Don Gutteridge - Unholy Alliance

When Marc finished translating, no-oneresponded for a moment. Then Bergeron said, “If you have beenunsuccessful so far, what makes you believe that you, or we, canpersuade the British government to adopt the principle now?”

“ We are a defeated people,” Tremblayadded bitterly, the tempering effects of the luncheon having wornoff. “And your rebels are in Van Dieman’s Land or hiding outin American slums. Why should the victors offer any thing tothe vanquished?”

Robert, to whom these challenges had beendirected, replied quietly: “We would not have asked you here, andMr. LaFontaine would not have accepted our invitation, if we didnot believe we were moving inexorably towards our goal.”

“My colleague is referring to the secretnegotiations that he and I have had with Governor Poulett Thomson,”Hincks added hastily. “As you know, the Tories here vehementlyopposed the Union Act and its terms, and they, with theirconservative colleagues, held a majority in our Assembly. The Whiggovernment in London refused to endorse the union unless bothCanadian provinces approved of it. So, in order to get legislativeapproval here last November, His Excellency required outassistance. Although we too had qualms about the terms, we secretlyagreed to help the Governor by backing the bill and persuading themoderate conservatives to do so as well. In return for ourassistance, His Excellency assured us that, in practice, he wouldadhere 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 theExecutive Council and be in a position to advance ourpolicies.”

“You have some written assurance of this?”Bérubé asked.

Hincks smiled. “We have not, and the reasonis simple: such a principle, the bulwark of British parliamentarydemocracy, has not been written down anywhere in Englishconstitutional law. It is merely a custom, and all the moreenduring for that.”

“I don’t follow,” Bergeron said. “If this‘custom’ has not the force of law, what guarantee do we have thatit will not be abandoned as soon as it is expedient to do so?”

“And how do you know the Governor hasn’tplayed you for fools?” Tremblay said, looking pleased withhimself.

“He could have told your moderateconservatives just the opposite,” Bérubé pointed out, “that hewould guarantee never to allow responsible government inreturn for their support. Certainly the fellow has been bothhigh-handed and devious in his dealings with us in Quebec.”

Robert and Hincks looked down the table toLouis LaFontaine.

“These are the very questions we came here tohave answered for us,” LaFontaine said softly.

The discussion was interrupted at thiscritical point by the less-than-unobtrusive arrival of thetea-trolley in the hands of Austin Bragg, subbing for the butler,who was no doubt snooping about the barns in search of a missingbag of oats. As soon as Bragg had served the refreshments anddeparted, Robert returned to the burning issue of the day.

“At the moment it is a matter of trust andlogic,” he said. “I believe that Poulett Thomson wants, and hasbeen commanded, to push through immediate reforms to alleviate oureconomic woes and unburden the mother country of the expense ofpropping us up and defending us from the United States. And I knowfor a fact that he realizes that nothing can be achieved withoutconstant support and real leadership in the Assembly. Moreover, Ihave been shown correspondence between him and Lord Russell inLondon, in which he has been told that he must govern with theconsent of the populace. Hence, in the short term, he has no choicebut to establish an administration selected from, and enjoying thesupport of, the group that controls the Assembly. And unbeknownstto him or our opponents, we are today laying the groundwork for aFrench-English party who will present him with that possibility,and, I might add, a party whose forward-looking economic policiescoincide with his own.”

“You might even say,” Hincks added when Marchad translated Robert’s response, “that this situation, very muchin our favour, is step one of step two.”

LaFontaine almost smiled. “That much I dosee,” he said, “though are we not in danger of getting tangled inour own steps? It’s still not clear where we would step next.”

“Let me try that one on,” Hincks said withhis customary and sometimes off-putting enthusiasm. “Robert issaying that the time is ripe to establish on a practical basis, inthe new set-up, a working arrangement with Poulett Thomson thatresembles responsible government as we understand it. Once it isseen to operate to the economic and social benefit of the twoprovinces and provided that party cohesion is maintained, it willbecome impossible for the Governor to alter the arrangements. Thistime the vast majority of the populace, conservative and liberal,will be behind the new arrangement, even if they do not all agreeon our policies. To go backwards would bring chaos and economicruin: too many citizens will have benefited to let that happen.Indeed, we see the extremists on both sides becoming marginalizedvery quickly.”

“But His Excellency Mr. Poulett Thomson isnot our monarch,” LaFontaine said. “Nor is his health good.”

“How do we know that his successor will notbe another Lord Gosford or General Colborne?” Tremblay cried,striking the table with his two-fingered hand. “These governorscome willy-nilly from anywhere! Your lieutenant-governor, SirGeorge Arthur, was known as the Executioner of Van Dieman’s Landbefore he arrived here in ‘thirty-eight to start hanging everyrebel he could see.”

“That is a concern,” Robert conceded. “All wecan do is make sure that conditions here will make it moredifficult for future governors to become tyrants. For now, the Whiggovernment in London is backing us. ”

“A Whig government that is close tocollapse,” Bergeron said, indicating that he was well-versed on thestate of English politics, “with the unsavoury prospect of RobertPeel becoming the new Prime Minister.”

“Facing a Tory government in England will bestep three,” Robert said calmly. “Establishing the habit of cabinetresponsibility to the majority in the Assembly is step two, andshould occupy us for the next two or three years. That is all thegrace period we shall need. Step three will begin when the firstfresh and unsympathetic governor arrives, and none of us canpredict the outcome. But we can’t get to that step without thefirst two, and their accomplishment lies entirely within ourpower. With the program of reforms now agreed to, I am asking for asolemn commitment to the formation of a coalition party with theauthority to act as such in the new Legislature.”

In the brief silence that followed theseremarks, Bérubé said, “In the least we will be able to get thecanals improved, the roads built, and the banks brought to heel — before the roof falls in! Right now, we’re all stewing in our ownjuice.”

“And we could get the French languageapproved for the Assembly,” Bergeron said, “and legal protectionsfor our Catholic schools and colleges. And local government of somekind — ”

Hincks interrupted to say, with a rush ofenthusiasm, “Mr. Baldwin has already sketched out a bold plan for acounty governance system that combines the best features of theBritish and American models.”

Maurice Tremblay startled the room bybringing his maimed fist down upon the table so smartly the coffeecups rattled in their saucers. “Damn it all!” he shouted, glaringat his colleagues and their schoolboy exuberance. “Don’t you seewhat is happening here?”