Why Did Britain Refuse to Give Responsible Government to the British North American Colonies?

Before responsible government, the British North American colonies had representative institutions, usually two legislative houses (a House of Commons, called the Legislative Assembly or House of Assembly, and a Senate, called the Legislative Council). Yet Britain withheld the vital principle, responsible government. Why? Until the mid-nineteenth century Britain insisted that its imperial sovereignty required colonial governments to be responsible to British officials, not to the people of the colony.... How gallingly undemocratic politics is without responsible government emerges clearly from the complaints of speakers in British Columbia and Red River. These two colonies are the only ones without responsible government at the time of the Confederation debates.

--Janet Ajzenstat et al., eds., Canada's Founding Debates (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003), 23.