Derbishire remained. He continued to provide his views on the possibility of unrest to the colonial government, but was seen as alarmist. He also provided information to the British government on the Maine–New Brunswick border dispute. Political career In 1840, Derbishire returned to Montreal as editor of the Morning Courier. He re-established connections with the colonial government and became a supporter of the new Governor-General of the Province of Canada, Lord Sydenham. Derbishire used his editorial position to support the government in the Morning Courier. The first general election for the new Parliament was held in the spring of 1841. Lord Sydenham was actively involved, taking all possible steps to ensure that there would be majority support for the new union Province of Canada. He recruited candidates who would support the union, and Derbishire was one of those candidates. With Sydenham's influence, Derbishire stood for election in the town of Bytown, Canada West (now Ottawa, Ontario), even though he had never set foot in the town. Four other individuals from Bytown had declared that they sought to be elected, starting with William Stewart, who announced his candidacy in August, 1840, followed by three others over the course of the next month. All were residents of the area. However, the situation changed at the end of September, when Sydenham paid a short visit to Bytown. He met privately with the other three candidates, who all announced the withdrawal of their candidacies shortly afterwards. Stewart and Derbishire were the only remaining candidates. When the election was held in March, 1841, Derbishire won the poll by a vote of 52 to 29. Stewart immediately issued two public protests, accusing the returning officer of partisanship in conducting the poll, but did not formally contest the results. As a result of this pressure from the Governor General, Derbishire was elected to the first Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for the Bytown riding. One of the other candidates who withdrew from the Bytown election, James Johnston, instead ran in the neighbouring riding of Carleton and was elected. Derbishire later commented that Johnston was one of the most effective members of the House in debate. In the first session of the Parliament, Derbishire was a consistent supporter of Lord Sydenham and generally voted with the moderate reformers. Following Sydenham's death, he continued as a moderate reformer and supported the new governor, but in the ministerial