[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 Gilles Gallichan, retired historian and librarian at the National Assembly of Quebec.]

Gilles Gallichan:

In the early 1830s, the library was entrusted to journalist, visionary, and intellectual Étienne Parent; to Louis-Joseph Papineau who was speaker of the Legislative Assembly; and to Georges-Barthélemi Faribault, assistant clerk of the Legislative Assembly. 

[A picture of Etienne Parent is shown on screen, followed by a picture of Louis-Joseph Papineau.]

Gilles Gallichan:

The trio assembled a fine collection for the library. 

[A virtual rendering of the assembly library is shown on screen. The library has many shelves on two floors, with a spiral staircase leading to the upper floor. Two large books are each displayed on an island in the center of the library. A member of parliament is in the room.]

Gilles Gallichan:

They augmented various sections and collections, and it became the equivalent of a national library. 

[A picture of ancient books is shown on screen. The titles « Memories of America » and « Travels of the Lord of Lahontan » can be read.]

Gilles Gallichan:

The library contained some important books. Works by John Locke for example. The Lex Parliamentaria – one of the earliest works in the library. These books were written in England in the 17^th century, when that country’s political institutions were experiencing significant upheavals, such as the Glorious Revolution of 1688. It was a time when legislative power – Parliament – asserted itself over royal power. This shift in political power was recorded in a number of important political treatises. These would later inspire Canadian politicians, who would draw on these often-theoretical works to put forward political theories that would make the colonial authorities uncomfortable. They would say, « yes these are principles of British parliamentarianism, but they don’t apply; this is just a little colony. » But we can see how the members of parliament used the libraries to nourish the political discourse and advance the institutions here – even though the governors and the colonial authorities weren’t happy about it. 

At the time, especially in the 1840s, they were acutely aware of the value of these collections. 

[A picture from a newspaper showing the fuming ruins of parliament appears on screen, followed by a picture of a burned page fragment. Another picture of a badly burned page is then shown on screen.]

Gilles Gallichan:

The loss of the two parliamentary libraries in 1849 was a real blemish on the period’s intellectual history. It deprived many people who might have otherwise had the opportunity, either through the press or through teaching, to draw on these collections, thereby giving them a greater influence than if they had been connected solely to the parliament. It was a blow for the next generation. Despite this, by the late 1850s, through much work and determination, the collection had been largely reassembled to the equivalent of what had been lost in 1849. 

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