Quebec's Anglophone Communities and the Legacies of the Quebec Act

Recorded at a QUESCREN Lunch & Learn webinar on February 6, 2025

Context

Sir Guy Carleton was an Irish Protestant who served as Governor of Quebec and has been celebrated for enacting the Quebec Act in 1774.

Jane McGaughey delves into the legacies of the Quebec Act, exploring how this foundational document and its primary author have been remembered, revered, or dismissed by Quebec’s Anglophone communities from the 1770s to the present day.

Key takeaways

Although Carleton came from a Protestant family that benefited from anti-Catholic laws, he supported the 1774 Quebec Act, which gave French Canadian Catholics unprecedented rights, including religious freedom and the use of French civil law.
Carleton’s decisions were unpopular with many English-speaking leaders in Quebec, who viewed the Quebec Act as a rejection of British-style governance.
Historical records describe Carleton in conflicting ways, ranging from ruthless and reactionary but also intrepid and honourable. It is difficult to know what his private thoughts were because he destroyed his personal papers before his death.
Carleton was once referred to as the “Father of Canada” but his legacy has faded within Quebec - his name was removed from a major Montreal street and the 250th anniversary of the Quebec Act passed with little notice.

Read the Research

Quebec’s Anglophone Communities and the Legacies of the Quebec Act, 1774‒2024 (QUESCREN Working Paper)

Useful links

Additional resources shared during the event

Biographies of Guy Carleton and primary material written by him can be searched in Canadiana.
Guy Carleton’s biography can also be found the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

Speaker bio

Jane McGaughey is the Johnson Chair of Québec and Canadian Irish Studies at Concordia University and holds a stated research mandate to highlight the contributions of the Irish and their descendants in Quebec since the mid-18th century. She also serves as a Full of Professor of History and Diaspora Studies.

Jane is also a QUESCREN researcher-member.

How to cite this video: McGaughey, Jane. “Quebec's Anglophone Communities and the Legacies of the Quebec Act” Lunch & Learn webinar produced by the Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University, Montreal, February 6, 2025. http://youtube.com/watch?v=pIPDM7HpXMQ&t=2s

Terms of Use: This Lunch & Learn recording is made available to the public under the terms of Creative Commons Licence Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International.

The material can be copied and distributed in its original form only and for non-commercial purposes.
Users must give appropriate credit to the creator(s) of the material and link to the original source.

About QUESCREN Lunch & Learns

QUESCREN is a collaborative network of researchers, community members and institutions that provides opportunities to promote the understanding and vitality of English-speaking Quebec. Our Lunch & Learn series consists of one-hour webinars on research topics related to English-speaking Quebec.

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This event was made possible through the financial support of the Secrétariat aux relations avec les Québécois d'expression anglaise. QUESCREN also received funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage, and Concordia University.