§ SIR THOMAS ESMONDE (Dublin Co., S.)asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether information has reached showing that the people of Nova Scotia are opposed to the confederate form of Government under which they live; whether they have made several attempts to secure more favourable terms from the Home Government; whether their prayers for reform have been refused; whether in consequence they have expressed their desire for Legislative independence; and, whether Her Majesty's Government will grant this request?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (MR. E. STANHOPE) (Lincolnshire, Horncastle)Her Majesty's Government received, in June last, a despatch from Lord Lansdowne, enclosing a Resolution which had been recently carried by a majority in the House of Assembly of 1724 Nova Scotia, advocating withdrawal from the Dominion of Canada, but no subsequent communication on the subject has been received. Some Correspondence also took place on the subject in 1868, which will be found in a Parliamentary Paper dated June 10, 1868. Her Majesty's Government have no power to alter the terms of the British North America Act, 1867, which was settled with the assistance of delegates from Nova Scotia, and was subsequently approved by the Legislature of that Province. I may add that we have every confidence that the Dominion Parliament will desire to redress, as far as possible, any reasonable grievances of which a Province may complain.