Portneuf (Province of Canada electoral district)


Portneuf was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the Province of Canada, in Canada East, immediately west of Quebec City. It was created in 1841 and was based on the previous electoral district of the same name for the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. It was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly.
The electoral district was abolished in 1867, upon the creation of Canada and the province of Quebec.

Boundaries

Portneuf electoral district was to the west of Quebec City, running from the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River to the northern boundary of the Province.
The Union Act, 1840 merged the two provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada into the Province of Canada, with a single Parliament. The separate parliaments of Lower Canada and Upper Canada were abolished. The Union Act provided that the pre-existing electoral boundaries of Lower Canada and Upper Canada would continue to be used in the new Parliament, unless altered by the Union Act itself.
The Lower Canada electoral district of Portneuf was not altered by the Act. It therefore continued with the same boundaries which had been set by a statute of Lower Canada in 1829:

Members of the Legislative Assembly

Portneuf was represented by one member in the Legislative Assembly. The following were the members for Portneuf.
ParliamentYearsMembersMembersParty
1st Parliament
1841–1844		1841–1842Thomas Cushing AylwinAnti-unionist; Groupe canadien-français
1st Parliament
1841–1844		1842–1844
Thomas Cushing AylwinAnti-unionist; Groupe canadien-français

Abolition

The district was abolished on July 1, 1867, when the British North America Act, 1867 came into force, splitting the Province of Canada into Quebec and Ontario. It was succeeded by electoral districts of the same name in the House of Commons of Canada and the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.