Québec Conference (1864)

The delegates to the Québec Conference

The Québec Conference was an international conference held in the city of Québec from October 10-27, 1864 . One month after the Charlottetown Conference, delegates from the Province of Canada and the British colonies of New Brunswick , Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island discussed the future Canadian Confederation . Not directly involved in the conference was Newfoundland , which sent two observers.

The conference

The main point of contention at the conference was the clash between delegates who were calling for a strong central government, including John Macdonald , and those who advocated extended provincial rights. Representatives of the sea ​​colonies and the French-speaking Lower Canada advocated federalism, as they feared the loss of their cultural identity under a central government. Macdonald believed that the failures of small, localized governments were proven by the ongoing civil war in the United States . The delegates finally agreed on a compromise in which power would be divided between federal and provincial governments. They decided the introduction of an elected lower house (Engl. House of Commons , fr. Chambre des Communes ) and a composite of appointed MPs Senate . However, there was still disagreement about how many senators the provinces should send. With the "seventy-two resolutions" the structure of the future Canadian constitution was finally established.

consequences

After the conference, the delegates traveled back to their home colonies to present the “Seventy-Two Resolutions” to the respective parliaments. George-Étienne Cartier was primarily responsible for ensuring that the French-Canadian MPs in the Canadian Parliament approved the resolutions, although he himself advocated a less centralized federal government. Opposition movements formed in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, but ultimately could not prevent the approval of parliaments. Only Prince Edward Island initially refused to approve (accession was to take place in 1873). The province of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick then entered into negotiations with the British government. At the London Conference in 1866, the British North America Act was finally negotiated, which came into force on July 1, 1867 and enabled the establishment of the Confederation.

Attendees

New Brunswick Edward Barron Chandler Charles Fisher John Hamilton Gray John Mercer Johnson Peter Mitchell William Steeves Samuel Leonard Tilley Nova Scotia Adams George Archibald Robert B. Dickey William Alexander Henry Jonathan McCully Charles Tupper

Canada Province George Brown Alexander Campbell George-Etienne Cartier Jean-Charles Chapais James Cockburn Alexander Tilloch Galt Hector-Louis Langevin John Macdonald William McDougall Thomas D'Arcy McGee Oliver Mowat Etienne-Paschal Taché

Prince Edward Island George Coles John Hamilton Gray Thomas Heath Haviland Andrew Archibald Macdonald Edward Palmer William Henry Pope Edward Whelan Newfoundland (observer) Frederick Carter Ambrose Shea

See also

• History of Canada
• Fathers of the Confederation

Web links

• Information on the Confederation, National Library of Canada and National Archives: engl. , French
• Quebec Conference, 1864 ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .