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Phase 1 of the Museum’s expansion project also consists of archaeological digs beneath the parking lot on Place D’Youville West, between McGill and Saint-Pierre streets. Exceptional remains of St. Ann’s Market and the Parliament of the United Province of Canada are buried here. The first permanent Parliament of the United Province of Canada was located in Montréal from 1844 to 1849, at St. Ann’s Market, where a number of key pieces of legislation relating to the creation of Canada were adopted, including the act establishing responsible government in 1848. In 1849, rioters, protesting against the passing of the Rebellion Bill to appropriate compensation for the losses suffered during the 1837-1838 Rebellions, burned the Parliament to the ground. The Parliament was then moved, alternating between Toronto and Québec City before settling in Ottawa in 1857. The Museum is carrying out the dig in order to document the site and check on the state of the remains, and to prepare a development program for this major historic site in Montréal. The archaeological excavations are being carried out by Ethnoscop Inc. and will extend until October 2011. The public can attend free presentations by interpreter-guides of Pointe-à-Callière and the Centre d'histoire de Montréal, at the dig site, from Tuesday to Sunday, until September 4, 2011.
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