Commentary
Roman Catholic bishops supported Confederation in the hope that a strong central government would protect Catholic minorities in Protestant-dominated Ontario and the Maritimes, two-thirds of the new Dominion. On the flip side, Protestant minority educators in Quebec looked to the same constitutional provisions to protect them.
Archbishop Connolly urged Charles Tupper, premier of Nova Scotia and a delegate to the Union conferences, to “go in for the rights of minorities, Protestant as well as Catholic,” according to “The Life and Times of Confederation” by Peter B. Waite. That topic was debated by the Fathers throughout the autumn of 1866.
There were English or Protestant schools all across the future Quebec, from Aylmer to the Gaspé, many in the Eastern Townships and Southern Counties. They were a big presence in Montreal, of course, dating back to 1816 with the Royal Grammar School, and there were many others. Father of Confederation Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, champion of English-speaking Quebecers, made their protection a key principle….