THE QUEBEC CONFERENCE
The conference was held with closed doors, so as to encourage free
discussion. Some fragmentary notes have been preserved. One impression
derived from this and other records is that the public men of that day
had been much impressed by the Civil War in the United States, by the
apparent weakness of the central authority there, and by the dangers
of State sovereignty. Emphasis was laid upon the monarchical element
of the proposed constitution for Canada, and upon the fact that powers
not expressly defined were to rest in the general, instead of the
local, legislatures. In fact, Mr. Chandler, a representative of New
Brunswick, complained that the proposed union was legislative, not
federal, and reduced the local governments to the status of municipal
corporations. In practice these residuary powers were not so
formidable as they appeared; the defined powers of the local
legislatures were highly important, and were fully maintained, if not
enlarged, as a result of the resolute attitude of Ontario under the
Mowat government. But the notion that Canada must avoid the dangers of
State sovereignty is continually cropping up in the literature of
confederation. Friends and opponents of the new constitution made
much of these mysterious residuary powers, and the Lower Canadian
Liberals feared that they were being drawn into a union that would
destroy the liberties and imperil the cherished institutions of the
French-Canadian people.
Another point is the extraordinary amount of time and labour given to
the constitution of the senate. "The conference proceedings," wrote
Mr. Brown, "get along very well, considering we were very near broken
up on the question of the distribution of members in the Upper Chamber
of the federal legislature, but fortunately, we have this morning got
the matter amicably compromised, after a loss of three days in
discussing it." During the latter years of the union, the elective
system had prevailed in Canada, and Mowat, Macdougall and others
favoured continuing this practice, but were overruled. Brown joined
Macdonald in supporting the nominative system. His reasons were given
in his speech in the legislature in 1865. He believed that two
elective chambers were incompatible with the British parliamentary
system. The Upper Chamber, if elected, might claim equal power with
the Lower, including power over money bills. It might amend money
bills, might reject all legislation, and stop the machinery of
government. With a Conservative majority in one House, and a Reform
majority in the other, a dead-lock might occur. To the objection that
the change from the elective to the nominative system involved a
diminution of the power of the people, Mr. Brown answered that the
government of the day would be responsible for each appointment. It
must be admitted that this responsibility is of little practical
value, and that Mr. Brown fully shared in the delusions of his time as
to the manner in which the senate would be constituted, and the part
it would play in the government of the country.
A rupture was threatened also on the question of finance. A large
number of local works which in Upper Canada were paid for by local
municipal taxation, were in the Maritime Provinces provided out of the
provincial revenues. The adjustment was a difficult matter, and
finally it was found necessary for the financial representatives of
the different provinces to withdraw, for the purpose of constructing a
scheme.
On October 28th the conference was concluded, and its resolutions
substantially form the constitution of Canada. On October 31st Brown
wrote: "We got through our work at Quebec very well. The constitution
is not exactly to my mind in all its details--but as a whole it is
wonderful, really wonderful. When one thinks of all the fighting we
have had for fifteen years, and finds the very men who fought us every
inch, now going far beyond what we asked, I am amazed and sometimes
alarmed lest it all go to pieces yet. We have yet to pass the ordeal
of public opinion in the several provinces, and sad, indeed, will it
be if the measure is not adopted by acclamation in them all. For Upper
Canada we may well rejoice on the day it becomes law. Nearly all our
past difficulties are ended by it, whatever new ones may arise."
A journey made by the delegates through Canada after the draft was
completed enabled Canadians to make the acquaintance of some men of
mark in the Maritime Provinces, including Tilley, of New Brunswick,
and Tupper, of Nova Scotia, and it evoked in Upper Canada warm
expressions of public feeling in favour of the new union. It is
estimated that eight thousand people met the delegates at the railway
station in Toronto. At a dinner given in the Music Hall in that city,
Mr. Brown explained the new constitution fully. He frankly confessed
that he was a convert to the scheme of the Intercolonial Railway, for
the reason that it was essential to the union between Canada and the
Maritime Provinces. The canal system was to be extended, and as soon
as the finances would permit communication was to be opened with the
North-West Territory. "This was the first time," wrote Mr. Brown,
"that the confederation scheme was really laid open to the public. No
doubt--was right in saying that the French-Canadians were restive
about the scheme, but the feeling in favour of it is all but unanimous
here, and I think there is a good chance of carrying it. At any rate,
come what may, I can now get out of the affair and out of public life
with honour, for I have had placed on record a scheme that would bring
to an end all the grievances of which Upper Canada has so long
complained."
The British government gave its hearty blessing to the confederation,
and the outlook was hopeful. In December, 1864, Mr. Brown sailed for
England, for the purpose of obtaining the views of the British
government. He wrote from London to Mr. Macdonald that the scheme had
given prodigious satisfaction. "The ministry, the Conservatives and
the Manchester men are all delighted with it, and everything Canadian
has gone up in public estimation immensely.... Indeed, from all
classes of people you hear nothing but high praise of 'Canadian
statesmanship,' and loud anticipations of the great future before us.
I am much concerned to observe, however, and I write it to you as a
thing that must seriously be considered by all men taking a lead
hereafter in Canadian public matters--that there is a manifest desire
in almost every quarter, that ere long the British American colonies
should shift for themselves, and in some quarters evident regret that
we did not declare at once for independence. I am very sorry to
observe this, but it arises, I hope, from the fear of invasion of
Canada by the United States, and will soon pass away with the cause
that excites it."