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Title

Fonds consists of

8 lower level description(s)

Arrangement structure

Date(s)

1637-1843, predominant 1792-1843

Place of creation

Québec (Province)

Extent

Scope and content

Fonds consists of records created and/or maintained by the Executive Council Office of the Province of Lower Canada. The majority of the records in this fonds date from the period between the Council's first and last meetings, 26 December 1791 and 9 February 1841, respectively. However, the fonds also includes a relatively small quantity of records inherited from the Councils of the Province of Quebec, and a smaller still quantity of records from the "transitional period" at the beginning of the government established under the Province of Canada. The records found in this fonds document, to varying extents, the executive and judicial functions of the Executive Council. The deliberations and decisions of the Governor and Council were recorded as minutes in books maintained by the Clerk of the Council. These minutes are found primarily in two series within this fonds: State Minute Books of the Executive Council of the Province of Lower Canada; and Land Minute Books of the Executive Council of the Province of Lower Canada. An incomplete set of "Public Account Books" (minute books of deliberations and decisions on matters concerning the audit of the Provincial public accounts), for the period after November 1826 only, is found in the Submissions to the Executive Council relating to the audit of provincial public accounts series. Committee activities are reflected in this fonds both in the series devoted to minutes of the Executive Council (where committee reports are entered as minutes) and in the three series titled: Land Petitions and Related Records of the Executive Council of the Province of Lower Canada; Submissions to the Executive Council of the Province of Lower Canada relating to the Audit of Provincial Public Accounts; and Records of the Executive Council of the Province of Lower Canada relating to Highways, Roads and Bridges. Records relating to the activities of the Executive Councillors, acting in their judicial capacity as a Court of Appeal to hear and determine appeals in civil causes, are reflected in the series titled Judicial Records of the Executive Council of the Province of Lower Canada. In his capacity as secretary and records-keeper for the Executive Council and its committees, the Clerk had custody of the various papers and reports presented before Council in support of business transacted. In addition to these records which he maintained on behalf of the Council, the Clerk also created and accumulated a variety of administrative records which he required to ensure the efficient operation of his office. These records are found in the Office records of the Clerk of the Executive Council series. The fonds also consists of 45 postal covers covering the period from 1785 to 1841.

Conditions of access

Terms of use

Copyright belongs to the Crown. Please credit the Library and Archives of Canada.
In order to protect the fragile originals, many records in this fonds have been microfilmed and the originals withdrawn from circulation. The microfilm must be used for consultation and copying rather than the originals. Further details are provided in the relevant series descriptions. In those cases where microfilm is not available, but where attachments, tight binding or size make copying from the originals hazardous, only photography is permitted.

Finding aid

Textual records Finding aids that relate to the contents of specific series are described in the entries for those lower levels. Inter-relationships among the series are such that a finding aid describing one series may also provide a degree of access to other series. Details of such inter-relationships among finding aids are provided in the relevant series descriptions. CAB RG 1 Shelf List; CAB RG 4 Shelf List. 90 (Paper)

Textual records The RG 1 Shelf List is the primary finding aid for the majority of the textual records in this fonds. It does not have a finding aid number. Rather, it takes the form of a binder which combines both a typed narrative description of the holdings (i.e., an inventory) and a typed listing of the records at the volume-title level of description. The RG 1 Shelf List is organized internally according to the former arrangement structure of the fonds. It groups the record lists under series numbers (e.g., E 1, E 2, L 1, ) and series titles which have been superseded in the most recent intellectual arrangement of the fonds. CAB RG 1 Shelf List. 90 (Paper)

Textual records Until such time as the CAB RG 1 Shelf List can be automated it must continue to serve as the principal detailed finding aid for the majority of the records. In order to facilitate this continued use of the RG 1 Shelf List, a finding aid note has been placed in lower level descriptive entries directing the user to the appropriate section of the RG 1 Shelf List. For example, records now described as State Minute Books of the Executive Council of the Province of Lower Canada were formerly part of a series known as RG 1, series E 1. A finding aid note in the descriptive entry directs the user to the E 1 section of the CAB RG 1 Shelf List for a volume list. CAB RG 1 Shelf List. 90 (Paper)

Textual records Some of the records which now make up this fonds were previously arranged and described as parts of another fonds, RG 4 (Records of the Civil and Provincial Secretaries - Quebec, Lower Canada, and Canada East). The current primary finding aid for RG 4 is the CAB RG 4 Shelf List. Until such time as a single finding aid can be created to bring together volume lists for all parts of the Executive Council of the Province of Lower Canada fonds, the RG 4 Shelf List must continue to serve as the principal detailed finding aid for those records which were formerly part of that fonds. CAB RG 4 Shelf List. 90 (Paper)

Textual records To facilitate continued use of the RG 4 Shelf Lists, a finding aid note appears in lower level descriptive entries directing the user to the appropriate section of the that tool. For example, the records now described as the Judicial Records of the Executive Council of the Province of Lower Canada series were formerly part of a series known as RG 4, series B 16. A finding aid note in the descriptive entry directs the user to the B16 section of the RG 4 Shelf List for volume lists. CAB RG 4 Shelf List. 90 (Paper)

Cartographic material Maps and technical drawings described in the Miscellaneous Records Retained in the Clerk's Office sub-series of the Office Records of the Clerk of the Executive Council of the Province of Lower Canada series, and which are now in the physical custody of the Cartographic and Architectural Archives section are described at the collection level in AG-Canada. 90 (Electronic)

Philatelic records A finding aid describing these covers has been prepared and is available at the series level as CPA-261. CPA-261 90 (Electronic)

Creator / Provenance

Lower Canada. Executive Council Office.

Biography / Administrative history

The Executive Council was among the first institutions established in each colony of British North America. Designed to advise and assist the governor in his executive, legislative and judicial functions, the Executive Council was formed pursuant to the Royal Instructions which partnered the governor's commission. Members of the Executive Council were appointed on instruction from the Crown, conveyed by a Royal Warrant, or at the governor's discretion. The initial appointees to the Executive Council in Lower Canada were named in the Instructions provided to Dorchester as Governor in Chief, dated 16 September 1791. The Executive Council of Lower Canada met for the first time on 26 December 1791.

A number of the clauses in the Instructions dealt specifically with aspects of the Executive Council's composition and activities, including such things as method of replacement, suspension or removal of Councillors; the quorum required for the transaction of business; and the situations in which the Governor was required to seek the advice and/or consent of Council. In the event that the governor was absent or died, the senior member of the Executive Council assumed his powers as Administrator of the province. The title President of Council was also used, where the senior member had been Chairman or President of the Council. The membership of the Executive Council changed over the years with the death or dismissal of incumbents and new or replacement appointments. Until Lord John Russell's despatch of 16 October 1839 regarding tenure of office, most Executive Councillors held their appointments for life. However, attendance at Council was irregular, and in some cases most infrequent. Indeed, beginning in 1794, in response to the need to ensure that government business was not hindered by absenteeism, a system was put in place for the appointment of "honorary" Councillors who attended only when specially summoned. A list of the members of the Executive Council of Lower Canada, with dates upon which they took the oath of office, is provided in Appendix I of the publication Public Archives of Canada - Manuscript Division - Preliminary Inventory - Record Group 1, Executive Council, Canada, 1764-1867 (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1953).

Business was brought before the Governor in Council by means of submissions. The Governor gave effect to his decisions, made with the advice of Council, through orders-in-council. The deliberations and decisions of the Governor and Council were recorded as minutes in books maintained by the Clerk of the Council. Committees and sub-committees of the Executive Council were formed to deal with various questions. Committees were nominated from among the Council members to investigate individual issues, and their findings were presented to Council and entered as reports into the minutes. The committee structure evolved over the period 1791-1841, with the system including both temporary and permanent bodies according to the circumstances of the business under consideration. Committees with long-term or permanent status dealt with matters such as land, for which separate series of minutes, submissions and related records were developed. Other committees were of a temporary nature and were appointed to deal with specific business as it arose.

Secretarial duties for both the Council and its committees were performed by the Clerk of the Executive Council and his assistants, ensuring a degree of consistency for the record-keeping associated with those bodies. In the conduct of his duties, the Clerk of the Executive Council prepared and preserved certain records on behalf of the Council - notably the Land and State Minute Books and the submissions on which they were based - and others on his own behalf. The inventories of records preserved and the daily or weekly logs of work performed and information gathered demonstrate the range of responsibilities assumed by the Clerk over time and the nature of assistance provided by his staff in performing those duties.

Additional information

Source

Private

MIKAN no.

204826