The Origins and Early Development of Statute Labor in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, 1796-1861

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research note examines the early development of the statute labor system in Quebec. The focus is on the Eastern Townships region where—for cultural as well as geographic reasons—the road building and maintenance system was more community-based than in the rest of the province. That region welcomed the introduction of municipal governance and the property assessment system in the 1840s, but rural ratepayers remained determined to pay their road taxes with their own labor. As a result, despite the inefficiencies of the labor tax and the criticisms of road improvers, provincial legislation recognized it as a permissible option, thereby allowing it to survive until after the turn of the 20th century.