The 225th anniversary of Quebec's parliamentary institutions.

• Author: Blais, Christian

To celebrate and commemorate the 225th anniversary of Quebec's parliamentary institutions, the National Assembly launched an exhibit entitled "1792. La naissance d'un Parlement." In this article, the author presents some highlights from the exhibit and explains why cartoons were such a central part of it.

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On April 4, 2017, in Quebec's Parliament Building, National Assembly President Jacques Chagnon officially launched the celebrations marking the 225th anniversary of Quebec's parliamentary institutions. In his speech, he noted, "It's not every day that we take the time to recall the extent to which the National Assembly, its authority, its areas of jurisdiction and all the powers it now holds are the result of events that played out here 225 years ago and helped shape democracy in Quebec." [translation]

Other parliamentarians then took the floor. Ms. Rita de Santis, Minister responsible for Access to Information and the Reform of Democratic Institutions; Ms. Carole Poirier, Chief Official Opposition Whip and MNA for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve; and Mr. Benoit Charette, member of the Second Opposition Group and MNA for Deux-Montagnes, spoke about pivotal moments in our parliamentary history.

Exhibit: 1792. La naissance d'un Parlement

The official launch of celebrations marking the 225th anniversary of Quebec's parliamentary institutions also marked the opening of an exhibit entitled "1792. La naissance d'un Parlement." The exhibit, located in the National Assembly's visitor centre, paints a picture of the parliamentary history of Lower Canada from 1792 to 1841. Visitors will discover that the major issues of our democracy were debated in Lower Canada's House of Assembly. They will also learn that the prerogatives that the members of the National Assembly exercise today were won by the members of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, who refused to cave in.

The 1792. La naissance d'un Parlement exhibit revolves around comic strips. Why comic strips? Because the first comic strip to come out of Quebec and the first election to be held in the province took place in the same year. In fact, this first comic strip is about the 1792 election. It is a cartoon entitled "A tous les electeurs [to all voters]," which seeks to win support for merchants from the Haute-Ville de Quebec riding. To boot, two candidates, Mathew Macnider and William Grant, were responsible for printing this cartoon. Both won and were elected to the first Parliament of...