the merchants sought financial support from the government. The farmers and professional class were unwilling to give government money to help the merchants, and believed that the money was best spent building roads in French communities. The tensions between the professional class and farmers and merchants heighten when discussions of where this money might come from. The obvious source of income was through taxation. At this time the farmers and professional class paid no direct taxes, and felt that there was no reason for this change. They believed the solution was to increase tariffs and develop a sales tax on commerce, however merchants favored the development of a tax on property. Despite all protests the merchants made towards the passage of such a bill proved to be futile, the bill that was passed favored the farmers and professional class. The social aspects of Lower Canada were also a cause of some clashes. Essentially, the problem was that the Canadiens, were Canadiens and not Canadians. The Canadiens were still partial to their own habits, religion, and laws, and were unwilling to conform to the British social customs. This unwillingness to conform to the British society again sparked the issue of assimilation. Recommendations were being put forth by numerous British government officials. These recommendations included an increase of British and American immigration into Lower Canada, an uniting of Upper and Lower Canada(create a minority French population) and strict control over the Catholic Church and education. The immediate attempts or suggestions of uniting the two colonies was disregarded, but the issues of education and religion were seen as good solutions. The education system in Lower Canada had always been controlled by the Catholic Church. Thus within the education system, there were deep rooted links to the F...
