Once a month, The duty challenges history enthusiasts to decipher a current theme based on a comparison with a historical event or character.
In 2011, former PQ minister François Legault founded the Coalition Avenir Québec, a party which defined itself as being neither on the left, nor on the right, nor sovereignist, nor federalist. The party manifesto advocated the “recovery” of Quebec society, in particular by upgrading education and decentralizing the health system.
After five years of CAQ government, it is legitimate to wonder what is the major social project linking the members of this “coalition” with very disparate profiles. Do François Legault and his colleagues want to offer Quebec something other than sound management of public finances?
Several Quebec statesmen have gone down in history more as administrators than as builders. Prime Minister from 1879 to 1882, Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau is a perfect example. Born in 1840, Chapleau is a prestigious lawyer specializing in criminal law. Remarkably eloquent, he is part of the elite of his profession. He was elected under the banner of the Conservative Party in the first Quebec elections held after Confederation, in 1867. Barely 26 years old, he was the youngest elected to Parliament and one of the most turbulent. The conservatives form an overwhelming majority and the opposition is partly found within their own troops.
The young MP takes the liberty of lecturing the conservative government, whose policy is not always well oriented, as well as the liberal opposition, whose criticisms are not always enlightened. On one occasion, he criticizes the leader of the opposition, the liberal Henri-Gustave Joly, for being too courteous in his criticisms: “You are not party leader when you only have compliments or excuses to present to a government that we are fighting. » As a simple deputy, Chapleau has only one goal: to shine. Rather than making his speeches with his gaze turned towards the president’s seat, he prefers to address the stands, where there are apparently many young women to hear him.
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The strategy succeeds. Chapleau becomes a star. Determined to begin his rise, he was part of the revolt which obtained the resignation of conservative Prime Minister Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau in 1873. Chapleau was rewarded with a ministerial post.
We then do not worry about conflicts of interest, real or simply apparent. Chapleau therefore did not believe he was seriously wrong when he participated in what would be called the Tanneries scandal: the government exchanged land worth $200,000 for another valued at $20,000. Clément-Arthur Dansereau, Conservative Party financier and personal friend of Chapleau, allegedly received a commission of $65,000 for organizing the transaction. Chapleau was expelled from the government, but this was only a setback. The transaction was deemed legal by the Superior Court and the parties involved were not worried.
Chapleau’s great personal popularity forced the new prime minister, Charles-Eugène Boucher de Boucherville, to appoint him minister in 1876. Despite his mishap, Chapleau remained popular, and his influence within the Conservative Party continued to grow. When the Liberal Party won its first victory in the 1878 election, the Conservatives naturally chose Chapleau as their new leader.
Parliament then experienced a unique situation in the history of Quebec: the two parties found themselves tied, each having 32 deputies. The Liberal government remains in place thanks to the support of the speaker (the president) of the House, but Chapleau knows that it would only take one moment of weakness for the government to fall. Under his leadership, the conservatives practiced systematic opposition, transforming all proposals into votes of confidence.
It was ultimately through backroom intrigues that Chapleau managed to rise to power in 1879. Five Liberal deputies allowed themselves to be seduced by his promises and supported a motion of censure against their own party. The government is defeated and Chapleau is named prime minister. The five turnovers are rewarded with positions of judge, minister and senior civil servant.
Lucrative privatization
Chapleau is not in Quebec to stay there. Federal politics is more prestigious and more lucrative. Before leaving Quebec for Ottawa, however, he received the mission of putting the Conservatives firmly back in power. To do this, he is counting on the support of Louis-Adélard Sénécal, a major financier of the Conservative Party. He also has great ambitions: he is eyeing with interest the Montreal-Quebec public railway, the construction of which has just been completed.
Chapleau was very willing to cede the railway to his collaborator in exchange for financing, but opposition to the privatization project was strong even within the Conservative Party. Having only a slight majority, Chapleau called new elections in 1881. With the financial support of Sénécal and his associates, the conservatives won 49 seats out of 65. Privatization could now take place.
The railway linking Montreal and Quebec is rightly seen as a powerful economic development tool. Some want Quebec to imitate Belgium, Italy and Germany, where the railways are operated by the state. However, they are in the minority within both parties, the majority of whose deputies believe that the government should not play the role of business administrator.
Two offers are on the table: that of the financial union led by Andrew Allan and Sévère Rivard and that of the financial union led by Louis-Adélard Sénécal. Allan-Rivard’s offer was higher, but it was to Sénécal that the government chose to sell the railway. Privately, Chapleau frankly acknowledged that Sénécal’s offer was less advantageous for Quebec, but more profitable for the Conservative Party. Note that the contracts for the construction of the railway were also awarded to conservative companies rather than to the lowest bidder, a practice denounced within the Conservative Party itself.
Ottawa Calling
Not all Conservative MPs believe that Quebec’s interests should be sacrificed for the benefit of the party’s interests. Why not accept the best offer? Why rush to sell a railway that would inevitably increase in value in the years to come and which could then have been sold at a better price?
Minister Joseph Gibb Robertson went so far as to resign in protest against this transaction contrary to his values. Never mind: the public railway, the construction of which had already cost too much, is sold at a discount to a great friend of the ruling party. Three months later, Chapleau was invited by John A. Macdonald to leave Quebec to become a minister in Ottawa. However, he was given the honorary position of Secretary of State, a lucrative and prestigious position which was not accompanied by any real political power.
Chapleau’s passage was lucrative for his friends and for the Conservative Party, but much less for Quebec. Besides the sale of the railway, the only other important measure of the Chapleau government was the establishment of the Franco-Canadian Land Credit, through which the Bank of Paris and the Netherlands would grant loans to farmers, municipalities and the government. . We later learned that Chapleau received a generous commission for the role he played in the creation of this institution.
Let us not conclude that Prime Minister Chapleau is without merit. Friend of priest Antoine Labelle, he uses government levers to encourage the development of the Laurentides region and advance agriculture. We can also give him credit for standing up to the ultramontanes in his party, who would have liked to submit the government to the dictates of the Catholic bishops.
Legacy
The historian Robert Rumilly rightly said of Chapleau that he was “the most liberal of the conservatives.” It was the attraction of power and not any ideological communion that led Chapleau to run with the “blues”. As prime minister, he often found himself at loggerheads with the ultramontanes, the most conservative faction of his party.
This internal quarrel led Chapleau to attempt to form a coalition government with the Liberals of Honoré Mercier. The most liberal of the conservatives was ready to make any compromise to ensure the victory of his party, including making an alliance with the liberals. The most obvious conclusion was that Chapleau was motivated by power much more than by any social project he could nurture.
“This man has no political philosophy. What he wants is power. And he doesn’t even know why. » These words that Denys Arcand lends to Frederick Arthur Monk in the series Duplessis perfectly summarize the political career of Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau. A key figure in Quebec and Canadian politics for more than 20 years, Chapleau leaves little behind him.
Invited by journalists to take stock of his mandate in the 2022 elections, François Legault generally responded by giving the number of billions invested in several areas and the quantity of jobs created. Chapleau could undoubtedly have drawn a similar assessment, citing the hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in the development of agriculture and the number of miles of railway built. In short, here are two men who administered public finances as best they could by responding to the problems of the day. Unfortunately, numbers rarely make history. What will we remember from the first government of the Coalition Avenir Québec?
To suggest a text or to make comments and suggestions, write to Dave Noël at [email protected].