Responsible government

[clarification needed] Secondly, and most importantly, although ministers are officially appointed by the authority of the head of state and can theoretically be dismissed at the pleasure of the sovereign, they concurrently retain their office subject to their holding the confidence of the lower house of Parliament.

It was only in the decades leading up to Canadian Confederation in 1867 that the governing councils of those British North American colonies became responsible to the elected representatives of the people.

[4] In the aftermath of the American Revolution, sparked by the perceived shortcomings of virtual representation, the British government became more sensitive to unrest in its remaining colonies with large populations of European-descended colonists.

The Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Sir Francis Bond Head, wrote in one dispatch to London that, if responsible government were implemented, "democracy, in the worst possible form, will prevail in our colonies.

"[5] After the Rebellions of 1837–1838 in the Canadas, the Earl of Durham was appointed governor general of British North America, with the task of examining the issues and determining how to defuse tensions.

The first instance of responsible government in the British Empire outside of the United Kingdom itself was achieved by the colony of Nova Scotia in January and February 1848, through the efforts of Joseph Howe.

[6][7] The plaque erected by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly reads: First Responsible Government in the British Empire.

The first executive council chosen exclusively from the party having a majority in the representative branch of a colonial legislature was formed in Nova Scotia on 2 February 1848.

Following a vote of want of confidence in the preceding council, James Boyle Uniacke, who had moved the resolution, became attorney general and leader of the government.

Doyle, Herbert Huntingdon, James McNab, Michael Tobin, and George R. Young.The colony of New Brunswick soon followed in May 1848,[8] when Lieutenant Governor Edmund Walker Head brought in a more balanced representation of members of the Legislative Assembly to the Executive Council and ceded more powers to that body.

Charles III, King of Canada, sent a message to Nova Scotians on 2 February 2023 to mark the 175th anniversary of the implementation of responsible government in the province.

[9] In his remarks, the King said: I am delighted to have the opportunity to recognize the 175th anniversary of Nova Scotia's establishment of the system of responsible government, which has become a cornerstone of Canadian democracy.

It was in the drawing room at Government House, Halifax, where Lieutenant Governor Sir John Harvey swore in the first democratically elected [sic] cabinet in Canada's history.

At the time, I was struck by the historic setting and profound significance in the history of Canada and the Commonwealth and, as you reflect on and celebrate this important milestone, I wanted to send you my warmest best wishes.

[11] Prior to European colonisation, the Australian continent was inhabited by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples, who had their own traditional forms of self-government.

The early colonists, coming mostly from the United Kingdom (which by 1801 included Ireland), were familiar with the Westminster system and made efforts to reform local government in order to increase the opportunity for ordinary men to participate.

[13] Violence erupted in the Colony of Victoria during the 1850s, where there was growing political discontent and civil disobedience among the common men, especially in the inland gold fields areas.

But, in practice they were usually unable to exercise this right: they lived traditional lifestyles in remote areas uncontacted by the colony, or affected by the disruption of the Frontier Wars.

Among Cape citizens of all races, growing anger at their powerlessness in influencing unpopular imperial decisions had repeatedly led to protests and rowdy political meetings – especially during the early "Convict Crisis" of the 1840s.

"Although responsible government merely required an amendment to s.79 of the constitution, it transpired only after nearly twenty years in 1872 when the so-called 'responsibles' under Molteno were able to command sufficient support in both houses to secure the passage of the necessary bill.

Despite political complications that arose from time to time (such as an ill-fated scheme by the British Colonial Office to enforce a confederation in Southern Africa in 1878, and tensions with the Afrikaner-dominated Government of Transvaal over trade and railroad construction), economic and social progress in the Cape Colony continued at a steady pace until a renewed attempt to extend British control over the hinterland caused the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer Wars in 1899.

[18] An important feature of the Cape Colony under responsible government was that it was the only state in southern Africa (and one of very few in the world at the time) to have a non-racial system of voting.