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Date: 1868
Source: Andrée Désilets, Hector-Louis Langevin: Un père de la Confédération canadienne (1969)
Hector-Louis Langevin was a Canadian politician and lawyer who played a key role in the Confederation movement that led to the formation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867. In 1866, Langevin was one of the delegates who represented Canada at the London Conference, a meeting of British and colonial officials that was held to discuss the details of the proposed Canadian Confederation.
At the London Conference, Langevin was a vocal advocate for the interests of the Canadian delegation and worked to promote their goals and priorities. He was a strong supporter of the idea of a federal system of government for Canada, with powers divided between the federal and provincial levels, and he played a key role in negotiating the details of the division of powers and responsibilities.
Langevin was also an important voice in the discussions around the role of the British monarch in the new Canadian government. He advocated for the creation of a strong executive branch, with the governor-general appointed by the British monarch serving as a key figurehead and symbol of national unity
.
Overall, Langevin's contributions to the London Conference helped to shape the course of Canadian history, as they helped to establish the framework for the new federal system of government that would be created under the British North America Act, 1867. Langevin is remembered as one of the key "Fathers of Confederation" who played a critical role in shaping the future of Canada as a unified and independent country.
[letter to his brother Jean]
[Present with Langevin were John A. Macdonald (Canada), George-Etienne Cartier (Canada), Alexander Tilloch GaIt (Canada), William P. Howland (Canada), William McDougall (Canada), Charles Tupper (Nova Scotia), Adams G. Archibald (Nova Scotia), Jonathan McCully (Nova Scotia), William A. Henry (Nova Scotia), John M. Johnson (New Brunswick), Samuel Leonard Tilley (New Brunswick), Charles Fisher (New Brunswick), R.D. Wilmot (New Brunswick), Peter Mitchell (New Brunswick), John W. Ritchie (Nova Scotia - "whose name I have forgotten for the moment")]
Macdonald is a sharp fox. He is a very well informed man, ingratiating, clever and very popular. He is the man of the conference. Cartier and I, we are Nos. 2 and 3. Galt is a clever financier, but too headstrong and too yielding. He is not stable. Howland is a second-class man, but prudent to excess, he is even timid; he is very slow to make up his mind. McDougall is capable, he gathers information constantly, but he is frankly lazy, possessed with great ambition and little frankness. Mr. Tupper, of Nova Scotia, is capable, but too incisive; he makes many bitter enemies for himself; he is ambitious and a gambler. Mr. Archibald, also of Nova Scotia, is a good man of the law; calm, capable, respected and respectable and represents the opposition with McCully. McCully is a headstrong man, but has a good heart; he is a good writer and a good advocate. Henry, of Nova Scotia, is a man of six feet one inch, popular, ugly, has the gout, a good heart, loves pleasure and politics which he has followed for twenty-two years; he is a man of many gifts. Johnson is a distinguished advocate, brusque, and pleasure-loving; he is said to be eloquent. He will play only a moderate part in the conference. New Brunswick is represented by Tilley, a deft trimmer, clever and adroit. He is one of the most distinguished men of the Maritimes. He has four companions: Fisher, a good fellow who talks a good deal and has only a mediocre capacity; Wilmot, a mediocre man, more capable none the less than Fisher, but very ugly; Mitchell, Prime Minister by accident, a good fellow, wordy, with a swelled head, aware of his own importance. There is another whose name I have forgotten for the moment.
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Cite Article : www.canadahistory.com/sections/documents
Source: Andrée Désilets, Hector-Louis Langevin: Un père de la Confédération canadienne (1969)
Reference: Article by (Staff Historian), 2023
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