The Quebec Conference of 1864: Understanding the Emergence of the Canadian Federation

by Eugénie Brouillet (Editor), Alain-G. Gagnon (Editor), Guy Laforest (Editor)

Overview

Like all major events in Canadian history, the Quebec Conference of 1864, an important step on Canada's road to Confederation, deserves to be discussed and better understood. Efforts to revitalize historical memory must take a multidisciplinary and multicultural approach. The Quebec Conference of 1864 expresses a renewed historical interest over the last two decades in both the Quebec-Canada constitutional trajectory and the study of federalism. Contributors from a variety of disciplines argue that a more grounded understanding of the 72 Quebec Resolutions of 1864 is key to interpreting the internal architecture of the contemporary constitutional apparatus in Canada, and a new interpretation is crucial to appraise the progress made over the 150 years since the institution of federalism. The second volume in a series that began with The Constitutions That Shaped Us: A Historical Anthology of Pre-1867 Canadian Constitutions, this book reveals a society in constant transition, as well as the presence of national projects that live in tension with the Canadian federation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780773554818
Publisher:	McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date:	12/30/2018
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Eugénie Brouillet is professor of constitutional law and vice-president of research and innovation at Université Laval, Québec. Alain-G. Gagnon is professor of political science at Université du Québec à Montréal. Guy Laforest is executive director of the École Nationale d’Administration Publique (ÉNAP), Québec.

Table of Contents

Introduction: 1864, a Pivotal Year in the Advent of the Canadian Confederation Eugénie Brouillet Alain-G. Gagnon Guy Laforest 3

Part 1 The Fathers of Confederation and the BNA Act: Constitutional Visions and Models Rachel Chagnon 29

The Making of a Dominion: The Completion of a Conquest Marc Chevrier 49

Canadian Constitution-Making in the British World Phillip Buckner 70

Part 2 Avoiding the "iniquitous pit of liberty": The Centralizing Federalism of Joseph-Édouard Cauchon Éric Bédard 103

The Trustee, the Financier, and the Poet: Cartier, Galt, and D'Arcy McGee Guy Laforest Félix Mathieu 117

A Big Group in a Small Room: Parties and Coalitions at the Quebec Conference Christopher Moore 142

George Brown and Oliver Mowat on the Quebec Resolutions and Confederation: Reality and Myth Paul Romney 152

Part 3 Opponents of the 1864 Confederation Project: Criticism of the Future Regime François Rocher 179

Confederation and Corruption: The Republican Critique of the Quebec Resolutions Louis-Georges Harvey 220

The-Economic Arguments of the Quebec Opponents of Confederation Stéphane Kelly 233

Papineau and the Refusal of Arrangements (1854-67) Yuan Lamonde 252

Part 4 Is Rejection of the Melting Pot a Rejection of Modernity? André Burelle 265

The Quebec Resolutions and the Ideas Left Behind Robert C. Vipond Jacqueline D. Krikonan David R. Cameron 282

Principles of the 1864 Quebec Conference, Imperial Context, and Historians Joseph Royal and Alfred Duclos De Celles Claude Couture 299

Representations of Confederation: Research Prospects Anne Trépanier 318

Contributors 355

Index 357

Editorial Reviews

"The essays in The Quebec Conference of 1864 analyze a variety of lesser-known contemporary understandings of the Quebec Resolutions that will be of benefit to students of the period. They also contribute to the editors' aim of providing a modified origin

From the Publisher