[The video opens on the Montreal Capital City logo, with the logo of Pointe-à-Callière museum at the bottom of the screen. Wide shot of Alain Roy, historian at the Laboratoire d’histoire et de patrimoine at the Québec University of Montréal (UQAM).]

Alain Roy:
The decade of the 1840s was one of the most fascinating periods in Montréal’s history. For example, the city’s population grew by 25% in 10 years or so.

[A painting of Place d’Armes in the 19^th century appears on screen. The square lies under a broad expanse of blue sky. The Notre-Dame church occupies most of the right side of the painting. In the center of the square is a fountain. Many passersby are circulating in the space.]

Alain Roy:
There was also the expansion of the Lachine Canal and the subsequent arrival of industry.

[A map of 19^th-century Montreal is shown on screen. The Lachine Canal is clearly marked.]

Alain Roy:
Moving the capital to Montreal would also have an important impact on the city as a whole.

[A 19^th-century print of Montreal viewed from the river appears on screen. The print shows sailing boats and steamboats as well as barges. The city, with its numerous buildings, isprominent in the middle distance, while Mount Royal rises in the background.]

Alain Roy:
All this energy was multiplied further by an influx of political staffers, parliamentarians, etc. who came to the city during Montréal’s time as the capital. There were many writers in Parliament itself, who nurtured the city’s intellectual landscape.

[A virtual rendering of the parliament is shown on screen. Parliamentarians, wearing clothing of the period and top hats, are in discussion in a large sunny hall. A seated man is reading the paper. Another virtual rendering appears on screen, presenting a large hallway in the parliament. Two men greet each other as they pass. Glass-panelled offices border the hallway]

Alain Roy:
These assets differentiated Montréal at this time from Quebec City or Toronto, the former capitals of Lower and Upper Canada. At this time, a capital city had to have three buildings, or three basic elements: a governor general’s residence, a parliament building and office buildings. The conversion of Monklands – today Villa Maria – into a residence worthy of the governor general began in 1844. The St. Anne’s Market was converted into the Parliament Building. The third element was office space for administration, because during this transition to a modern liberal state there was an expansion of administration. So, a modern office building was constructed beside the Château Ramezay. But another building associated with Montréal’s time as the capital was the courthouse.

[An old postal card is shown on the screen. The postcard illustrates the courthouse, which is a large neoclassical building, with antique colonnades on the sides.]

Alain Roy:
In 1849, there were plans to build a new courthouse, and the one that was ultimately built on rue Notre-Dame was a key project inherited from this time. Yet another important building from this time is of course the Bonsecours Market.

[A 19^th-century lithograph appears on screen, showing the Bonsecours market during the winter. The market is a large neoclassical building made from stone and is shown in the background. The street in front the market is full of people and horse-drawn carriages trying to navigate through the crowd.]

Alain Roy:
Though a municipal building, it is thought to have been inspired by the 1840s notion of a parliament building, and also by the city hall of Kingston. In a sense, the market was an affirmation of the municipal presence in Montréal, contributing to this idea of a special decade. As one historian noted, the 1840s were Quebec’s first “Quiet Revolution.” And Montréal was at the heart of it.

[Final shot of the Montreal Capital City logo, with the Pointe-à-Callière museum logo at the bottom of the screen.]