View source for Jean-Charles Chapais

{{Short description|Canadian Father of Confederation (1811–1885)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name             = Jean-Charles Chapais
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|size=100%}}
| image            = Jean-Charles Chapais.jpg
| caption          = Jean-Charles Chapais as Receiver-General, in 1870
| office           = [[Senate of big Canada|Senator]] for [[List of Quebec senators#De la Durantaye|De la Durantaye, Quebec]]
| appointed        = [[John A. Macdonald]]
| predecessor      = [[Joseph-Noël Bossé]]
| successor        = [[John Jones Ross]]
| term_start       = January 30, 1868
| term_end         = July 17, 1885
| office2          = Member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Quebec]] for [[Champlain (provincial electoral district)|Champlain]]
| predecessor2     = [[John Jones Ross]]
| successor2       = [[François-Xavier-Anselme Trudel]]
| term_start2      = 1867
| term_end2        = 1871
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1811|12|02}}
| birth_place      = [[Rivière-Ouelle, Quebec|Rivière-Ouelle]], [[Lower Canada]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1885|07|17|1811|12|01}}
| death_place      = [[Ottawa]], Ontario
| nationality      = 
| spouse           = 
| party            = [[Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)|Conservative]]
| otherparty       = [[Conservative Party of Quebec (historical)]]
| relations        = 
| children         = [[Thomas Chapais]]
| residence        = 
| alma_mater       = 
| occupation       = 
| profession       = 
| religion         = 
| cabinet          = Minister of Agriculture (1867-1869)<br>Receiver General (1869-1873)
}}
'''Jean-Charles Chapais''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC}} ({{IPA|fr|ʒɑ̃ ʃaʁl ʃapɛ}}; December 2, 1811 &ndash; July 17, 1885) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)|Conservative]] politician, and considered a Father of [[Canadian Confederation]] for his participation in the [[Quebec Conference, 1864|Quebec Conference]] to determine the form of Canada's government.

Chapais was born in [[Rivière-Ouelle, Quebec|Rivière-Ouelle]], a small town in [[Kamouraska Regional County Municipality|Kamouraska]], Quebec, and was educated in [[Nicolet, Quebec|Nicolet]].

Following his success as a farmer and merchant, in 1845 he became the first mayor of [[Saint-Denis-De La Bouteillerie|Saint-Denis-de-la-Bouteillerie]], the town he had lived in from 1833. The following year, he married Georgina Dionne; they had six children together.

==Political career==
At the prompting of his father-in-law, Chapais entered regional politics. In 1851, he was elected for the first time to the [[Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada]]; he was eventually to serve a total of five terms representing [[Kamouraska (federal electoral district)|Kamouraska]]. A [[Parti bleu|"bleu"]], he was a supporter of [[Augustin-Norbert Morin]], [[Étienne-Paschal Taché]] and [[George-Étienne Cartier]]. He worked to abolish the system of [[Seigneurial system of New France|seigneurial tenure]] in [[Quebec]] and reform agricultural legislation.

Following the [[Charlottetown Conference]] in September 1864, Chapais attended the [[Quebec Conference, 1864|Quebec Conference]] to negotiate on behalf of [[Canada East]] for provincial governments to have greater power in the Canadian federal system.

Chapais was Commissioner of Public Works in the [[Great Coalition]] of 1864–1867, and is credited with establishing the [[Intercolonial Railway]] and expanding the [[Grand Trunk Railway]]. In 1867 the [[British North America Act, 1867|British North America Act]] was passed, creating the Dominion of Canada, and Chapais became the first [[Minister of Agriculture (Canada)|Minister of Agriculture]]. At this time, he also switched to representing [[Champlain (provincial electoral district)|Champlain]] in the Quebec legislature, due to a scandal over electoral irregularities in Kamouraska. On 30 January 1868, Jean-Charles Chapais entered the [[Senate of Canada]], and sat in the body until his death.

As Minister, Chapais was in charge of more than simply agriculture: the department was also responsible for the import and export of animals, immigration, the [[census]], patent administration and trademarks, [[public health]], manufacturing, and the [[arts]]. After less than three years, he was replaced by [[Christopher Dunkin]], which he greatly resented. His new position of [[Receiver General for Canada]] was significantly less prestigious and powerful, requiring little more than making and accepting payments on behalf of the government. (Today, the portfolio has passed to the [[Minister of Public Works and Government Services (Canada)|Minister of Public Works]].) Chapais resigned in 1873, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his family and business. He is buried in Saint-Denis-De La Bouteillerie, Quebec.

Chapais' house in Saint-Denis-De La Bouteillerie was designated a [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site of Canada]] in 1962.<ref>{{CRHP|12285|Chapais House|19 March 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Quebec MNA biography|chapais-jean-charles-2505|Jean-Charles Chapais}}
* {{cite DCB |first=Andrée |last=Désilets |title=Chapais, Jean-Charles |volume=11 |url=https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/chapais_jean_charles_11E.html}}
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=8801|2=The Hon. Jean-Charles Chapais, , P.C., Senator}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060521201331/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/023001-2317-e.html Biography] Libraries and Collections Canada
*[http://www.agr.gc.ca/bios/index_e.php?page=chapais Biography from the Ministry of Agriculture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040815200838/http://www.agr.gc.ca/bios/index_e.php?page=chapais |date=2004-08-15 }}

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{{s-off}}
{{succession box|
 before=[[Edward Kenny]]|
 title=[[Receiver General for Canada|Receiver General]]|
 after=[[Théodore Robitaille]]|
 years=1869-11-16 – 1873-01-29
}}
{{s-end}}

{{CA-Ministers of Agriculture}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapais, Jean-Charles}}
[[Category:1811 births]]
[[Category:1885 deaths]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Quebec]]
[[Category:19th-century Canadian farmers]]
[[Category:Canadian senators from Quebec]]
[[Category:Fathers of Confederation]]
[[Category:Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) senators]]
[[Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East]]
[[Category:Conservative Party of Quebec MNAs]]
[[Category:People from Bas-Saint-Laurent]]
[[Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec]]
[[Category:Farmers from Quebec]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Senate of Canada]]