Jean-Charles Chapais
Encyclopedia
Jean-Charles Chapais, PC
(December 2, 1811 – July 17, 1885) was a Canadian
Conservative
politician, and considered a Father of Canadian Confederation
for his participation in the Quebec Conference
to determine the form of Canada's government.
Chapais was born in Rivière-Ouelle
, a small town in Kamouraska
, Quebec
, and was educated in Nicolet
. Following his success as a farmer and merchant, in 1845 he became the first mayor of Saint-Denis, the town he had lived in from 1833. The following year, he married Georgina Dionne; they had six children together.
; he was eventually to serve a total of five terms representing Kamouraska
. A "bleu"
, he was a supporter of Augustin-Norbert Morin
, Étienne-Paschal Taché
and George-Étienne Cartier
. He worked to abolish the system of seigneurial tenure
in Quebec
and reform agricultural legislation.
Following the Charlottetown Conference
in September 1864, Chapais attended the Quebec Conference
to negotiate on behalf of Canada East
for provincial governments to have greater power in the Canadian federal system.
Chapais was Commissioner of Public Works in the Great Coalition
of 1864–1867, and is credited with establishing the Intercolonial Railway and expanding the Grand Trunk Railway
. In 1867 the British North America Act was passed, creating the Dominion of Canada, and Chapais became the first Minister of Agriculture
. At this time, he also switched to representing Champlain
in the Quebec legislature, due to a scandal over electoral irregularities in Kamouraska. On 30 January 1868, Jean-Charles Chapais entered the Canadian Senate
, and sat in the body until his death.
As Minister, Chapais was in charge of more than simply agriculture
: the department was also responsible for the import and export of animals, immigration
, the census
, patent
administration and trademark
s, public health
, manufacturing
, and the arts
. After less than three years, he was replaced by Christopher Dunkin
, which he greatly resented. His new position of Receiver General for Canada
was significantly less prestigious and powerful, requiring little more than making and accepting payments on behalf of the government. (Today, the portfolio has passed to the Minister of Public Works
.) Chapais resigned in 1873, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family and business. He is buried in Saint-Denis, Quebec.
The municipality of Chapais, Quebec
, is named in his honour.
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
(December 2, 1811 – July 17, 1885) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
politician, and considered a Father of Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
for his participation in the Quebec Conference
Quebec Conference, 1864
The Quebec Conference was the second meeting held in 1864 to discuss Canadian Confederation.The 16 delegates from the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island had agreed at the close of the Charlottetown Conference to meet again at Quebec City October 1864...
to determine the form of Canada's government.
Chapais was born in Rivière-Ouelle
Rivière-Ouelle, Quebec
Rivière-Ouelle is a town located in the Kamouraska Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec. It is located on the Saint Lawrence River; the Ouelle River flows through the town...
, a small town in Kamouraska
Kamouraska Regional County Municipality, Quebec
Kamouraska is a regional county municipality in eastern Quebec, Canada. Regional County municipality seat is Saint-Pascal. The other main town is La Pocatière, Quebec....
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, and was educated in Nicolet
Nicolet, Quebec
Nicolet, Quebec is the county seat of Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 7,827...
. Following his success as a farmer and merchant, in 1845 he became the first mayor of Saint-Denis, the town he had lived in from 1833. The following year, he married Georgina Dionne; they had six children together.
Political career
At the prompting of his father-in-law, Chapais entered regional politics. In 1851, he was elected for the first time to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of CanadaLegislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the...
; he was eventually to serve a total of five terms representing Kamouraska
Kamouraska (electoral district)
For the provincial electoral district, see Kamouraska Kamouraska was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1869 to 1979. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867. There was no election in 1867 due to riots. There...
. A "bleu"
Parti bleu
The Parti bleu was a moderate political group in Quebec, Canada that emerged in 1854. It was based on the moderate reformist views of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, and was a rival to the radical Parti rouge....
, he was a supporter of Augustin-Norbert Morin
Augustin-Norbert Morin
Augustin-Norbert Morin was a lawyer, judgeBorn in Saint-Michel, Lower Canada, into a large Roman Catholic farming family, Morin was identified by the parish priest at a young age as a boy of exceptional talent and intelligence. The parish priest therefore arranged for his education at the...
, Étienne-Paschal Taché
Étienne-Paschal Taché
Sir Étienne-Paschal Taché was a Canadian doctor, politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation.Born in St. Thomas, Lower Canada, in 1795, the third son of Charles Taché and Geneviève Michon, Taché studied at the Séminaire de Québec until the War of 1812 when he joined the 5th battalion of the...
and George-Étienne Cartier
George-Étienne Cartier
Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, PC was a French-Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation.The English spelling of the name, George, instead of Georges, the usual French spelling, is explained by his having been named in honour of King George III....
. He worked to abolish the system of seigneurial tenure
Seigneurial system of New France
The seigneurial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land distribution used in the North American colonies of New France.-Introduction to New France:...
in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and reform agricultural legislation.
Following the Charlottetown Conference
Charlottetown Conference
The Charlottetown Conference was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from the colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation...
in September 1864, Chapais attended the Quebec Conference
Quebec Conference, 1864
The Quebec Conference was the second meeting held in 1864 to discuss Canadian Confederation.The 16 delegates from the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island had agreed at the close of the Charlottetown Conference to meet again at Quebec City October 1864...
to negotiate on behalf of Canada East
Canada East
Canada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....
for provincial governments to have greater power in the Canadian federal system.
Chapais was Commissioner of Public Works in the Great Coalition
Great Coalition
The Great Coalition was a grand coalition of the political parties of the two Canadas in 1864. The previous collapse after only three months of a coalition government formed by George-Étienne Cartier, George Brown and John A. MacDonald. The Great Coalition was formed to stop the political deadlock...
of 1864–1867, and is credited with establishing the Intercolonial Railway and expanding the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
. In 1867 the British North America Act was passed, creating the Dominion of Canada, and Chapais became the first Minister of Agriculture
Minister of Agriculture (Canada)
The Minister of Agriculture is a Minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada, who is responsible for overseeing several organizations including Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canadian Dairy Commission, Farm Credit Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, National Farm Products Council and...
. At this time, he also switched to representing Champlain
Champlain (provincial electoral district)
Champlain is a provincial electoral riding in the province of Quebec, Canada. Located in the Mauricie region, it was created in 1829. It includes the municipalities of Saint-Stanislas, Saint-Narcisse and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade and the eastern portions of the city of Trois-Rivières.The riding is...
in the Quebec legislature, due to a scandal over electoral irregularities in Kamouraska. On 30 January 1868, Jean-Charles Chapais entered the Canadian Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
, and sat in the body until his death.
As Minister, Chapais was in charge of more than simply agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
: the department was also responsible for the import and export of animals, immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
administration and trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
s, public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
, manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
, and the arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
. After less than three years, he was replaced by Christopher Dunkin
Christopher Dunkin
Christopher Dunkin, PC was a Canadian editor, lawyer, teacher, judge, and politician.Born in Walworth, London, England, the son of Summerhays Dunkin and Martha Hemming, he was educated at the University of London, the University of Glasgow, and Harvard University.He was first elected to the...
, which he greatly resented. His new position of Receiver General for Canada
Receiver General for Canada
The Receiver General for Canada is responsible for making payments to the Government of Canada each fiscal year, accepting payments from financial institutions and preparing the Public Accounts of Canada, containing annual audited financial statements of the Government of Canada...
was significantly less prestigious and powerful, requiring little more than making and accepting payments on behalf of the government. (Today, the portfolio has passed to the Minister of Public Works
Minister of Public Works and Government Services (Canada)
The Minister of Public Works and Government Services is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's "common service organization" , an expansive department responsible for the internal servicing and administration of the federal...
.) Chapais resigned in 1873, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family and business. He is buried in Saint-Denis, Quebec.
The municipality of Chapais, Quebec
Chapais, Quebec
Chapais is a community in the Canadian province of Quebec, located on Route 113 near Chibougamau in the Jamésie region. It is surrounded by, but not a part of, the municipality of Baie-James. The community was first settled in 1929, when prospector Léo Springer discovered deposits of copper, silver...
, is named in his honour.
Sources
- Biography Libraries and Collections Canada
- Biography from the Ministry of Agriculture