Colonization and Municipal Reform in Canada East

In the early 1850s, a body of legislation established a viable system of municipal government in Canada East. In the countryside, the primary function of municipal councils was to levy taxes against absentee landholders to promote local utility works and especially for the construction and maintenance of roads. The primary impetus for these road construction projects was to open the Eastern Townships to French Canadians living on overcrowded seigneuries to try to stem their emigration to the United States. Opening up the Townships to Francophones was also an initiative of Catholic parish priests and missionaries, as well as by Montreal's Bishop Bourget, but was opposed by English-speaking settlers of the Townships. The author points out that in the Bois-Francs region, where Francophones were most vigorous in their demands for changes to the land tenure system that had favoured absentee landowners, property taxes were used to curb speculation following the construction of the railroad from Quebec to Richmond. The author concludes that judging by the activities of the Township councils, the price of land and the frequency of sales to Bois-Francs Francophone settlers, it appears that the new municipal system had the desired effect in the settlement areas.

Histoire sociale / Social History

Vol. 14

no. 27

93-121

May 1981

en