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Serving Agriculture:
Canada's Ministers of Agriculture

Jean-Charles Chapais

Birthplace

Federal Constituency

Education

Professional Background

Political Affiliation

"As a farmer and longtime representative of one of the most beautiful farming regions of Quebec, working for agricultural prosperity is, to my way of thinking, more than a duty. It is also a source of immense pleasure."
-- Jean-Charles Chapais, letter to his supporters, July 8, 1867

Political Career

The Chapais were one of the wealthy, politically active families that guided the development of the parish community of St-Denis. Jean-Charles Chapais was the first mayor, while his father-in-law, the wealthy merchant and seigneur Amable Dionne, served in the colonial government representing Kamouraska.

Dionne encouraged Chapais to run for election to the legislative assembly when a seat became vacant. After one unsuccessful attempt, Chapais was elected in 1851 and re-elected in four consecutive elections.

In 1864, a coalition of parties agreed to prorogue the assembly and concentrate on achieving Confederation to end the political stalemate in Upper and Lower Canada, which are now the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Chapais was appointed commissioner of public works and served in cabinet through the Confederation conferences and debates. He established the Intercolonial Railway and developed the Grand Trunk Railway--infrastructure that laid the groundwork for Confederation.

On July 1, 1867, Chapais became Canada's first minister of agriculture. He understood the industry well, having written a 13-part report on Quebec agriculture in 1851.

Later that summer, he ran to represent Kamouraska at both the provincial and federal levels. Rioting and a scandal over irregularities in voting procedures cancelled the election and the riding lost its right to representation for two years. Chapais was acclaimed for Champlain in the Quebec national assembly in December 1867 and was appointed to the Senate in January 1868.

Chapais' agriculture portfolio became onerous over time. His party's popularity also was waning under the pressures of governing a new country. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald needed to bring new people into cabinet--especially MPs from the House of Commons. Chapais was transferred to the receiver general portfolio, a less demanding but thankless job. In 1873, he resigned from cabinet because he was disenchanted with Ottawa life and wanted to spend more time with his family and business. He continued to serve as a senator until his death in 1885.

Industry Issues

Canadian agriculture in the 19th century reflected a diversity of farm climates, soil types and growing seasons. Some regions, such as Quebec, had been farmed for generations. Others, such as the Northwest Territories, hadn't yet been settled.

Early farmers and new settlers lacked the time and resources to solve their own problems. The department acted first in an area of immediate concern: the impact of animal disease on dairy and livestock production.

Departmental Developments

Before Confederation, the province of Canada had a small and relatively ineffective bureau of agriculture. Chapais oversaw a small Ottawa office of just 23 clerks--a far cry from the thousands of professionals employed by the department in the 1990s.

In 1868, the federal government passed an Act to organize and establish the Department of Agriculture. Its mandate went beyond traditional agriculture concerns to include immigration and emigration; public health and quarantine; the marine and emigrant hospital at Quebec; arts and manufacturing; census activities, statistics and registration; patents; copyright; and industrial designs and trademarks.

Early annual reports hardly mention agriculture, focusing on more immediate colonial concerns such as immigration.

Accomplishments as Minister

Chapais' first recorded action was an Order in Council on August 13, 1868 prohibiting imports of horned cattle from the United States into Ontario and Quebec. A plague of "texian fever" in cattle threatened to contaminate livestock transported by rail. Chapais appointed Canada's first two agricultural inspectors to enforce the ban at two Ontario border crossings.

The first departmental legislation was An Act Respecting the Contagious Diseases of Animals, passed in 1869. Farmers trying to establish livestock herds needed protection from rinderpest and other European diseases.

Canada's first chief veterinary inspector oversaw early inspections and quarantines at maritime ports and American border crossings to prevent diseased animals from entering Canada. Existing diseases were monitored and controlled. These basic principles of inspection and disease control still exist in the current Health of Animals Act (1990).

Worth Noting

• Canada's first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, nicknamed Chapais "my little nun" for his dedication to the Catholic Church and the civil institutions of French Canadians.
• Chapais was a delegate to the Quebec Conference of 1864, where the 72 Resolutions that led to Canadian Confederation were debated and passed. He is one of the Fathers of Confederation seated around the table in Robert Harris' famous portrait.
• Dr. J.C. Taché, the first deputy minister of the department, was both a nephew of former Quebec leader Etienne-Pascal Taché and Chapais' trusted ally from Kamouraska.
• Two of Chapais' political rivals in Kamouraska also became ministers of agriculture.