William Lyon Mackenzie - Upper Canadian Politics 1835–1836

Upper Canadian Politics 1835–1836

In May 1834, Mackenzie published a letter from British Reformer Joseph Hume in the pages of the Advocate in which Hume called for independence for the colonies, even by means of violent rebellion if necessary. Mackenzie was criticized for printing this letter (not only by Tories but also by some Reformers such as Egerton Ryerson) but it charted a course that Mackenzie would soon be travelling himself.

In elections held in October 1834, the Reformers won a majority in the 12th Parliament of Upper Canada and Mackenzie was again elected as member for York (though at this point he was still serving as mayor of Toronto). Determined to dedicate himself full-time to his duties in the Legislative Assembly, in November 1834, he turned over the Advocate to fellow Reformer William John O’Grady.

Upon meeting in January 1835, the 12th Parliament of Upper Canada voted to reverse all of Mackenzie's previous expulsions from the Legislative Assembly. Mackenzie chaired a special committee of the Legislative Assembly to detail the grievances of Upper Canada, which resulted in the production of the Seventh Report on Grievances, an extensive compilation of major and minor grievances with proposed solutions. The Assembly also appointed Mackenzie as a government director of the Welland Canal Company and Mackenzie produced an exhaustive report on the company's financial situation, though he stopped short of accusing the company's directors of full-blown dishonesty.

Mackenzie's reform proposals resulted in no action, however, since Sir Francis Bond Head, who was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada in 1836, received instructions from the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, Lord Glenelg, to disregard the Seventh Report on Grievances. Although Lieutenant Governor Head was initially seen as reform-minded (he appointed Robert Baldwin and John Rolph to the Executive Council), he soon quarrelled with the Reformers in the Legislative Assembly and dissolved the Assembly in May 1836.

In the run-up to the July 1836 election for the 13th Parliament of Upper Canada, Head actively campaigned on behalf of the Tories against the Reformers, rallying the people behind the cause of loyalty to the British Empire. As a result, a large Tory majority was returned to the Assembly and Mackenzie lost his seat to Edward William Thomson.