The adoption of a bicameral system made it possible to give due recognition to both principles.
During the colonial period and the early years of statehood the legislature was composed of one house, but the bicameral system was adopted in the constitution of 1790.
The controversy ended in the creation of a bicameral legislature in the lower branch of which the claim of the larger states found recognition, while in the upper, the Senate, each state had two votes.
A bicameral legislature came about thanks to gradual political reform, taking place in 1997.
In Nova Scotia and Quebec the bicameral system of an upper and lower house is retained; in the other provinces legislation is left to a single representative assembly.