Raymond J. de Souza: How an Upper Canada Catholic diocese changed an empire

KEMPTVILLE, ON — On New Year’s Eve, when I wrote about how the Plains of Abraham (1759), the Quebec Act (1774) and George Washington’s military occupation of Montreal (1775) were all pivotal moments in determining that Nouvelle France/British North America would become Canada, and not part of the United States, I had no idea that 18th-century Canadian history would return to the front pages. Fresh from Davos last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney argued at the Citadel in Quebec City that the events of those years charted a distinctive Canadian path, marked by partnership rather than pure conquest.