the Assembly Province of Canada Following the rebellion in Lower Canada, and the similar rebellion in 1837 in Upper Canada (now Ontario), the British government decided to merge the two provinces into a single province, as recommended by Lord Durham in the Durham Report. The Union Act, 1840, passed by the British Parliament, abolished the two provinces and their separate parliaments, and created the Province of Canada, with a single parliament for the entire province, composed of an elected Legislative Assembly and an appointed Legislative Council. In 1841, Christie stood for election in the first general election for the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. He was unopposed and was elected by acclamation, again representing Gaspé. Once elected, Christie demonstrated an independent approach in the Assembly. He opposed the union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, and was a consistent opponent of the Governor General, Lord Sydenham. Although not a strong supporter of responsible government, he voted with the Reform group on the disputes between them and the Governor-General. One of the issues facing the new Province was the location of the capital. Governor General Lord Sydenham had directed that the capital would be Kingston in Canada West, and that was where the first and second parliaments were held. However, Canada East had a larger population than Canada West, and there was a strong feeling that the capital should be in the more populous province. Christie introduced the successful motion in 1842 to move the capital from Kingston to Montreal. Throughout his time in office, Christie was a strong advocate for the interests of the Gaspé, including the land issue and also the administration of justice and registration of marriages. He was also an advocate for economy of government and the Assembly's control over public finances. He had strong opinions on many issues which came before the Assembly, but had erratic responses to them. Always quick-tempered, at one point he challenged another member to a duel. Christie was committed to gathering and maintaining the public records of the province. He stated that “the history of a people is part of their public property,” and went to great lengths to preserve and obtain records relating to the government of Lower Canada, the former British province of Quebec, and the former French province of Canada. In 1844—1845, he was the driving force for the creation of a parliamentary committee, which he