The Peaceful Revolution:
250 Years of Democracy in Nova Scotia

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by John Boileau

Nimbus Publishing, Halifax, 2008
226 pp., illus., $24.95 paperback

Happy birthday, democracy! What’s that? You didn’t know democracy in Canada recently celebrated its 250th anniversary? Well, it’s true.

On October 2, 1758, Nova Scotia’s first legislative assembly met in a Halifax courthouse. Earlier that summer, the fledgling colony had held its first election, choosing twenty-two members. Not all of them took their seats, so soon afterwards Nova Scotia became the first colony in what would eventually become Canada to hold a by-election.

This early “representative” government was far from perfect; only men could vote or run for office, and while the legislative assembly could make suggestions about governance, real power still rested in an appointed upper house, called the Legislative Council. Nova Scotians would have to wait until 1848 before being granted full “responsible government” also a first in Canada.

In The Peaceful Revolution: 250 Years of Democracy in Nova Scotia, John Boileau takes a workmanlike approach to the story, laying out the chronology of events that led to representative and, later, responsible government in Canada. Beautifully illustrated, the book provides a good overview of a little-known Canadian milestone.

— Mark Collin Reid (Read bio)

Mark Collin Reid is the Editor-in-Chief of Canada's History.

Lynton Stewart

2010-07-16 2:08:57 PM

My family emigrated to what is now Cumberland County in 1764 from Yorkshire. I have enjoyed learning about the various family branches, including the Loyalists who came in 1783, and the Scots who were forced out at the end of the Highland Clearances in the very early 19th century.

My family was heavily involved in the affairs of Cumberland County from 1754 onward, a fact that none of the present generation knew about until I began working on our family Genealogy.