you believe that you, or we, can
persuade the British government to adopt the principle now?”
“ We are a defeated people,” Tremblay
added bitterly, the tempering effects of the luncheon having worn
off. “And your rebels are in Van Dieman’s Land or hiding out
in American slums. Why should the victors offer any thing to
the vanquished?”
Robert, to whom these challenges had been
directed, replied quietly: “We would not have asked you here, and
Mr. LaFontaine would not have accepted our invitation, if we did
not believe we were moving inexorably towards our goal.”
“My colleague is referring to the secret
negotiations that he and I have had with Governor Poulett Thomson,”
Hincks added hastily. “As you know, the Tories here vehemently
opposed the Union Act and its terms, and they, with their
conservative colleagues, held a majority in our Assembly. The Whig
government in London refused to endorse the union unless both
Canadian provinces approved of it. So, in order to get legislative
approval here last November, His Excellency required out
assistance. Although we too had qualms about the terms, we secretly
agreed to help the Governor by backing the bill and persuading the
moderate conservatives to do so as well. In return for our
assistance, His Excellency assured us that, in practice, he would
adhere to the principle of cabinet responsibility we recommended.
So, you see, we have every expectation that when your Rouge and our Reform combine to make up a majority in the new Assembly,
it will be our members – French and English – who will form the
Executive Council and be in a position to advance our
policies.”
“You have some written assurance of this?”
Bérubé asked.
Hincks smiled. “We have not, and the reason
is simple: such a principle, the bulwark of British parliamentary
democracy, has not been written down anywhere in English
constitutional law. It is merely a custom, and all the more
enduring for that.”
“I don’t follow,” Bergeron said. “If this
‘custom’ has not the force of law, what guarantee do we have that
it will not be abandoned as soon as it is expedient to do so?”
“And how do you know the Governor hasn’t
played you for fools?” Tremblay said, looking pleased with
himself.
“He could have told your moderate
conservatives just the opposite,” Bérubé pointed out, “that he
would guarantee never to allow responsible government in
return for their support. Certainly the fellow has been both
high-handed and devious in his dealings with us in Quebec.”
Robert and Hincks looked down the table to
Louis LaFontaine.
“These are the very questions we came here to
have answered for us,” LaFontaine said softly.
The discussion was interrupted at this
critical point by the less-than-unobtrusive arrival of the
tea-trolley in the hands of Austin Bragg, subbing for the butler,
who was no doubt snooping about the barns in search of a missing
bag of oats. As soon as Bragg had served the refreshments and
departed, Robert returned to the burning issue of the day.
“At the moment it is a matter of trust and
logic,” he said. “I believe that Poulett Thomson wants, and has
been commanded, to push through immediate reforms to alleviate our
economic woes and unburden the mother country of the expense of
propping us up and defending us from the United States. And I know
for a fact that he realizes that nothing can be achieved without
constant support and real leadership in the Assembly. Moreover, I
have been shown correspondence between him and Lord Russell in
London, in which he has been told that he must govern with the
consent of the populace. Hence, in the short term, he has no choice
but to establish an administration selected from, and enjoying the
support of, the group that controls the Assembly. And unbeknownst
to him or our opponents, we are today laying the groundwork for a
French-English party who will present him with that possibility,
and, I might add, a
persuade the British government to adopt the principle now?”
“ We are a defeated people,” Tremblay
added bitterly, the tempering effects of the luncheon having worn
off. “And your rebels are in Van Dieman’s Land or hiding out
in American slums. Why should the victors offer any thing to
the vanquished?”
Robert, to whom these challenges had been
directed, replied quietly: “We would not have asked you here, and
Mr. LaFontaine would not have accepted our invitation, if we did
not believe we were moving inexorably towards our goal.”
“My colleague is referring to the secret
negotiations that he and I have had with Governor Poulett Thomson,”
Hincks added hastily. “As you know, the Tories here vehemently
opposed the Union Act and its terms, and they, with their
conservative colleagues, held a majority in our Assembly. The Whig
government in London refused to endorse the union unless both
Canadian provinces approved of it. So, in order to get legislative
approval here last November, His Excellency required out
assistance. Although we too had qualms about the terms, we secretly
agreed to help the Governor by backing the bill and persuading the
moderate conservatives to do so as well. In return for our
assistance, His Excellency assured us that, in practice, he would
adhere to the principle of cabinet responsibility we recommended.
So, you see, we have every expectation that when your Rouge and our Reform combine to make up a majority in the new Assembly,
it will be our members – French and English – who will form the
Executive Council and be in a position to advance our
policies.”
“You have some written assurance of this?”
Bérubé asked.
Hincks smiled. “We have not, and the reason
is simple: such a principle, the bulwark of British parliamentary
democracy, has not been written down anywhere in English
constitutional law. It is merely a custom, and all the more
enduring for that.”
“I don’t follow,” Bergeron said. “If this
‘custom’ has not the force of law, what guarantee do we have that
it will not be abandoned as soon as it is expedient to do so?”
“And how do you know the Governor hasn’t
played you for fools?” Tremblay said, looking pleased with
himself.
“He could have told your moderate
conservatives just the opposite,” Bérubé pointed out, “that he
would guarantee never to allow responsible government in
return for their support. Certainly the fellow has been both
high-handed and devious in his dealings with us in Quebec.”
Robert and Hincks looked down the table to
Louis LaFontaine.
“These are the very questions we came here to
have answered for us,” LaFontaine said softly.
The discussion was interrupted at this
critical point by the less-than-unobtrusive arrival of the
tea-trolley in the hands of Austin Bragg, subbing for the butler,
who was no doubt snooping about the barns in search of a missing
bag of oats. As soon as Bragg had served the refreshments and
departed, Robert returned to the burning issue of the day.
“At the moment it is a matter of trust and
logic,” he said. “I believe that Poulett Thomson wants, and has
been commanded, to push through immediate reforms to alleviate our
economic woes and unburden the mother country of the expense of
propping us up and defending us from the United States. And I know
for a fact that he realizes that nothing can be achieved without
constant support and real leadership in the Assembly. Moreover, I
have been shown correspondence between him and Lord Russell in
London, in which he has been told that he must govern with the
consent of the populace. Hence, in the short term, he has no choice
but to establish an administration selected from, and enjoying the
support of, the group that controls the Assembly. And unbeknownst
to him or our opponents, we are today laying the groundwork for a
French-English party who will present him with that possibility,
and, I might add, a
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