Case Before Westminster
The Tories sent Allan MacNab and Cayley to London in early May to bring their petitions to the Imperial Parliament and lobby their case with the Colonial Office. The government party delegated Francis Hinks, who left Montreal on May 14, to represent the point of view of the governor, his Executive Council, and the majority of the members in both Houses of Parliament.
The former colonial secretary, William Ewart Gladstone, of the Tory Party, sided with the Canadian opposition and exercised all his influence in its favour. On June 14, John Charles Herries, a Tory member of the House of Commons for Stamford, presented a motion to disavow the Rebellion Losses Act assented by the Earl of Elgin on April 25. But the governor of British North America received the support of both John Russell, the Whig Prime Minister as well as the Tory leader of the opposition Robert Peel. On June 16, the House of Commons rejected Herries' motion by a majority of 141 votes.
On June 19, Lord Brougham introduced a motion in the House of Lords to suspend the Rebellion Losses Act until it is amended to insure that no person who participated to the rebellion against the established government be compensated. The motion was defeated 99 to 96.
Read more about this topic: Burning Of The Parliament Buildings In Montreal
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