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TRUE TO THE MOTTO OF QUÉBEC, JE ME SOUVIENS, 1950 THIS BOOKLET PRODUCED BY THE COMMISSION DE LA CAPITALE NATIONALE DU QUÉBEC PROVIDES AN OUTLINE OF THE NINE FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL AND INTERPROVIN- CIAL CONFERENCES HELD IN QUÉBEC CITY BETWEEN 1864 AND 1989. BEYOND ITS ACTORS, ITS ISSUES, AND ITS PERIOD, IT LEADS ONE TO DISCOVER A PLACE OF STONE AND BEDROCK, OF BLUE AND GREEN, AND A PARTICULAR WAY OF RECEIVING PEOPLE, WHICH MAKES QUÉBEC CITY, WITH ITS HISTORY OF NEARLY FOUR CENTURIES, A CITY WITH A MUSE FOR THE TRACING OF FUTURE DESTINY. The Québec City Conferences FROM 1864 TO 1989 ANDRÉ ROY C The Québec City Conferences FROM 1864 TO 1989 ANDRÉ ROY PREFACE BY THE PREMIER OF QUÉBEC This publication was produced under the initiative QUÉBEC WILL PLAY HOST TO THE ANNUAL PROVINCIAL PREMIERS’ CONFERENCE ON AUGUST 9 TO 11, 1999. and supervision of the Commission de la capitale IT IS BOTH WITH PLEASURE AND WITH PRIDE, AS PRIME MINISTER OF QUÉBEC AND AS PRESIDENT OF nationale du Québec. THE CONFERENCE, THAT I WILL GREET MY PROVINCIAL COUNTERPARTS AS WELL AS THE LEADERS OF THE Coordination of publication Denis Samson, historian TERRITORIES IN THE NATIONAL CAPITAL. THE PREMIERS WILL DISCUSS COMPETITIVENESS, GROWTH, JOBS, Hélène Jean, project manager A BETTER FISCAL BALANCE BETWEEN OTTAWA AND THE PROVINCES, AND SOCIAL POLICIES. Writing and iconographic research André Roy FEW PEOPLE ARE AWARE THAT IT WAS AT THE INITIATIVE OF QUÉBEC, AND OF ITS PRIME MINISTER AT THE Translation TIME, MR. JEAN LESAGE, THAT THE ANNUAL PREMIERS’ CONFERENCES WERE INSTIGATED AS A FORUM John Duff OF DISCUSSION AND DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE PROVINCES. Linguistic revision Ghislaine Fiset THIS BOOKLET, PRODUCED BY THE COMMISSION DE LA CAPITALE NATIONALE DU QUÉBEC, OUTLINES THE Proofreading HISTORY OF THE FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL AND INTERPROVINCIAL CONFERENCES HELD IN QUÉBEC CITY. Communications GPS AT THE FIRST PROVINCIAL PREMIERS’ MEETING CALLED IN 1887 BY HONORÉ MERCIER, THE PARTICIPANTS Graphics Paquebot Design DEMANDED AN INCREASE IN FEDERAL SUBSIDIES PAID TO THE PROVINCES. A READING OF THIS BOOKLET WILL REVEAL THAT A NUMBER OF THE ISSUES DEBATED DURING THE CONFERENCES HELD IN QUÉBEC Cover page illustration Benoit Gauthier CITY ARE STILL OF CURRENT INTEREST. Acknowledgements to the Secrétariat aux affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes for its collaboration. Legal deposit — 1999 Bibliothèque nationale du Québec National Library of Canada ISBN 2-550-34797-8 © Commission de la capitale nationale du Québec All rights reserved in all countries. Any reproduction, by any means whatsoever, in whole or in part, is prohibited without the authorization of the Commission de la capitale nationale du Québec. 3 QUÉBEC CITY CONFERENCE OCTOBER 10 TO 27, 1864 1864 1864 IT WAS IN 1864 THAT THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE DIFFERENT THE BIRTH OF A NEW COUNTRY BRITISH COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA ENTERED INTO MORE On the 10th of October, 33 delegates from United INTENSIVE DISCUSSIONS POTENTIALLY LEADING TO THEIR Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward FEDERATION. Island and Newfoundland gathered in Québec City to develop the rules of operation for what was to become Canada. The negotiations led to the 72 Québec City Resolutions, which formed the first draft of the defin- THE CHARLOTTETOWN CONFERENCE itive text of the British North America Act. It was decided that in the following months, the text of the A first conference was held in Charlottetown, the Resolutions would be submitted to each of the assem- capital of Prince Edward Island, in September 1864. blies of the participating colonies for their approval. Initially, it was intended as a meeting in which to discuss the possibility of a federation of the Atlantic The two weeks during which this conference took colonies. Having learned of the project, United place were enlivened by many banquets and balls. On Canada (now Québec and Ontario) took the opportu- October 13, the Canadian ministers hosted a luncheon nity to delegate observers. These observers took on an at the Stadacona Club and the Governor General of active role in the deliberations, which soon went United Canada followed suit in the evening. The next beyond mere discussions of principle and dealt day, the Executive Council held a large ball in the directly with the question of a federation of the British chambers of Parliament, then located on côte de la colonies of North America. A second meeting was Montagne, where over 850 members of the Canadian then planned for the following month, this time in elite were received for the occasion. A week later, it Québec City, which was then the capital of United was the turn of the Québec City «bachelors» to invite Canada — a second meeting to give a more official the delegates to the same place in the company of 500 character to the Charlottetown discussions. other guests. Visits to certain historical sites and to the main institutions of the city were also organized. Delegates were to be seen at the Citadel, at the The Parliament of United Canada, then located on Catholic Cathedral, at the chapel of the Seminary, and The «Fathers of Confederation» surround the Chair of côte de la Montagne, where the 72 Resolutions of the the Québec City Conference, Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché. Québec City Conference of October 1864 were developed. the convent of the Soeurs de la Charité at Place (J.B. Livernois, Archives nationales du Québec, Québec City) (J.W. Lowe, National Archives of Canada, C-53057) D’Youville, and at Laval University. 4 5 The representatives of United Canada board the SS Queen Victoria to attend the Charlottetown Conference on September 1, 1864. (Malak, National Archives of Canada, PA-164727) While two colonies, Newfoundland and Prince About 18 months later, in December 1866, the dele- INTERPROVINCIAL Edward Island, withdrew for fear of being constantly gates of the three participating colonies met in caught in a minority position by the other colonies, a London, England, for the drafting of the final text of CONFERENCE movement of contestation arose in Nova Scotia and in an imperial Act creating the Dominion of Canada OCTOBER 20 TO 28, 1887 New Brunswick, to the point of delaying the establish- which, without the people or the legislatures of any of ment of the new federative system. As for the legisla- the three colonies having been invited to pronounce 1864 ture of United Canada, on March 10, 1865, it themselves on this legislative text, finally entered into 1887 approved the Québec City Resolutions, despite the effect on July 1, 1867. THE CENTRALIST AIMS OF HONORÉ MERCIER, ADVOCATE opposition of many members, particularly those from THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF PROVINCIAL AUTONOMY Canada East, who spoke out against the overly cen- tralist nature of the project. At the end of the XIXth century, the relations between In Québec, Prime Minister Honoré Mercier strength- the federal government and the provincial govern- ened the opposition to Ottawa’s centralist policy. He ments progressively deteriorated, in particular because took advantage of the political debates and of the of the imprecisions that remained in the 1867 consti- effects of the difficult economic situation to make tution with regard to the definition of their respective provincial autonomy his main issue. powers and roles. For his part, Canadian Prime Minister John A. MacDonald considered that the In 1885, the Québec Government, then led by John provincial governments were subordinate to the feder- Ross, complained of the stagnation of federal subsi- al government. From this perspective, and wishing to dies, since they did not correspond to the increase in establish a strong central government, he instituted a population and in expenses incurred by the province. policy which, with the help of the federal power of dis- These subsidies, with revenues drawn from the public allowance and reservation over provincial laws, left no domain, constituted the greater part of Québec’s initiative to the provinces and halted any process aim- financial resources. Honoré Mercier, who became ing to strengthen their autonomy. In 1873, the Prime Minister of Québec in 1887, proposed the Premier of Ontario, Oliver Mowat, took all political decennial review of the subsidy, based on the popula- and legal means to counteract the centralist aims of tion figures as established in each census. The federal Ottawa. Assisted by judicial opinions rendered by the government refused. Privy Council in London, which then acted as the highest court for Canada, Mowat succeeded in In March 1887, a few weeks after coming to power, restricting the exercise of this right of disallowance, and aware of the deterioration of federal-provincial and in imposing the theory of the equality of the two relations, Honoré Mercier launched the idea of powers, federal and provincial, each being sovereign in a Premiers’ Conference in order to study the rela- its field of activity. tions between the federal government and the provinces, particularly in their financial aspects. His goal was to review the financial agreement of 1867, while emphasizing the principle of provincial autono- Spencer Wood, residence of the Lieutenant Governor. (National Archives of Canada) my. Realizing that serious frictions resulted from the 6 7 1887 1887 distribution of powers as defined in the British North the delegates pronounced themselves in favour of a America Act, and that certain provisions remained system of absolute reciprocity with the United States. vague, he presented a list of 22 subjects that were for the most part articulated around the question of pre- The provincial representatives took advantage of their serving the autonomy of the provinces. visit to the capital to attend various social events. On October 20, the delegates went to visit the Spencer In the absence of Prime Minister John A. MacDonald, Wood estate, the residence of the Lieutenant who refused to participate, the conference opened at Governor.

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