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Christopher Dunkin was
defeated in his first attempt to represent Drummond in the colonial
legislative assembly in 1844. His second attempt at politics was more
successful, although his tenure was brief: he was elected to the
assembly in 1858 to represent Drummond-Arthabaska, but he lost the seat
in 1861. Finally, the resilient Dunkin was elected to represent Brome, a
seat he held from 1862 until Confederation.
Dunkin contributed to the crisis in government that eventually led to
Canadian Confederation when he refused to support the government of
fellow Conservatives John A. Macdonald and Etienne-Pascal Taché in 1864.
The loss of his vote denied their ministry the majority it needed to
stay in power. The legislative gridlock that resulted from the
government´s fall led to the desperate coalition of parties that
eventually achieved Confederation. Ironically, Dunkin, who represented
the English Protestant minority in Quebec´s Eastern Townships, opposed
Confederation during the parliamentary debates of 1865. He predicted
that the new country would have too many regional, racial, religious and
political differences to develop as a nation.
In 1867, Dunkin was elected to both the House of Commons and the Quebec
national assembly for Brome. He turned down a Quebec cabinet position
because premier-designate Joseph Edouard Cauchon would not introduce and
support a bill giving Protestants their own schools. Pierre Joseph
Olivier Chauveau, a former associate of Dunkin´s, was more willing to
address Protestants´ needs. Chauveau became premier and formed Quebec´s
first provincial government. Dunkin was his treasurer from 1867 to 1869
and was so influential that people nicknamed it the "Chauveau-Dunkin"
government.
In 1869, Prime Minister Macdonald rearranged his cabinet and needed a
new English-speaking Quebec representative. When his first choice, John
Henry Pope, refused -- only to accept two years later -- Macdonald
appointed Dunkin minister of agriculture. Dunkin, however, was in poor
health and losing political support. In 1871, Dunkin resigned and left
politics to become a puisne judge of the Superior Court of Quebec until
his death in 1881.
Departmental Developments
Dunkin owned a 316-acre industrial-sized
farm in Knowlton on Lac Brome and was no stranger to agricultural
issues. Like Chapais before him, most of his concerns at the Department
of Agriculture had little to do with what would appear to be important
to agricultural policy today. Annual reports of the period dwell on
immigration issues and the collection of statistics.
Accomplishments as Minister
The only agricultural concern Dunkin
appears to have faced was a brief scare over a resurgence of the cattle
plague that caused Chapais to ban American horned cattle imports for
several weeks in 1868. In 1870, after an investigation by Ontario
government officials, Dunkin concluded there was no cause for alarm.
Worth Noting
Dunkin´s political legacy may have more to
do with his role as Quebec´s minister of finance than his achievements
as Canada´s minister of agriculture.
Dunkin started a tradition in Quebec politics that lasted over a
century: appointing an English-speaking member of the assembly as
Quebec´s treasurer.
Dunkin might have been
ahead of his time on federal-provincial issues, strongly advocating the
equality of federal and provincial governments and espousing what
biographer Pierre Corbeil calls a "true Quebecker´s view of politics and
the Constitution." Dunkin believed the provincial government had to take
an active role in Quebec´s economic development, even though provinces
depended on Ottawa for revenue. |
