Joseph-Israël Tarte, PC

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,...

 (January 11, 1848 – December 18, 1907) was a Canadian politician and journalist.

Tarte came to prominence as editor of several newspapers, Le Canadien

Le Canadien

Le Canadien was a French language newspaper published in Lower Canada from November 22, 1806 to March 14, 1810. Its motto was: "Nos institutions, notre langue et nos droits"...

, L'Événement, La Patrie

La Patrie

La Patrie was a Montreal, Quebec daily newspaper founded by Honoré Beaugrand on February 24, 1879. It became a weekly in 1957 and folded in 1978....

 and the Quebec Daily Mercury

Quebec Mercury

The Quebec Mercury was an English language weekly newspaper published in Quebec City from 1805 to 1863.The Mercury was founded by publisher Thomas Cary in respect and veneration of Canada's link to the United Kingdom. From 1828 to 1848 the Mercury was owned jointly by Thomas Cary Jr. and...

. He was initially a follower of Sir 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....

 before hardening into a conservative ultramontanist supporter of Church intervention into politics but later became a Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 and a critic of the Church.

In 1876, Tarte was in charge of the campaign to elect Hector Langevin to parliament and supported, in his published articles, the clergy's intervention in the by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

. Langevin was Cartier's successor as Quebec lieutenant

Quebec lieutenant

In Canadian politics, a Quebec lieutenant is a politician, from Quebec, usually a francophone and most often a Member of Parliament or at least a current or former candidate for Parliament, who is selected by a senior politician such as the Prime Minister or the leader of a national federal party,...

 to Sir John A. Macdonald

John A. Macdonald

Sir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...

 and de facto leader of the federal Conservative Party in French Canada. A Supreme Court of Canada

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

 decision declared that sermons by the clergy during the by-election campaign had played an intimidating role termed influence indue spiritual or "undue spiritual influence" - thus the court overturned the vote and called a new by-election which Langevin won by a reduced margin.

Tarte himself sat as a member of the Quebec legislative assembly from 1877 to 1881 in the riding of Bonaventure

Bonaventure (provincial electoral district)

Bonaventure is a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Quebec that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It was originally created in 1829.-Geography:...

 and made moderate Conservative Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau

Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau

Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, PC, KCMG , born in Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, was a French-Canadian lawyer and politician....

, Langevin's rival, a frequent target of both speeches and editorials. He was also charged with organizing the federal Conservative Party's campaign in the Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 region for the 1878 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1878

The Canadian federal election of 1878 was held on September 17 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 4th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the end of Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie's Liberal government after only one term in office. Canada suffered an economic depression...

He reconciled with Chapleau but was left out of his Cabinet along with the rest of the ultramontanist faction when he became Premier of Quebec

Premier of Quebec

The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....

. Tarte chose not to run for re-election in 1881, partly due to being disconcerted by the Vatican's warnings against clerical influence in politics. By 1882 he had abandoned ultramontanism and returned to his earlier "Liberal-Conservative" position of moderation from which he criticised those who continued to hold an ultramontanist position.

Tarte became increasingly disillusioned in the Conservative Party due to the Conservative government's hostility or indifference to French Canada in issues such as the Manitoba Schools Question

Manitoba Schools Question

The Manitoba Schools Question was a political crisis in the Canadian Province of Manitoba that occurred late in the 19th century, involving publicly funded separate schools for Roman Catholics and Protestants...

 and the trial and execution of Louis Riel

Louis Riel

Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....

 - while Tarte had supported crushing the Second Riel Rebellion he was troubled by the government's decision to allow Riel to hang. After briefly joining the Parti national, he joined the Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

. He played the leading role in exposing the McGreevy

Thomas McGreevy

Thomas McGreevy was a Canadian politician and contractor.Born in Quebec, he was the son of Robert McGreevy, a blacksmith, and Rose Smith...

-Langevin scandal that resulted in McGreevy's expulsion from the House of Commons for corruption and forcing the resignation from Cabinet of Langevin, his former mentor.

Wilfrid Laurier

Wilfrid Laurier

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....

 invited Tarte to enter federal politics and he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 in the 1891 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1891

The Canadian federal election of 1891 was held on March 5 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Canada. It was won by the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald....

.

In parliament, Tarte accused the Conservatives of bad faith in the Manitoba Schools Question and reneging on a promise to Manitoba's Archbishop Taché to intervene. When the Liberals took power following the 1896 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1896

The Canadian federal election of 1896 was held on June 23, 1896 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the...

, Laurier appointed Tarte to Cabinet as Minister of Public Works. As such, Tarte dispensed patronage, helped solidify ties with the business community in Montreal and developed the Port of Montreal

Port of Montréal

The Port of Montreal, is a port located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on the St Lawrence river. It one of the largest inland ports in the world, it is the second busiest port in Canada , and it is one of the busiest ports in North America....

.

Later in his political career, Tarte opposed Canadian involvement in the Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

 and called for greater Canadian independence from Britain. Paradoxically, he later opposed Liberal policy on reciprocity

Reciprocity (Canadian politics)

In nineteenth and early twentieth century Canadian politics, the term reciprocity was used to describe the concept of free trade with the United States of America...

 campaigning instead for greater economic unity of the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 and higher tariffs. This resulted in Laurier dismissing Tarte for breaking Cabinet solidarity. Tarte's protectionism

Protectionism

Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...

 brought him back into the orbit of the Conservative Party, now led by Robert Borden

Robert Borden

Sir Robert Laird Borden, PC, GCMG, KC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the eighth Prime Minister of Canada from October 10, 1911 to July 10, 1920, and was the third Nova Scotian to hold this office...

 and Tarte briefly became the Conservative Party's Quebec organizer for two by-elections but chose not to run for re-election himself in the 1904 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1904

The Canadian federal election of 1904 was held on November 3 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Canada...

 choosing to return to journalism. His flirtation with the Conservatives ended and Tarte supported Laurier editorially. Physically, he grew increasingly weaker until his death in 1907

External links

• Joseph Israel Tarte: Relations between the French Canadian Episcopacy and a French Canadian Politician (1874-1896) by Laurier Lapierre M.A.
  Laurier LaPierre
  Laurier L. LaPierre, OC is a retired Canadian Senator and former broadcaster, journalist and author. He is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada....
  
  
• Joseph-Israel Tarte, Canadian Encyclopedia
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online