Official Power vs Countervailing Power

Official Power vs Countervailing Power

Period: Dec 18, 1500 to Dec 19, 2016

Aboriginals Before French Arrived

Dec 20, 1500

For aboriginals, there is no elected central governing body. The chiefs have no real power, they are just chosen as a representative due to their favourable qualities such as one's oratory skills. However, one important fact about each aboriginal's society is that Iroquois follow a matriarchy and Algonquin follow a patriarchy.

The Royal Government

Dec 20, 1663

The french monarchy took control and introduced the royal government in 1663. The King and Minister of Marine stayed in France and put these people in charge of the colony:
Governor-Highest rank, commander of army and dealt with external affairs
Intendant-Chief administrator, controlled budget, collected taxes and set up industries
Bishop-Looked over the parish, priests, hospitals and schools
These people as well as councillors made up the Sovereign council. It was the colony's high court.

Collaboration Between State and Church

Dec 20, 1663

The Church was automatically involved in political decisions because of its role in the Sovereign Council. In addition to being responsible for health and education, the church had a monopoly on religious matters. This was because the Church and state had made a deal. The Church would encourage population to listen to the governor and intendant, in exchange the Church was allowed the tithe and had insurance that religion was mandatory.

Grand Paix de Montreal

Dec 20, 1701

the French sought to ally with certain aboriginal groups after realizing how profitable the fur trade was in France. They decided to ally with the Hurons and the Montagnais. However, since the Iroquois were enemies with these clans, the French therefore became enemies as well. Tensions rose between them, and the Iroquois attacked the colonists in the St. Lawrence Valley. In order to achieve peace and continue profiting from the fur trade, the Grand paix de Montreal was signed in 1701.

The Royal Proclamation

Dec 20, 1753

After the Conquest, the King of Britain needed something to control the French population. This led to the creation of the Royal Proclamation. The territory was named the Province of Quebec and the borders were now limited to the St. Lawrence Valley. An English council and civil laws were applied and no Catholics could hold office. However, James Murray realized that this was unrealistic because 99% of the population was French. He therefore made certain exceptions that favoured the French.

Quebec Act

Dec 20, 1774

The King of Britain was aware that revolts were beginning south of the border and wanted to assure the loyalty of the French so they didn't join. He therefore created the Quebec Act. It enlarged the area of Quebec to include Great Lakes region once again. Although he still denied an elected assembly, the King did allow for an appointed council. French civil laws were reinstated. Finally, the Test oath act replaced with an oath of allegiance, meaning the French could now hold office.

Representative Government

Dec 20, 1791

The government introduced with the Constitutional Act was comprised of the following people:
Governor General: Held veto power
Each Canada had its own set of:
Lieutenant Governor: Acted as deputy governor
Executive Council: Appointed by Governor to advise him
Legislative council: Appointed by the Governor to approve or reject laws from the assembly
Legislative assembly: People elected every 4 years by the public. Had the power to approve or disapprove taxes. They had the right to create laws.

Political Parties Under Representative Government

Dec 20, 1791

Legislative assembly-Voted by male property owners. In Upper Canada, two political parties dominated:
Family Compact-Wealthy British tories (conservatives)
Reformers-Intellectuals and professionals
In Lower Canada, two political parties dominated:
British Party(Chateau Clique and Tories)-Wealthy British and French who supported British rule; true power brokers
Parti Canadien(Parti Patriote)-Wealthy and poor French; early separatists; intellectuals and professionals; unhappy with current power

Concerns in Canada

Dec 21, 1834

Receiving a responsible government was a major concern.
Continued immigration to increase the english presence in canada. The French bourgeoisie wanted many changes which included:
- A Reduction in the role of church of England in taxes and affairs
- Reducing the power of values of traditionalism and conservatism
- No veto powers
Louis Joseph Papineau, the leader of the Parti Patriote, wrote a letter containing demands to get an assembly in 1834 called the 92 resolutions.

Revolts

Dec 21, 1837

The response received from the 92 resolutions was the 10 russell resolutions. The contents of it included:
- Rejection of the request for an elected council
- The governor, Lord Gosford, now had the power to take money from the provincial treasury to pay the officials in the colony
This really upset the patriotes and thus begins the demonstrations that eventually lead to the rebellions in 1837 and 1838. The British army overpowered the militia rebels due to them being poorly organized.

Lord Durham

Dec 21, 1838

Lord Durham, who was a British politician, was sent to North America in 1838 to investigate the causes of the revolts in Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Durham's report suggested a representative government and that both Canadas unite. Although the responsible government wasn't added, his other suggestion was put into place. His suggestion also paved the way for responsible government — a critical step in the evolution of Canadian democracy

Catholic Church in the Mid-19th Century

Dec 21, 1838

After 1837 the bishops became more and more powerful, the cures became most important person in the parish. The Roman Catholic Church attendance was very high. The Church was now responsible for:
- Registering births, marriages and deaths
- Controlling education(Laval university 1852)
- Orphanages, shelters charities, religious festivals

The Act of Union

Dec 18, 1840

Contained in Lord Durham’s report was a recommendation to unify Upper and Lower Canada. The Act of Union was seen as a way to assimilate the French. The Act favoured Upper Canada because they had a lot of debt and with the Union of both Canadas came the combining of debt (Lower Canada had little to no debt prior to the union). The Union also made the French the minority. It made English the official language and therefore banished the French language from official government use.

Charlottetown Conference

Dec 18, 1864

The Charlottetown Conference, was to discuss the Canadian Confederation. It was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The Charlottetown Conference was assembly of representatives(delegates) from the colonies of British North America to discuss the creation of The Canadian Confederation. Britain encouraged a Maritime Union between the colonies, hoping that they would become less economically and politically dependent on the Crown and provide for a greater military power for the region.

Louis Riel

Dec 21, 1870

Louis Riel was the leader of the Métis. He wanted to preserve the rights and the culture of the Métis since they were losing it in their homelands in the Northwest. He led resistance movements against the Canadian government:
- Red River Rebellion (1869-1870). The rebellion ended with a negotiation between Riel and the government, about including Manitoba into the Canadian Confederation.
Louis Riel was hanged, despite the French Canadiens pleading that he not be hanged to John A. Macdonald.

Conscription Crisis

Dec 18, 1917

Huge numbers of Canadian volunteers went to go fight in the war. However, recruitment was slowing. There was a lack of volunteers, especially when it came to the French Canadians who were reluctant to enroll to the Canadian Army, since it was supporting the British army. The government therefore made it mandatory to go. This caused great dissatisfaction among French-Canadians. In addition, the wives, mothers, and sisters of soldiers, could now vote federally due to the lack of men in Canada.

1940s/1950s Power (Duplessis)

Dec 20, 1940

Duplessis defended provincial autonomy and had many battles with federal initiatives in provincial jurisdiction. He promoted traditionalism and rural life in support of the Church. He believed that agriculture should be at the heart of Quebec's economy to avoid urbanization and unemployment. He also believed that Quebec's government shouldn't intervene in social or economic sectors. The conservative nature of society under Duplessis' rule was criticized by intellectuals through the media.

Union Leaders

Dec 20, 1945

The union leaders led unions that accused Duplessis of opposing social progress. Another claim of theirs was that his government was serving American interests rather than the interests of quebec workers. Numerous strikes were held during this time period including the asbestos strike of 1949. During these strikes even the bishop and other church officials expressed their support for the unions. In 1937 the Padlock Law was put into place, making it illegal to strike and promote communist ideas.

The Quiet Revolution (Part 1)

Dec 18, 1960

The Quiet Revolution was driven by cultural and political assertion of quebecers and the desire for a government with amore interventionist role. After Maurice Duplessis' death, Jean Lesage's Liberal government introduced interventionist measures to stimulate the economy.
In 1963, all private hydroelectric companies were nationalized. The result was Hydro-Québec became one of the largest Crown Corporations in North America.

The Quiet Revolution (Part 2)

Dec 20, 1960

Hydro-Québec's nationalization included many objectives such as standardizing rates across the province and encouraging industrialization. It met mostly all of the objectives and became a symbol of success and source of pride for the Québécois.
More public institutions were created to increase the province's economic autonomy. Many companies such as SIDBEC (iron and steel), SOQUEM (mining), REXFOR (forestry) and SOQUIP (petroleum) were created to exploit the province's natural resources.

Jean Lesage

Dec 21, 1960

Jean Lesage's Liberal government had a lot to do to improve Quebec's economic situation. The government switched from a non-interventionist perspective to interventionist. To start, they created the Ministry of Education, secularizing education. They also created the Office de la Langue Française and founded the Société Générale de financement (SGF). The SGF assistded businesses by funding them. The time at which many measures implemented to help the economy was called the Quiet Revolution.

Early 1970s Power (Bourassa)

Dec 21, 1970

French Nationalism continued to spread in the early 1970s and with that came the radicalization of the concept. The FLQ used terrorism as a way for the government to acknowledge the French language. To stop the FLQ crisis Pierre Elliot Trudeau implemented the war measures Act. A law implemented by Bourassa was Bill 22 which made French the official language of Quebec.

Healthcare

Dec 21, 1970

In the second half of the 20th century, Quebec and Canada set up universal public healthcare systems. Before the 1960s, even though health was a provincial responsibility, the Québec State was absent from the healthcare field, leaving it to the private sector. At the dawn of the 1960s, most Quebecers had no private medical insurance. Brought in by the Liberal government under Robert Bourassa, the Health Insurance Act was passed in 1970. The resulting program covered all care and services.

Late 1970s Power (Levesque)

Dec 21, 1975

Under Réné Levesque's government, the RIN and MSA combined to form the Parti Québecois. Québecers saw their French language and culture being threatened due to the increasing number of people attending English school. People began to see political sovereignty as the only solution to the problems facing Quebec. This was the cause of the 1980 Referendum. Quebec would still keep the economic benefit of being part of Canada but be a politically independent nation. 'No' won with 59.5% of the vote.

Attempts at Patriating the Constitution

Dec 21, 1980

In response to the referendum of 1980, Trudeau attempts to unify the country by patriating the constitution(full independence from Britain).
All provinces agreed, except Quebec. The constitution was implemented in 1982 regardless.
The Meech lake accord 1987 tried to add Quebec but Manitoba and Newfoundland refused to ratify it. The Charlottetown agreement included recognizing aboriginal and quebec rights. Premiers agreed but a Canadian referendum on the agreement was voted against by the people.