 10 resolutions, known as Russell resolutions , in which all the requirements of the Legislative Assembly were rejected.
Ten Russell resolutions were published in Canada in 1837 and became the catalyst for the Revolt of the Patriots .
See also
- Rise of the Patriots .
Links
- The Ninety-Two Resolutions of 1834
- Les 92 résolutions (PDF in French)