Chaleur Bay scandal

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Prime Minister Honoré Mercier
Vice-Governor Auguste-Réal Angers

The Chaleur Bay Scandal ( French: Scandale de la Baie des Chaleurs ) was a political scandal in the Canadian province of Québec . It happened in 1891, toppled the Liberal provincial government and ruined Prime Minister Honoré Mercier's political career , although the ensuing trial confirmed his innocence.

prehistory

The Compagnie de chemin de fer de la Baie des Chaleurs , chaired by Vice Governor Théodore Robitaille and led by entrepreneur Charles Newhouse Armstrong, was awarded the concession in 1882 to build a 320 km stretch from Matapédia along the Chaleur Bay to Gaspé . Due to financial problems, construction work did not begin until 1886 and four years later only about 100 km had been built. There were also unpaid claims from suppliers and workers.

In the spring of 1891, the liberal provincial government under Honoré Mercier decided to terminate the contract and pay the contractor a grant of $ 280,000 who completed the route within a reasonable time. The Compagnie de chemin de fer de la Baie des Chaleurs accepted the termination of the contract, but demanded compensation of 175,000 dollars.

Ernest Pacaud, treasurer of the Parti libéral du Québec and editor of the newspaper L'Électeur , mediated between the government and Armstrong, the representative of the railway company. In the summer of 1891, Mercier was in France and was represented by Pierre Gameau , Minister for State Construction. Pacaud asked Gameau to sign letters of credit for $ 175,000, which Gameau did. Thereupon the company Cooper-Thom received the order to expand the railway line.

scandal

The transaction aroused the suspicion of the federal transportation committee, so it opened an investigation and asked Armstrong on August 12, 1891 to testify. He admitted that he received only $ 75,000 and immediately returned the rest to Pacaud. Of this, $ 5,000 was in turn spent to finance Mercier's trip to France.

Conservative newspapers publicized the scandal and called for the government to resign. On September 7, Lieutenant Governor Auguste-Réal Angers proposed the formation of a royal commission of inquiry, which Mercier, who had since returned, immediately accepted. The hearings began on October 6, under the presidency of Judge Louis-Amable Jetté . Pacaud gave his testimony on October 20th and took full responsibility. With the $ 100,000 the cost of election campaigns were paid and the debts of several ministers were paid.

A few days later, Mercier assured the investigative committee that he had no knowledge of the transaction. Lieutenant Governor Angers did not believe what he had said and on December 16, the government was ousted. Five days later, he charged Charles-Eugène Boucher de Boucherville with the formation of a new government, although the Conservatives were in the minority (they won a clear election victory in March 1892).

Thomas Chase-Casgrain , the provincial new Attorney General , brought charges against Mercier and Pacaud on April 20, 1892. The trial took place in the fall of that year, and on November 4, the jury acquitted both defendants.

literature

  • Jacques Lacoursière: Histoire populaire du Québec . Septentrion, Québec 1996, ISBN 2-89448-066-0 .

Web links