government, list of grievances, william lyon mackenzie
Problems with the government
Because of the Constitutional Act, the government of Upper Canada was established in 1791. Any laws or regulations proposed by the Assembly could be veto by the Governor and his appointed councils. The Assembly was interested in projects that would benefit ordinary people. Because of this, they wanted to spend money on schools, roads, and wanted land reform. The councils, members from the Family Compact, were interested in improving business, thus wanting the government to build canals and other things that would improve business while ignoring the problems of land speculation, Crown and Clergy reserves. Settlers, who were very angry, complained mostly about land. Land was either overpriced or tied up prime land by Family Compact and absentee landowners. People started to become fed up with the government and its land policy.
List of Grievances:
A Scottish land agent, Robert Gourlay, in Upper Canada, surveyed farmers about life and found out that many were very discontent. Because of this, Gourlay wrote up a list of grievances and with the settlers, a petition. He was unfortunately arrested and sent out of the country. However, this arrest fired up the anger against the Family Compact. Gourlay, a leading radical reformer, was then replaced by another Scot: William Lyon Mackenzie.
william lyon mackenzie:
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William Lyon Mackenzie was an argumentative Scot, with strong political convictions. However, he had a genuine interest in the well-being of others. He tried to bring about a change, and not just by debate. Buying a newspaper called the Colonial Advocate, he published articles in which the Family Compact and the government were strongly criticized. Because of this, young members of the Family Compact raided his office, which then led to Mackenzie sueing them. Still loyal to Britain, he and a group of people wanted a more American style of government. In 1828, Mackenzie was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly, which led to him becoming a leader of the reform movement.