Robert Baldwin day for Ontarians.

• Author: Redden, Andrew W.

Despite his prominent role in Ontario's political history very few people know much about Robert Baldwin. A prominent lawyer and political leader in the nineteenth century, Baldwin is best remembered for his role in democratic reform. He developed and promoted the concept of responsible government for Upper Canada and envisioned an Executive Council that would be accountable to an elected legislature. This became a reality with the passage in 1841 of the Act commonly known as the Act of Union and remains the basis of Canada's system of parliamentary government to this day. Baldwin was also active in the reform of local government. Passage of the Act commonly known as the Baldwin Act allowed for the incorporation of townships, villages, towns and cities. These respective levels of government were formed around the notion of having a democratically elected council in each community. This article proposes recognizing the accomplishments of Baldwin by establishing a day in his honour.

Since July 1985 members of the Ontario Legislative Assembly, staff and thousands of tourists have passed by the portrait of Robert Baldwin hanging just to the left of the entrance to the Legislative Chamber. Most have little or no knowledge of who the man is or what he accomplished. A poor understanding of the Baldwin legacy leads to a poor understanding of Ontario's political history. As a result many Ontarians lack a sufficient understanding of their parliamentary and monarchical system of government.

Knowing our history is very important. Our sense of entitlements and obligations are our civic values which bind our society. But with the loss of history, these values cannot survive.(1) We risk losing our Canadian culture to the United States if we do not make a significant effort to remember and acknowledge our unique political history.

A 1997 paper published by the Dominion Institute surveyed 1100 Canadians between the ages of 18 to 24. It found that 64% of young Canadians did not know when Confederation occurred, and over half of these did not know in which century Canada was founded. Only half of young Canadians could name the first prime minister and only 15% knew when Canada's constitution was patriated from Great Britain. Clearly, there is evidence of a poor understanding of our political history.

Responsible Government

Originally, the Governor General as a representative of the Queen, ruled the colony. Robert Baldwin strongly opposed this by disputing that it was "impossible to have a British-type constitutional monarchy in a colony." The Governor General should reign but not rule. This holistic and alternative approach to the monarchy instigated the rebellions in the Canadas during the early 19th century.

The imperial authorities in London were embarrassed by the rebellions. As a response to these events, the British...