Sovereign Council

Sovereign Council

Administrative body that governed the colony of New France in Canada (1663–1702). The council consisted of the governor and the bishop (who together appointed the other members), five councillors, an attorney general, and a clerk. The council named judges and minor officials, controlled public funds and commerce with France, and regulated the fur trade with the Indians. Decisions were subject to the governor's veto. In 1675 a royal edict increased the number of councillors to seven, with vacancies to be filled by the king. From 1685 the intendant, a French administrative official, assumed many of the council's duties. The council was renamed the Superior Council in 1702.