| King in Right ofQuebec | |
|---|---|
Provincial | |
 | |
| Incumbent | |
 | |
| Charles III King of Canada (Roi du Canada) since 8 September 2022 | |
| Details | |
| Style | His Majesty |
| First monarch | Victoria |
| Formation | 1 July 1867 |
By the arrangements of theCanadian federation,Canada's monarchy operates inQuebec as the core of the province'sWestminster-styleparliamentarydemocracy andconstitution.[1] As such,the Crown within Quebec's jurisdiction is referred to asthe Crown in Right of Quebec (French:couronne du chef du Québec,pronounced[kuʁɔndyʃɛfdykebɛk]),[2]His Majesty in Right of Quebec (French:Sa Majesté du chef du Québec,pronounced[samaʒɛstedyʃɛfdykebɛk]),[3] orthe King in Right of Quebec (French:le roi du chef du Québec,pronounced[ləʁwadyʃɛfdykebɛk]).[4] TheConstitution Act, 1867, however, leaves many royal duties in the province specifically assigned to the sovereign's viceroy, thelieutenant governor of Quebec,[1] whose direct participation in governance is limited by theconventional stipulations ofconstitutional monarchy.[5]
The role of the Crown is both legal and practical; it functions inQuebec in the same wayit does in all of Canada's other provinces, being the centre of a constitutional construct in which the institutions of government acting under the sovereign's authority share the power of the whole.[6] It is thus the foundation of theexecutive,legislative, andjudicial branches of theprovince's government.[7] TheCanadian monarch—since 8 September 2022, King Charles III—is represented and his duties carried out by thelieutenant governor of Quebec, whose direct participation in governance is limited by theconventional stipulations ofconstitutional monarchy, with most related powers entrusted for exercise by the electedparliamentarians, theministers of the Crown drawn from among them, and thejudges andjustices of the peace.[5] The Crown today primarily functions as a guarantor of continuous and stable governance and anonpartisan safeguard against the abuse of power.[10] This arrangement began with the 1867British North America Act and continued an unbroken line of monarchical government extending back to the early 16th century,[1] making Quebec the oldest continuously monarchical territory inNorth America. However, though it has a separate government headed by the King, as a province, Quebec is not itself a kingdom.[11]
Upon the death of the monarch (known as thedemise of the Crown),An Act Respecting the Demise of the Crown ensures that all activities of the provincial Parliament, Cabinet, courts, and employees of the Crown continue without interruption. This law was required because earlier legislation that attempted to remove all references to the monarchy in Quebec left a "legal vacuum".[12]
There is currently nogovernment house in Quebec. A viceregal suite in theAndré-Laurendeau Building inQuebec City is used both as an office and official event location by the lieutenant governor, the sovereign, and other members of theCanadian royal family.[13] The viceroy resides in a separate home provided by the provincial Crown and the King and his relations reside at a hotel when in Quebec; either theChâteau Frontenac in Quebec City or theQueen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.
Those in the royal familyperform ceremonial duties when on a tour of the province; the royal persons do not receive any personal income for their service, only the costs associated with the exercise of these official obligations are funded by both the Canadian and Quebec Crownsin their respective councils.[14]
Monuments around Quebec mark some of those visits, while others honour a royal personage or event.[15] Further, Quebec's monarchical status is illustrated byroyal names applied to regions, communities, schools, and buildings, many of which may also have a specific history with a member or members of the royal family; for example, Quebec has at least seven distinct features named forQueen Victoria, including the second largest area in Canada and Grand lac Victoria, at the head of theOttawa River, south ofVal-d'Or.[16] Eleven locations and organizations are named for Victoria's father,Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn.[17]
Gifts are also sometimes offered from the people of Quebec to a royal person to mark a visit or an important milestone; for instance, QueenElizabeth II was in 1955 given thepuck with whichMaurice Richard scored his 325th career goal—thereby setting a new record—during a game against theChicago Blackhawks on 8 November 1952.[18]
Associations also exist between the Crown and many private organizations within the province; these may have been founded by aroyal charter,received aroyal prefix, and/or been honoured withthe patronage of a member of the royal family. Examples include theRoyal Montreal Curling Club, which was under the patronage ofPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and received itsroyal designation from KingGeorge V in 1924,[19] andMcGill University, which was originally constituted as the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning through a royal charter from KingGeorge III in 1801, before being reconstituted as a university byGeorge IV in 1827.
The main symbol of the monarchy is the sovereign himself, his image (in portrait or effigy) thus being used to signify government authority.[20] Aroyal cypher or crown may also illustrate the monarch as the locus of authority, without referring specifically to the individual who is king or queen. Further, though neither the monarch nor his viceroy form a part of the constitutions ofQuebec's honours, the latter do stem from the Crown as thefount of honour; unlike in all of Canada's other provinces, however, the insignia do not bear any royal emblems. Quebec lawyers may be appointedKing's Counsel.[21]
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Before theQuiet Revolution in the 1960s, when the distinction between theCanadian Crown and British imperialism was obscured by Quebec nationalism, the monarchy was relatively popular among Quebecers.[22] The only moment when notable hostility was directed at the Crown was during theLower Canada Rebellion, between 1837 and 1838, during which the republican rebels expressed personal animosity toward the young Queen Victoria.[22]
AlthoughDonald Mackenzie Wallace, the foreign correspondent forThe Times, described a lack of "vigorous cheering" from the crowds in Quebec when Prince George, Duke of Cornwall and York (later King George V), andPrincess Mary, Duchess of Cornwall and York (later Queen Mary), toured parts of the province in 1901, the French-Canadian media and nationalist organizations, such as theSaint-Jean-Baptiste Society, presented the royal couple with addresses of welcome.[22] Prince George returned to Quebec seven years later, for the tercentennary of the founding of Quebec City; the events were so popular with Quebec residents that Prime MinisterWilfrid Laurier was led to opine that Quebecers were "monarchical by religion, by habit, and by the remembrance of past history."[23]
During the1939 royal tour by KingGeorge VI and his wife,Queen Elizabeth, Francophone newspapers emphasized that French-Canadians were loyal to the Canadian monarch, admired the King and Queen, and did not support British imperialism or view themselves as having assimilated into theBritish Empire.[24]
Even at the start of the Quiet Revolution, when Queen Elizabeth II visited Quebec City in 1964 and open protest against the Crown was seen for the first time since the 1830s, the supporters far outnumbered the anti-monarchists; theNew York Times reported there being between 50 and 100 student protesters, compared to the approximately 50,000 denizens who gave the Queen, as noted by theMontreal Gazette, "a tumultuous welcome". As the decade went on, the monarchy continued to receive support from some corners of Quebec, such asL'Action magazine asserting, “long before Ottawa was seized, as it is now, of the bilingual and bicultural ferment, the Crown was establishing the fact, in all its interventions in Canada, of equality of the two languages beyond the letter of the constitution.”[22]
Today, few Quebecers support the monarchy in the province, with opinions of the general public varying from indifference to hostility.[22]
In the first days of the royal tour of Canada by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939, which started in Quebec City, the French language newspaperLa Presse took issue with the displays ofBritish flags and decorations in Quebec, calling them "imperialistic propaganda". But, this was not anti-monarchical sentiment. Instead, the editorial board wanted for the King's presence to be a foundation for a celebration ofQuébécois culture, asking, "why don't we,French Canadians, profit from the occasion to manifest our loyalty and attachment to our sovereigns, certainly, but also to our language, our nationality, our rights, our ethnic character. If we must have inscriptions, let them be worded in French. If we cheer, cheer in French."[24]
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Advocates of theQuebec sovereignty movement, which emerged in the 1960s, regard the Crown not as a distinct and essential part of the province's national structure—"the last bulwark of democracy," as formerLiberalPrime Minister of QuebecDaniel Johnson Jr put it[25]—but, as a federal institution involved in Quebec affairs;[26][27] for them, the Canadian monarchy is a target of anti-federal, anti-English sentiment.[27] PremierDaniel Johnson, head of the nationalistUnion Nationale party, mused about making Quebec a federated republic.[28] In an interview in 1971,René Lévesque, the then-leader of the province's sovereigntist political party, theParti Québécois, was asked if there would be any role for the monarchy in an independent Quebec. He responded, "are you joking? Why? I have great respect for the Queen [...] But, what the Hell part should monarchy have in Quebec?"[29][30]Parti Québécois leaderPauline Marois in 2012 called the lieutenant governor—the viceregal figure it was Marois' job to advise—a waste of money[22] and railed against the monarchy as an institution of Anglophones' and Ottawa's dominance.[31]University of Toronto professor Richard Toporoski held the theory that asovereign, not independent, Quebec would still be under the sovereignty of the Canadian monarch: "the real problem of the Quebec bill is not separation from Canada: Quebec has said that it wishes to preserve common elements—Canadian currency (issued officially by whom?—the Queen of Canada), for example, and the possibility of Quebeccitizens being Canadian citizens (and who are Canadian citizens?—subjects of the Queen)."[32]
The Canadian monarchy is not recognized by most of those in the sovereignty movement, who refer to it instead still as the "British monarchy"[33] or "English Crown",[37] to play up on the narrative of theBritish conquest of New France in 1760,[33] ignoring that Quebecers fought during theAmerican Revolution andWar of 1812 to stay under the Crown and that theflag of Quebec, whichParti Québécois leaderPaul St-Pierre Plamondon said, "represents both the right of Quebecers to exist as a people and the province's democracy", employs French royal symbols.[33]
Members of Canada's royal family have been asked by some Quebec sovereigntists to apologize for acts such as the AcadianGreat Upheaval in the mid 18th century (which took place inNova Scotia and the Crown recognized in 2003[38][39]) and thepatriation of theCanadian constitution in 1982.[40] In 2009, the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society's Montreal chapter asked Prince Charles to apologize for what it said was the royal family's role in the "cultural genocide of francophones in North America over the last 400 years".[41] The society did not make clear what, exactly, any member of the family had done to that end.
Sovereigntists have also been against the presence of members of the Canadian royal family in Quebec. At the height of the Quiet Revolution, the Quebec press reported that extreme separatists were plotting to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II during her upcoming 1964 tour of the province,[45] as well as to kidnap PremierJean Lesage's son, should the Queen come to Quebec.[46] Despite fears for the monarch's safety and talk of cancelling the trip, the Queen arrived as planned and,[43] in a speech delivered, in both French and English, to the Legislative Assembly on 10 October,[47] spoke of Canada's two "complementary cultures" and the strength of Canada's two founding peoples. She stated, "I am pleased to think that there exists in ourCommonwealth a country where I can express myself officially in French [...] Whenever you sing [the French words of] 'O Canada', you are reminded that you come of a proud race."[51] Still, as her motorcade passed through Quebec City, the route was lined with Quebecers showing their backs to the monarch;[52] others booed her and shouted separatist slogans.[53] Though the protesters were the minority in the crowds gathered to see the Queen (newspapers reporting that those who opposed the visit were students numbering 100 or less in a crowd of 50,000[22][54]), the provincial police violently dispersed those demonstrators who took to marching through the streets,[53] arresting 36, including some who had been there to show loyalty to the Queen.[52]
Lévesque later sent a letter toBuckingham Palace asking the Queen to refusePrime Minister of CanadaPierre Trudeau's advice that she open the1976 Summer Olympics inMontreal; though, she did not oblige the Premier, as he was out of his jurisdiction in offering advice to the sovereign on a federal matter.[29] The premier at the time,Robert Bourassa, who had first pushed Trudeau to ask the Queen to attend, eventually himself became unsettled about how unpopular the move might be with sovereigntists.[55]
Parti Québécois members of the National Assembly also complained in 2006 about federal intervention into a provincial affair and separatists threatened demonstrations after both the city and provincial governments mused about inviting the Queen or another member of the royal family to attend the festivities marking thequatercentenary of the founding of Quebec City,[56][57] as had been done a century prior.Mario Beaulieu, then Vice-President of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society, stated, "you can be sure that people will demonstrate in protest [...] We are celebrating the foundation ofNew France, not its conquest. The monarchy remains a symbol of imperialism and colonialism. Her [the Queen's] presence will not be welcomed", and Gérald Larose, President of the Quebec Sovereignty Council, claimed the monarchy was, "the most despicable, appalling, anti-democratic, imperial, colonial symbol against which all social and individuals rights were obtained through the course of history".[58] Though it was met with dissatisfaction from some officials in Quebec, but with support from 64% of polled individuals in the province,[59] the federal government advised neither the sovereign nor any other royal family member to attend, instead sending Governor GeneralMichaëlle Jean to preside over the fête.[60]
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society andRéseau de Résistance du Québécois (RRQ) mounted demonstrations and threw eggs atCanadian soldiers during the visit of Prince Charles andCamilla, Duchess of Cornwall, toThe Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada in Montreal, onRemembrance Day, 2009,[40] requiring the intervention of riot police.[35][61] The RRQ mounted similar, though less violent, protests whenPrince William andCatherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visited Montreal and Quebec City in 2011.[34]
In 2002, PQ PremierBernard Landry directed the Executive Council and Lieutenant Governor to not recognizeElizabeth's Golden Jubilee, in protest of the Queen signing theConstitution Act, 1982;[62] separatist demonstrators met the Queen when she enteredGatineau that year.[63][64] Ten years later, in theQueen's Diamond Jubilee year, Marois proclaimed, "it doesn't bother me at all to attack royalty."[22] Following thedeath of Elizabeth II, the Premier,François Legault, was criticized by the PQ for having flags at Quebec Crown-owned properties lowered to half-staff.[33]
The PQ has consistently, since 1970, resisted theOath of Allegiance to the monarch of Canada, as the embodiment of the state order of laws and governance,[65] which all parliamentarians across the country must, by the Canadian constitution, swear before being allowed to take their seats in the relevant legislature. In 1982, when the PQ had a majority in the National Assembly, theAct Respecting the National Assembly of Quebec was grantedroyal assent, adding a supplementary oath pledging loyalty to the undefined "people of Quebec".[66] Forty years later, therecently elected PQ members of the Legislative Assembly, briefly joined by members of the equally separatistQuébec solidaire party, refused to recite the oath, rendering them unable to take their seats in the provincial parliament.[70] The legislature, with the nationalistCoalition Avenir Québec in the government benches, passed a law that attempted to amend the Canadian constitution to exempt the entire province from the requirement that legislators swear the Oath of Allegiance.[71][72] It remains unclear if the law has any effect.[73][74]
There has been push from Quebec parties for reforms: at aconstitutional conference held inOttawa in February 1968, delegates from Quebec indicated that a provincial president might suit the province better than the Queen and thelieutenant governor. But, the proposal was not accepted.[75] Legault was asked in September 2022 whether the province should eliminate the office of the lieutenant governor. Legault expressed his awareness of calls to "replace" the lieutenant governor before noting the matter was not a priority.[33] Following the appointment ofManon Jeannotte as lieutenant governor in 2023, the National Assembly unanimously voted in support of a non-binding motion to abolish the viceregal office,[76] without proposing any alternative.
On May 2025, TheNational Assembly of Quebec unanimously voted for a motion calling on Quebec to abolish all ties with the monarchy.Coalition Avenir Québec,Parti Québécois, the Liberals andQuébec solidaire voted for the motion.[77][78]
Aboriginal groups in what is todayQuebec were considered by Europeans to belong to kingdoms—such as along the north shore of theSt. Lawrence River, between the Trinity River and theIsle-aux-Coudres, and the neighbouring kingdom of Canada, which stretched west to theIsland of Montreal[79]—and the leaders of these communities, particularly those chosen through heredity,[80][81] were referred to as kings.[82]
The monarchy that exists in Quebec today can trace its ancestral lineage back to the claims of KingHenry VII in 1497 and KingFrancis I in 1534; both beingblood relatives of the currentCanadian monarch. While the first French colonies inNorth America were established atAcadia (todayNova Scotia) andPort Royal, French explorers thereafter expanded the King's territory inland and, in 1541,Jean-François Roberval was appointed asViceroy of Canada, to representKing Henry IV.[83] In 1608,Quebec City was founded and, seven years later, it was, on the recommendation of its founder,Samuel de Champlain, designated as a royal capital of theFrench empire in the Americas;[84]Place Royale is named for the King.[22] Champlain was installed in 1627 as therepresentative of the King inNew France, making him the first in an unbroken line ofviceroys ending at the incumbentgovernor general of Canada today.[85]
Champlain surrendered on 16 July 1629 to the Englishprivateer and friend ofKing Charles I,David Kirke, as, at the time, the population of New France was on the brink of starvation and neither man was aware thatpeace had already been reached between France, Scotland, and England in theThirty Years' War.[86] Upon learning that hostilities had ceased before Quebec's capture, Champlain argued that Kirke's seizure had been unlawful and, in 1632, Charles I agreed to return New France in exchange for KingLouis XIII paying thedowry of Charles' wife,Queen Henrietta, which was specifically included in theTreaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[86] As a consolation, Kirke wasknighted by Charles the following year.[87]
In 1663, New France was designated by KingLouis XIV as a royal province of France itself,[22] ruled by the King through his appointedConseil souverain, which included thegovernor general as the monarch's stand-in. One of the king's decrees, intended to augment, as well as level the gender imbalance of, the population of New France in the 1660s, was to send between seven and nine hundred women, known as thefilles du roi (Daughters of the King), to the province, each withdowry, new clothing, and paid passage to theNew World. As the population increased, infrastructure was built, such as theChemin du Roi (King's Highway), betweenMontreal and Quebec City, and theCathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec, in the welfare of which the King took great interest.[88] This type of French royal patronage extended through the 18th century; for example, from 1713 until 1758,Île-Royale was a project of King Louis XIV and King Louis XV, much of the financing for infrastructure—some 20 millionlivres—being provided by the monarchs (their names therefore appearing on such works).[89]
King Charles II in 1670 founded theHudson's Bay Company by aroyal charter[90] that applied to the entireHudson's Bay drainage basin, including much of what is today northern Quebec.[91] The King gave governorship of the company to his cousin,Prince Rupert of the Rhine, and the territory came to be known asRupert's Land. This area was eventuallybought by Canada from the United Kingdom[92] and, in 1898 and 1912,[93][94] parts were put in the jurisdiction of the Crown in Right of Quebec, to form the province's current borders.
In the negotiations forming theTreaty of Paris in 1763, France relinquished New France in favour of its territory ofGuadeloupe; KingLouis XV found defence of the Canadian territory to be too much of a burden.[22] It was with the signing of the treaty that the area that is today Quebec moved from under the sovereignty of the French Crown to that of the British Crown. However, KingGeorge III had previously allowedCatholicism within the laws of Great Britain and theTest Acts, which blocked Catholics from governmental, judicial, and bureaucratic appointments, were relaxed in Quebec.[95] Still, George faced the challenge of persuading his French Catholic subjects to follow an English Protestant king.[96]
As such, George issued theRoyal Proclamation of 1763, which established an appointed colonial government and served as the basis for the constitution of theProvince of Quebec until 1774. The King then, with the support of, and influenced by, hisgovernor in the Province of Quebec,Guy Carlton (who had spent years convincing British officials to abandon their assimilationist policies),[97] pushed for the passage of theQuebec Act in 1774, which was considered progressive for its time.[96] Roman Catholics were granted religious and political freedoms that their compatriots in the United Kingdom would not have for another 50 years. French language rights were recognized and Frenchcivil law continued to apply in local disputes; British law was used only in criminal cases.[96] This established the tradition of Canadian constitutional law protecting linguistic, religious, and legal rights in Quebec.[96]
TheRoyal Proclamation andQuebec Act were regarded by American colonists as two of theIntolerable Acts that were a catalyst for theAmerican Revolution.[98] But, the American hostility toward the spirit of those laws led mostQuébécois to reject the revolution;[101] Quebec militiamenfought alongside British soldiers in repelling invasions by the republican revolutionaries[102] and the residents ofMontreal, which had fallen to GeneralRichard Montgomery,did not take well to the American military presence,[103] the Catholic clergy specifically asserting that theQuebec Act had given them what they wanted.[104] Most of the peasanthabitants, though, aided the Americans.[105]
Also seeking the protection of the Crown, some 10,000refugees[106]—who became known asUnited Empire Loyalists—fled theThirteen Colonies during, and theUnited States after, the conflict in order to settle in Quebec on land promised to them by the King-in-Council, much of it in what is today theEastern Townships. It was GovernorCarlton who officially applied the termUnited Empire Loyalist to these refugees and allowed them to use thepost-nominal lettersUE, stating "that it was his wish to put the mark of honour upon the families who had adhered to the unity of the Empire."
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Prince William Henry (later KingWilliam IV) visited Quebec in 1787, while in the Canadas in charge of hisfrigate,HMS Pegasus. He travelled as far inland asCornwall (in present-dayOntario). While there, the Prince encouraged the United Empire Loyalists to settle the region that later made upUpper Canada.[107] Nearby, he also received a reception from members of theFirst Nations communities.[108] Of Quebec, the Prince wrote in a letter to his father, KingGeorge III, on 9 October 1787:
"As for the Province of Canada, it vastly surpasses all the accounts I can give to Your Majesty of its magnitude, beauty, and fertility; the province in extent is larger than all of Europe; the views in the summer are magnificent and, where, in England, the eye commands a view of ten miles, in Canada, for many leagues, the corn and the sky appear to meet. The ground is rich and, if the industrious Englishman tilled it, instead of the lazy Canadian, it would be inestimable. The country about Quebec is vastly inferior in beauty and richness to that about Montreal. My time was too short this year to go higher up than Montreal; but, next summer, I shall most certainly proceed as far as possible."[109]
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One of King George III's sons,Prince Edward (the father of Queen Victoria), lived in Quebec City between 1791 and 1793, having requested a transfer fromGibraltar to the Canadian colonies,[110] to act as colonel for the7th Regiment of Foot.[111] Upon Edward's arrival, Carlton, by then Governor General of the Canadas, used the Prince's status to ease the concerns of 40 First Nations chiefs who had travelled to Quebec City to complain about border incursions by the Americans, presenting Edward to the Indigenous leaders and proclaiming, "brothers! Here is Prince Edward, son of our King, who has just arrived with a chosen band of his warriors to protect this country." The Governor General then appointed Edward as second-in-command of the British forces in the colonies.[111]
Edward became a part of society inLower Canada, being able to associate with FrenchCanadiens, Anglo elites, andUnited Empire Loyalist refugees from the United States, alike, and he toured much of the colony, visiting places such asBeauport,Fort Chambly,Lachine, andÎle aux Noix, and occasionally spending holidays atMontmorency Falls.[112] The Prince even had a French-Canadian mistress,Julie de Saint-Laurent, with whom it is thought he sired two children.[113] Edward also became close withLouis d'Irumberry de Salaberry, his wife, Françoise-Catherine, and their four sons, includingCharles de Salaberry; the Prince nurturing the young men's military careers.[112]
After touring other parts of the Canadas in August 1791, Prince Edward returned to Quebec City in time to witness the proclamation of theConstitutional Act, which split theProvince of Quebec intoUpper andLower Canada, and act as an observer for the election of the firstLegislative Assembly of the latter, inCharlesbourg in June 1792.[114] There, he witnessed a riot break out between two groups at the polling station and, in reaction, entreated the public, speaking in French, "I urge you to unanimity and concord. Let me hear no more of the odious distinction of English and French. You are all His Britannic Majesty's beloved Canadian subjects."[115] It was the first known use of the termCanadian to mean bothFrench andEnglish settlers in the Canadas.[114][116] Edward also oversaw the establishment of theCathedral of the Holy Trinity, a project of personal interest to his father, the King.[88]
On the outbreak of theFrench Revolutionary War, Edward was promoted to major-general and ordered to the Caribbean in January 1794.[117] He returned to the Canadas in the summer of the same year, but to Nova Scotia,[118] staying there until just after the turn of the century.
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The United States aimed to conquer the Canadas in theWar of 1812;[124] all the American parties involved assumed their troops would be greeted as liberators.[125]Thomas Jefferson believed taking "Canada this year, as far as [...]Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching".[126]Henry Dearborn, who'd been part of Benedict Arnold's failedexpedition to Quebec in the American Revolution, trumpeted his belief that a disaffected French-Canada would be unwilling to support the British Crown over the United States.[127] However,anti-Catholicism also caused many to oppose annexing predominantly Catholic Lower Canada, believing its inhabitants unfit "for republican citizenship".[128]
Sure enough, as with their counterparts in Upper Canada, Lower Canadians rebuffed the American invaders. In the Legislative Assembly, members of theParti Canadien believed that the interests of French-Canadians were best served by remaining under the Crown and,[129][130] so, gave their support to theMilitia Act. The Francophone bourgeoisie agreed with remaining loyal to the King, to continue to enjoy British liberty[131] and to fight off the "immoral and excessively democratic American republic."[132] At least one influential member of the clergy—Jean-Jacques Lartigue—appealed to nationalism in attempting to convincehabitants to fight for the "honour of the King".[133] However, there was a significant resistance among farmers to enter the militia, even as they showed loyalty to George III. After Léveillé, ahabitant, was arrested for ignoring demands that he present himself for militia duty, his compatriots surrounded the carriage in which he was being transported and cheered, "vive le roi", when their demand for Léveillé's release was successful.[134] A group of some 400habitant gathered atLachine on 1 July 1812, demanding to know the truth about theMilitia Act; some, again, shouting, "vive le roi", prompting Chaboillez, a government agent, to inform the men that their cheers for the King were blasphemous.[134] After a riot broke out at Lachine (because the crowd felt local officials were abusing their power, rather than as an act of rebellion against the Crown itself[135]), Lartigue was sent there and toPointe Claire to preach, concluding his oration at the latter by asking the parishioners to repeat after him a declaration of their loyalty to their beloved King.[133]
TheCanadian Voltigeurs were raised to fight for the Crown; Captain Perrault attempted to recruithabitant men by telling them they had to fight for the great honour ofthe King.[136] It consisted of 1,530 British and Canadian regulars, volunteers, militia, andMohawk warriors from Lower Canada, commanded byCharles de Salaberry, theprotégé ofPrince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. The unit received the namevoltigeurs, a French word meaning "vaulter" or "leaper", because almost all the soldiers and most of the officers were Francophone. The Duke of Kent made certain to recognize de Salaberry's leadership in the victory of the Voltigeurs over American attackers at theBattle of the Chateauguay,[17] seeing that de Salaberry was appointed a Commander of theOrder of the Bath after the war's end, with theTreaty of Ghent, in 1815.
TheSSRoyal William, named for the new king,William IV, and built atCap-Blanc,Lower Canada,[137] was launched on 27 April 1831 byLouisa, the Lady Alymer, wife of theGovernor General of British North America,the Lord Aylmer. It was the largest passenger ship in the world at the time and became the first to cross theAtlantic Ocean almost entirely bysteam power.[138] One of the co-owners of theRoyal William wasSamuel Cunard, fromNova Scotia, who would go on to found theCunard Line, which would eventually launch theRMSQueen Mary (1936),RMSQueen Elizabeth (1940),Queen Elizabeth 2 (1969),RMSQueen Mary 2 (2004),MSQueen Victoria (2007),MSQueen Elizabeth (2010), andMSQueen Anne (2024).
Through the 1820s and 1830s,British Prime Ministerthe Viscount Melbourne mooted ideas of introducing greater democracy to Lower Canada, by way of devolving powers to theLegislative Council. This greatly alarmed the King, by now William IV, who feared it would lead to the loss of the colony,[139] and, at first, he bitterly opposed these proposals. The King exclaimed tothe Earl of Gosford,Governor General-designate of the Canadas, "mind what you are about in Canada [...] Mind me, my Lord, the Cabinet is not my Cabinet; they had better take care or, by God, I will have them impeached."[140] Nevertheless, William approved his ministers' recommendations for reform.[141]
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Still,Louis-Joseph Papineau began agitating for Lower Canada to become a republic modelled on the United States. This concept spread through the colony and Queen Victoria, who had acceded to the throne in 1837, became a target ofthe revolutionaries' hostility.Rebellion broke out that year and were put down in 1838. Of the conflicts, the Queen wrote in her diary, "the news are, I grieve to say, very bad from Canada; that is to say, rumours and reports by the papers; though, we have no official reports. But [Prime Minister] Lord Melbourne hopes it may not be so bad as it is rumoured. There certainly is open rebellion."[142] As a sign of goodwill with which to begin her reign and to markher coronation, the Queen used herroyal prerogative topardon many of the rebels and continued to do so through the 1840s.[22]
The Queen's representative in British North America,the Earl of Durham, penneda report containing recommendations for change following the Lower andUpper Canada Rebellions. Based on that document, theAct of Union 1840 was passed by the parliament atWestminster andproclaimed in effect by Queen Victoria on 10 February 1841, thus renaming Lower and Upper Canada asCanada East (today Quebec) andCanada West (today Ontario), respectively, and merging them to form theProvince of Canada, with agovernor general to represent the monarch and housed atMonklands. Five years later, theLegislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, including elected representatives from both Canada East and Canada West, made Victoria's birthday, 24 May, a public holiday calledVictoria Day.[22]
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When, in 1848,Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine andRobert Baldwin were reappointed asJoint Premiers,responsible government was implemented in the colony, with the backing of Queen Victoria.[143] This meant the governor general was to act on theadvice of his co-prime ministers, who were responsible to the elected parliament. The first test of this came in the same year, when theRebellion Losses Act was put to Governor Generalthe Earl of Elgin for royal assent. Elgin had strong misgivings about the bill, and was pressured by theTories to refuse assent, but he gave it approval, regardless, on 28 April 1849. As a result, the Anglophone population of Montreal (where the legislature was located) became incensed, the Governor General was assaulted,[144] theparliament building was burned,[145] and theMontreal Annexation Manifesto was issued, calling for the absorbption of the Province of Canada into the United States.[146] It was signed by, among others, Papineau.[147]
Still, all was not lost: The portrait of Queen Victoria that hung in the parliament, painted byJohn Partridge,[148] was saved from the fire bySandford Fleming (and hangs in the federalParliament of Canada today[148]),[149][150] the colony did not join the US, and responsible government remained a part of the Province of Canada's constitutional order.
On 14 May 1859, the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada petitioned Queen Victoria and other members of the royal family to visit Montreal for the opening of theVictoria Bridge.[151] Unwilling to leave London in the hands of rivaling politicians, the Queen instead sent her eldest son and heir, Prince Albert Edward (later KingEdward VII) to tour the Maritimes andProvince of Canada for four months in 1860.[152] The Prince was formally welcomed into the Province of Canada by a Canadian delegation, who came aboardHMSHero nearPercé Rock; the group included Governor GeneralEdmund Walker Head and Joint PremiersGeorge-Étienne Cartier andJohn A. Macdonald.[153] Arriving at Quebec City on 17 August, Albert Edward knightedNarcisse Belleau, Speaker of the Legislative Council, andHenry Smith, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly; visitedMontmorency Falls; and made an address at theUniversité Laval.[154]
Several members of the Legislative Assembly joined the Prince nearTrois-Rivières,[154] as the royal party was making its way toMontreal. There, Albert Edward took a specially-built open railway car to theVictoria Bridge inPointe-Saint-Charles and tapped in-place the structure's final stone.[154] During his five-day visit to the city, he stayed at the viceregal residence,Spencerwood, and inaugurated the city'sCrystal Palace, recalling, in an address to the crowd, the favourable impression made by Canadians at theGreat Exhibition.[155][156]
Albert Edward was followed by his younger brother,Prince Alfred, who embarked on a five week tour of the same areas in 1861. TheMontreal Gazette noted, "Prince Alfred drove quietly through the town, making purchases at several shops; and the people seeing him thus occupied with business, forebore to mob or interrupt him".[157] From Canada, Alfred wrote a letter to his parents "in Native American style": on a piece ofbirch-bark he'd pulled from a tree that day.[158]
At theCharlottetown andQuebec Conferences in 1864, prominent French-Canadian politicians, particularlyGeorge-Étienne Cartier, supported confederating the Canadian colonies into a self-governing constitutional monarchy.[22] This was achieved with the passage of theBritish North America Act (today theConstitution Act),1867, uniting Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada West, and Canada East into theDominion of Canada, with Canada East becoming the province of Quebec.
Following theRed River Rebellion, between 1869 and 1870, in whichMétis leaderLouis Riel militantly resisted the annexation of theNorth-West Territories, where theRed River Colony was located, into Canada, Governor Generalthe Earl of Dufferin heeded appeals from thefrancophones in Quebec who were sympathetic to the Métis and prevented the execution ofAmbroise Lépine, who had executedThomas Scott. Although Scott had been the son a tenant on Dufferin's estate inNorthern Ireland, Dufferin reduced Lépine's sentence to two years in jail.[159]
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Prince George, Prince of Wales (the future KingGeorge V), was present for the celebration of Quebec City's tercentenary in 1908,[155] His son, Prince Albert (later KingGeorge VI), visited Quebec in 1913, while serving as a midshipman aboard theRoyal Navy cruiserHMS Cumberland,[160] spending some leisure time salmon fishing around Québec City.[161]
Ernest Lapointe, then theMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada in the Cabinet headed by Prime MinisterWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King, chaired the Canadian delegation involved in deliberations leading to theStatute of Westminster, 1931; a law that had support from a wide swath of Quebec's political elite, as it gave Canada its own crown and, consequently, control over its own foreign affairs and a distinction apart from the British Empire.[22]
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