Royal tours of Canada by the Canadian Royal Family subsequently named Edward as second-in-command of British forces in the Canadas. Edward began to tour the Canadas in August 1791, departing from Quebec City to Montreal, Kingston, the Thousand Islands, and Newark-on-the-Lake. Edward returned to Quebec City in time to act as an observer for the election of the first Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, in Charlesbourg in June 1792. Edward is credited with the first use of the term "Canadian" to mean both French and English settlers in the Canadas. Witnessing a riot breaking out between two groups at the polling station, he entreated the public in French, "I
Province of Canada deadlock between English (mainly from Canada West) and French (mainly from Canada East). The majority of the province was French, which demanded "rep-by-pop" (representation by population), which the Anglophones opposed. The granting of responsible government to the colony is typically attributed to reforms in 1848 (principally the effective transfer of control over patronage from the Governor to the elected ministry). These reforms resulted in the appointment of the second Baldwin–Lafontaine government that quickly removed many of the disabilities on French-Canadian political participation in the colony. Once the English population, rapidly growing through immigration, exceeded the French, the English demanded representation-by-population.