The Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island (sometimes "House of Assembly of Vancouver Island") was the colonial parliamentary body that was elected to represent voters in the Colony of Vancouver Island

Colony of Vancouver Island

The Colony of Vancouver Island , was a crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with British Columbia. The united colony joined the Dominion of Canada through Confederation in 1871...

. It was created in 1856 after a series of petitions were sent to the colonial office in London protesting the Hudson’s Bay Company’s proprietary rule over the colony. It was the first elected assembly in British North America

British North America

British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...

 west of Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. Although at first only handful of colonists met the voting requirement, and most of those that did were tied to the HBC, the franchise was gradually extended, and the assembly began to assert demands for more control over colonial affairs, as well as criticize Douglas's inherent conflict of interest

Conflict of interest

A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....

 as both governor and HBC chief factor.

History

In an attempt to minimize the influence of the assembly he had been ordered to establish, Governor James Douglas

James Douglas (Governor)

Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...

, who described himself as "utterly averse to universal suffrage, or making population the basis of representation," set an unusually high property requirement of 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) for voters.

The island was divided into four districts, and the assembly consisted of eight members: one from each of Nanaimo and Sooke, two from Esquimalt, two from Metchosin

Metchosin, British Columbia

The District of Metchosin is a small, coastal community in the metro Greater Victoria region of British Columbia. It is part of the Western Communities and one of the 13 regional municipalities. Many Metchosinites are small farmers . Most are retired or work outside the community...

 and three from Victoria

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

. In the election on July 22, 1856, Victoria, which had the greatest number of qualified voters at five, was the only district contested.

The power of the Assembly was severely limited. Despite the protests of newspapermen such as Amor de Cosmos

Amor De Cosmos

Amor De Cosmos was a Canadian journalist, publisher and politician. He served as the second Premier of British Columbia.-Early life:...

, Douglas appointed the members of his government according to his own agenda, regardless of who dominated the Assembly. The governor also maintained control over the legislative process through the Legislative Council, an upper house

Upper house

An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...

 of a sort that had its members appointed directly. However, the Assembly did have one significant power: it had to approve any use of public funds.

The colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia

Colony of British Columbia

The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...

 were joined into a new single colony (called British Columbia

United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia

The Colony of British Columbia is a crown colony that resulted from the amalgamation of the two former colonies, the Colony of Vancouver Island and the mainland Colony of British Columbia...

) in 1866, and the Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island ceased to exist. Its role was filled in the new colony by the Legislative Council of British Columbia

Legislative Council of British Columbia

The Legislative Council of British Columbia was an advisory body created in 1867 to the Governor of the "new" Colony of British Columbia, which had been created from the merger of the old Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia...

.

Notable elected members

Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken

John Sebastian Helmcken

John Sebastian Helmcken was a British Columbia physician who played a prominent role in bringing the province into Canadian Confederation...

, chosen as the first Speaker of the Assembly, would remain in that role until BC joined Confederation

Canadian Confederation

Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...

 in 1871. He was Douglas's son-in-law, and like his fellow assemblymen Surveyor-General Joseph Despard Pemberton

Joseph Despard Pemberton

Joseph Despard Pemberton was a surveyor for the Hudson's Bay Company, Surveyor General for the Colony of Vancouver Island, a pre-Confederation politician, a businessman and a farmer. He was born in 1821 in Dublin, Ireland and died in 1893 in Oak Bay, British Columbia...

 and HBC company-man Joseph McKay, was considered part of what Amor De Cosmos termed the "family-company compact". John Muir, a sawmill-owner and coalmaster who represented Sooke, had also recently been in the employ of Douglas. James Yates, the Victoria publican, and Thomas Skinner, the farmer, were the voices of dissent in the assembly, aways at odds with the company and its men.

As franchise widened and the assembly became more influential, this division remained. Reformers such as Amor de Cosmos and Leonard McClure, who began to truly challenge the power of Douglas and his successor Arthur Edward Kennedy

Arthur Edward Kennedy

Sir Arthur Edward Kennedy GCMG CB was a British colonial administrator who served as governor of a number of British colonies, namely Sierra Leone, Western Australia, Vancouver Island, Hong Kong and Queensland....

, continued to butt heads with establishment supporters such as George Hunter Cary, Henry Pering Pellew Crease

Henry Pering Pellew Crease

Sir Henry Pering Pellew Crease was a British lawyer, judge, and politician, influential in the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia...

 and Robert Burnaby

Robert Burnaby

Robert Burnaby was amerchant, politician and civil servant in British Columbia. The city of Burnaby, British Columbia is named for him, as well as at least ten other urban and geographical features, including a mountain, a lake, a park, a Queen Charlotte Island and a street in Vancouver.Burnaby...

 and William Fraser Tolmie

William Fraser Tolmie

William Fraser Tolmie was a Canadian surgeon, fur trader, scientist, and politician....

.