Province of Canada 1859 to 1866. In 1857, Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the permanent capital of the Province of Canada, initiating construction of Canada's first parliament buildings, on Parliament Hill. The first stage of this construction was completed in 1865, just in time to host the final session of the last parliament of the Province of Canada before Confederation. The Governor General remained the head of the civil administration of the colony, appointed by the British government, and responsible to it, not to the local legislature. He was aided by the Executive Council and the Legislative Council. The Executive Council aided in
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia province's order of precedence, preceding even other members of the Canadian Royal Family and the Queen's federal representative, the Governor General of Canada. The first British settlement in the area was the Colony of British Columbia (1858–66), of which the first Lieutenant Governor, from 1858 to 1863, was Richard Clement Moody, who had previously served as the first Governor of the Falkland Islands. Moody selected the site for and founded the original capital of British Columbia – New Westminster – and established the Cariboo Road and Stanley Park. He named Burnaby Lake after his private secretary Robert Burnaby and named