The First Provincial Parliament 1792

Photo by Alan L Brown - December 12, 2006

Plaque Location

The Region of Niagara
The Town of Niagara-On-The-Lake
On the south side of Queen Street across from the cenotaph.
Note: A contributor, Wayne Adam, informed me on December 12, 2006 that, as of July 2006, the First Provincial Parliament and the Niagara Library plaques have been removed.

Plaque Text

On September 17, 1792, John Graves Simcoe, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, opened in this community, then the capital, the first provincial parliament. The legislature consisted of an appointed Legislative Council and an elected Legislative Assembly. Its opening marked the introduction of a form of representative government into this province. Previously, both the French and British regimes had been directed by a royal governor advised by an appointed council of officials and prominent citizens. This first parliament held all its sittings in "Newark", as Simcoe had re-named Niagara, but the second was summoned to meet in 1797 at York (Toronto), the new seat of government.