The rise of the public sphere and public opinion.
The growth of a print culture and literary market - newspapers etc, the multiplier effect.
The rise of coffee houses, clubs, social gatherings. The voice of the street
The breakdown of absolutist politics.
Eastern Canada hold more older (European) settlements than Western Canada. Eastern Canada was settled by the French and then the English in an effort to expand their terrortories and then resource (fur trade) extraction. The bulk of the original population of these regions are direct descendants of the original settlers and of the "Loyalists" who moved north from the United States when the US became independant from Britain.