In 1853, the Legislative Council of the Colony of Vancouver Island appointed two parliamentary committees. The first committee, appointed on April 7, 1853, consisted of four people, and its purpose was to “examine the country between Soke (Sooke) and Victoria for the purpose of selecting a line of road to connect those places, and to submit a report on the same, with an estimate of the cost of constructing said road, for the consideration of the Governor and Council...”.
The second committee, appointed on December 2, 1853, consisted of three people, and was tasked to “enquire into, and report upon, the state of the Colonial School, and to hold quarterly examinations, to ascertain the progress made by the pupils...”.
Unlike British Columbia's current parliamentary committees, which can only include Members of the Legislative Assembly, these committees initially included a Justice of the Peace, and in the case of the first committee, the Surveyor General as well.
