also one of four commissioners appointed by the Assembly to carry out difficult negotiations with representatives from Upper Canada on how to share the customs revenues between the two provinces. In the 1820s, the British government began to entertain proposals to reunite the two Canadas. Like most of the Parti canadien representatives, Cuvillier opposed the proposal, instead emphasising the spirit of the "Constitution of 1791", the statute which had created Lower Canada and Upper Canada and created separate parliaments for each province. The Parti canadien named him as one of their delegates to Britain in 1828, armed with massive petitions and detailed objections against Governor Dalhousie's policies. After making their submissions to a committee of the British House of Commons, the Canadiens received a favourable response from the British government on the financial issues. Cuvillier reported back that there was general sympathy for the principles of self-government which they had advanced in the British Parliament. Even though they had been successful on financial issues, Papineau and his supporters were increasingly expressing more radical views, and beginning to call themselves the Parti patriote. They called for major constitutional reforms, such as making the Legislative Council an elected body, rather than appointed by the Governor. Cuvillier and other more moderate members began to distance themselves from the Parti patriote, while Papineau began to see him as a potential political rival. On one issue, however, Cuvillier was the more radical, calling for indemnities to be paid to elected members of the Legislative Assembly, which would open it up beyond the wealthy landholders, professionals and businessmen. Papineau opposed the proposal as too democratic. In the general election of 1830, Cuvillier stood for election in the constituency of Laprairie, which had been split off from Huntingdon in a re-distribution. He was re-elected. The conflict between Papineau and Cuvillier came to a head over the Ninety-Two Resolutions. The Resolutions were a detailed critique of the existing constitutional structure of Lower Canada, and a direct challenge to the British government. Papineau was largely responsible for their drafting. They were then adopted by a large majority in the Assembly. Cuvillier was one of only six French-speaking members who opposed the Resolutions and argued in favour of the existing constitutional system. From that point on, he was considered a vendu ("sell-out") by many in the Parti patriote. In the general election of 1834, Cuvillier was defeated in his own