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C’est déjà un personnage de premier plan au sein de la communauté commerciale du pays. Il exerce une influence certaine sur les destinées de l’économie nationale. Actif au sein du Bureau de commerce de Québec depuis sa venue au Canada, il en a assumé la présidence en 1873 (il le fera encore en 1895), et participera, durant les années 1890, à des commissions sur la navigation d’hiver et le commerce d’exportation du bétail.
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This appointment displeased his erstwhile colleagues. In the House of Commons, Thomas Chase-Casgrain* accused him of political opportunism. Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper* went even further, making the malicious claim that he could be bought for five dollars. Dobell countered by referring to the lack of ethics they had shown, especially in forcing Sir Mackenzie Bowell* to resign as prime minister. The Conservatives did not forgive him for his sudden change of allegiance. In the 1896 session, running from 19 August to 5 October, Dobell was acting minister of the interior. He soon crossed swords with the opposition in debates about the opening of a rapid steamship route between England and Canada. The project, which had been put forward by the cabinet of Sir John A. Macdonald* and in which the leader of the opposition, Sir Charles Tupper*, had played an important role, served Dobell’s interests. In fact, he was one of the leading promoters and shareholders of two Quebec firms, the Louise Wharfage and Warehouse Company and the Quebec Cold Storage and Warehouse Company, that would certainly profit from such a link. However, the project as championed by Dobell was sharply criticized by the Conservatives. Chase-Casgrain, for one, was puzzled by a statement from the minister confirming that Quebec would be the ocean terminus but hinting that the maritime route might extend to Montreal. Sir Charles Tupper criticized Dobell for wanting to inaugurate a route with steamships making only 18 knots instead of the 20 knots initially planned. He also mentioned a possible conflict of interest because of Dobell’s apparently close business connections with the Cunard Steamship Company. In fact, a number of financial considerations led the Laurier cabinet to favour a slower service than the one first envisaged by the Conservatives. Speaking for the government, Dobell maintained that ships doing 18 knots could compete favourably with transport on the New York-Liverpool route provided refrigeration compartments and larger cargo space were added, improvements not considered by Tupper during the previous negotiations. Even the annual subsidy, originally set at $750,000 by the Liberals, was reduced by Dobell to $500,000, a figure more in keeping with the size of the Canadian budget.
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