The Rebellion Losses Bill (full name: An Act to provide for the Indemnification of Parties in Lower Canada whose Property was destroyed during the Rebellion in the years 1837 and 1838) was a controversial law enacted by the legislature of the Province of Canada in 1849. Its passage and subsequent assent by the Governor General, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin makes the bill a landmark piece of legislation in Canadian political history.
The bill was enacted to compensate Lower Canadians who lost property during the Rebellions of 1837 and was modeled on similar measures which provided compensation in Upper Canada. Those who had participated in the Rebellion were to be compensated with taxpayer's money except for those who had been tried and convicted of high treason. These provisions angered some of Montreal's Tory citizens and provoked weeks of violent disturbances known as the Montreal Riots. It culminated in the burning of the Parliament building on April 25 which until then was in Montreal.
Read more about Rebellion Losses Bill: Draper-Viger Government, Baldwin–Lafontaine Government, Royal Assent
Famous quotes containing the words rebellion, losses and/or bill:
“The questioning spirit is the rebellious spirit. A rebellion is always either a cloak to hide a prince, or the swaddling wrapper of a new rule.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“Hold back thy hours, dark Night, till we have done;
The Day will come too soon.
Young maids will curse thee, if thou steal’st away
And leav’st their losses open to the day.
Stay, stay, and hide
The blushes of the bride.”
—Francis Beaumont (1584-1616)
“One could see that what you are writing was that today’s meeting with President Bill Clinton was going to be a disaster. Now for the first time, I can tell you that you’re a disaster.”
—Boris Yeltsin (b.1931)