John William Dunscomb

Following the rebellion in Lower Canada, and the similar rebellion in 1837 in Upper Canada (now Ontario), the British government decided to merge the two provinces into a single province, as recommended by Lord Durham in the Durham Report.

[5] In the second session of the Parliament, held in 1842, there was a major re-organisation of the ministry, when the new Governor-General, Sir Charles Bagot, appointed two strong reformers to the Executive Council, Robert Baldwin from Canada West, and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine from Canada East.

Dunscomb was a co-mover of a resolution, along with John Simpson, expressing satisfaction with the new Council.

The resolution stated that: "it was absolutely necessary to invite that large portion of our fellow subjects who are of French origin to share in the government of this country."

[5] On July 15, 1842, Dunscomb was appointed Warden of Trinity House in Montreal.