Who chaired the 1864 Quebec Conference, a key step toward the Canada celebrated on July 1?

Étienne-Paschal Taché chaired the 1864 Quebec Conference, a key step toward the Canada celebrated on July 1.

Held in Quebec City from October 10 to 27, the conference brought together delegates from the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland observers. Its purpose was to turn the broad agreement reached at the Charlottetown Conference into a workable constitutional plan.

The delegates produced the 72 Resolutions, outlining a federation with a central Parliament, provincial legislatures, an elected lower house, and an appointed Senate. Taché was elected chairman, but John A. Macdonald was a dominant political force during the negotiations. George Brown and George-Étienne Cartier were also major participants, which can make the chairmanship easy to misremember.

The Quebec Resolutions became the foundation for later negotiations in London and strongly influenced the British North America Act, 1867. That Act took effect on July 1, 1867, creating the Dominion of Canada from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.