ht conceivably in the future discard their institutions as
lacking popular sanction when they were adopted, seeing that in reality
they were imposed on the country by a group of politicians and a
distant parliament. In dealing with such objections the reasons given
at the time must be considered. The question was discussed at the
Quebec Conference, doubtless informally.[1] The constitutional right
of the legislatures to deal with the matter was unquestioned by the
Canadian members. Shortly after the conference adjourned, Galt in a
speech at Sherbrooke[2] declared that, if during the discussion of the
scheme in parliament any serious doubt arose respecting the public
feeling on the subject, the people would be called upon to decide for
themselves. The {94} _Globe_, which voiced the opinion of Brown, said:

If on the assembling of Parliament the majority in that body in favour
of Confederation shall be found so large as to make it manifest that
any reference to the country would simply be a matter of form,
Ministers will not, we take it, feel warranted in putting the country
to great trouble and expense for the sake of that unessential formality.

When challenged in parliament the government gave its reasons. The
question of Confederation had, in one form or another, been before the
country for years. During 1864 there had been elections in eleven
ridings for the Assembly and in fourteen for the Legislative Council.
The area of country embraced by these contests included forty counties.
Of the candidates in these elections but four opposed federation and
only two of them were elected. Brown stated impetuously that not five
members of parliament in Upper Canada dare go before the people against
the scheme. No petitions against it were presented, and its opponents
had not ventured to hold meetings, knowing that an enormous majority of
the {95} people favoured it. This evidence, in Upper Canada, was
accepted as conclusive. In Lower Canada appearances were not quite so
convincing. The ministry representing that section was not a
coalition, and the Liberal leaders, both French and English, organized
an agitation. But afterwards, in the campaign of 1867, Cartier swept
all before him. It was also argued that parliament was fresh from the
people as recently as 1864, and that though the mandate to legislate
was not specific, it was sufficient. The method of ascertaining the
popular verdict by means of a referend