The successful defense of their homeland had not left the Canadians incapable of seeing faults in their own form of government. There were those--especially among the successful businessmen and wealthier landowners--who believed that the colonists had sufficient powers of self-government through their elected assemblies. There were others, however, who saw little advantage in an assembly whose bills could be defeated by the legislative council, or could go unsigned by the governor on the advice of the executive council. The real power did not lie in the hands of the people through their elected representatives, but with appointed officials who were responsible only to the government in Britain. In practice the power lay in the hands of the governor and of his executive advisers.

The citizens could use their assembly as little more than a forum in which to criticize the manner in which the government was operated. Worse still, local matters that today are dealt with by elected municipal bodies were all handled by the central government of each colony.

Native Peoples Issues