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Commemoration
A prominent Canadian politician, Morris was born in Paisley, Scotland. His family immigrated to Canada in 1801 and later settled in Elizabethtown (Brockville). He joined his brothers, Alexander and William, in business there, about 1820, and by 1836 had gained prominence in commercial and banking circles. Morris represented Leeds in the provincial legislature from 1837 until his appointment to the Legislative Council in 1844. Named first Canadian Postmaster-General in 1851, when responsibility for that service passed from the British government, he introduced Canada's first stamps, and standardized and reduced rates. Morris subsequently served as speaker of the Legislative Council (1853-54, 1858) and concluded his public career as Receiver-General (1862-63) in the Reform ministry of J. S. Macdonald and L.-V. Sicotte.
Background
To fully comprehend the importance of the role of Postmaster-General, one must remember that in the 19th century, the mail (or the post) was the only means of communication across distance. There were no telephones nor internet. The telegraph did come into existence during Morris’s tenure but it was costly, slow and limited. The mail was critical to the day-to-day business of the country and the Postmaster-General was the person responsible for making it all happen.
The government of Canada in 1862-3 was led by two men - the premiers of Canada East (Quebec) and Canada West (Ontario). For that period those men were John Sandfield MacDonald (West) and Louis-Victor Sicotte (East). As Reformers, they sought responsible government for Canada - that involved shifting power from England to the colony of Canada.They had replaced the previous administration of John A. Macdonald and Georges Etienne Cartier. The latter would come back to power and be the primary movers in the creation of the Confederation of Canada in 1867 which involved not only Canada East and West but also Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
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