Horton Journal of Canadian History ~ Papers
Confederation: "A Doubtful Experiment"
by Crystal Faulkenham
The Canadian Confederation was established in 1867 under the promise, of Sir John A. Macdonald, that a railway would be built stretching from coast to coast. This railway, known as the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), would unite the provinces of Canada under one government and provide a better future for the nation. So why was it that not all provinces jump at such an opportunity? Why did it take eighty-two years before the last province joined the Confederation and Canada became complete? This is because not everyone believed in the promise that the CPR, and one government running the country would make their future better.
Nova Scotia was argued to be favourably situated in regards to political freedom, geographical position, and the extent and variety of its natural resources. "Yet the system of self government which has produced all this prosperity…is to be thrown aside and the doubtful experiment thrust upon her of a political union with the other provinces, in which she must submit to the rule of a larger and it is to be feared not too kindly population." (Buckner, 360). This is only part of the criticism Macdonald had to face while persuading the provinces to join the Confederation. Everyone was content being independent, so why should they give that up for a "doubtful experiment?" What they really did not know was that they were actually falling into deep debt, and joining the Confederation would most likely be the best for them. (Creighton, 70)
In 1864, Tilley’s government, so named for the Premier of New Brunswick, passed the Railway Facility Act, promising a $10,000 per mile subsidy to any private company willing to construct certain specific routes. The basic catch to this was taking part in the Confederation. The extensive borrowing throughout Canada had left all provinces in debt. The Confederation was seen as a way to combine natural resources and make enough money to pay off the British. Railways were the main interest in those days, and so the Railway Facility Act became a large persuasion tool. This is when Macdonald stepped in with his idea of building a railway coast to coast, the CPR. The CPR became the corner stone for the Confederation and in 1867, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia joined the Confederation.
Macdonald became the first Prime Minister of a nation known officially as Canada. The decade that followed was very rocky as the four governments fought over how the new one government system would be run. Nova Scotia tried to back out, while New Brunswick fought for more control. This lack of organization deterred other provinces from wanting to join. The CPR, which had also begun, had already run into financial problems within its first year. They had already spent their entire budget for the whole railway, which only crossed two of the provinces. Needless to say, this was not good, for the CPR was the only grounds on which British Columbia would join the Confederation.
British Columbia was the gold mine for the new nation, and also the province that would make Canada complete from coast to coast. British Columbia was separated from the rest of Canada by the Rockies, and this made trade and transportation almost impossible to anywhere but the United States and the Yukon. British Columbia told Macdonald that if he could promise that the CPR would stretch into British Columbia, and join them with the rest of the provinces, they would join Confederation. Macdonald made this promise, but with the delay coming so soon in the CPR’s construction, British Columbia began to negotiate with the U.S. a bit more. Macdonald was frightened that British Columbia would join the U.S. and his dream would be over. This he could not allow, and so began the debt, and taxes, from the railway.
The Western provinces were very well off in their independence, and this made it very hard to persuade them to join. But in 1870 Manitoba joined the Confederation, and that was followed by British Columbia in 1871. This was not the end though, for the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan still had to be fitted in. Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and the Yukon and Northwest Territories were not seen as essential to the plan as the western provinces were, because they were not needed to make the country run coast to coast.
It was not until 1905 that the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were officially created, but within days of their introduction to the world, they had also signed into the Confederation. This made Canada complete from coast to coast, but what about the islands and the territories?
Prince Edward Island wanted nothing to do with the Confederation; they would not even hold a conference to discuss the matter. This was quite unusual considering it was the birthplace of the Confederation. Prince Edward Island saw Confederation as burdensome and would probably have "stayed out of the Confederation for many years, if it had not decided to build it’s own railway." (Bliss, 65) The cost of a railway was far more than predicted. This created a heavy debt which the Islanders were reluctant to pay for because it meant higher taxes. Joining the Confederation now seemed like a solution to their problems. Whereas the other provinces that had joined the Confederation had to be pleaded with, it was now a province’s turn to plead to be allowed to join. In 1873, Prince Edward Island finally joined the new nation. (Canada)
Building a new nation had its share of hardships alone. It is hard enough to put together a puzzle, but when the pieces of the puzzle are not even formed yet, the task gets a whole lot harder. As with Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Yukon and Northwest Territories still had to be out together into provinces. The trouble here was that there were not enough people occupying the land in these regions to obtain the status of a province. The liberal government, in power at the time under Sir Wilfred Laurier, "decided that the settlement of the area should be speeded up." (Garrod, 78) In 1896 campaigns were made to promote immigration to Canada. The problem that arose now was that people were coming from Britain and settling in the West, not the North. This worked out fine for the government but not for the people who already lived in the west, the natives. "As settlers began to populate the Prairie region, the aboriginals were forced to migrate north into the Territories." (Morton, 43) This was unfair to the natives, but there was little they could do at this time because of all the treaties that had been signed giving up their land to the white government. The natives, therefore, moved north into the cold Territories, and because the government already had control of the land, Yukon and Northwest Territories became part of the new nation when they were established as provinces in 1898. The only province left to collect now was Newfoundland.
Newfoundland would be the tenth and final province to join the Confederation and complete the new nation of Canada. Newfoundland, however, was still loyal to Britain, and wanted nothing to do with the Confederation. They were quite content, and insistent, remaining a British colony, and did so for eighty-two years after the idea of Confederation was first proposed. In the 1930’s, however, things began to change for Newfoundland. "The depression broke the back of the Island’s proud independence. The limited economy…was not strong enough to survive the pressures…"(NF Interactive) There was not enough money for the province to operate, so their affairs and the province were handed over to the British government. During the Second World War, Newfoundland had increased contacts with Canadians, as they served in the Canadian Navy and Army. After the war, Britain no longer wanted to take responsibility for Newfoundland. The people were asked to make a decision in 1949; remain a self-governed British Colony; become an independent country; or join with Canada. Many felt that Canada had nothing to offer Newfoundland, but the cost of independence was too high for them to afford. They did not want to remain a British colony any longer, because they felt they had been outcast. In favour of 7000 votes, Newfoundland became Canada’s tenth and final province. Canada was now complete from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast and North to the Arctic Ocean. The only thing left to settle was the matter of how the government should run the country; an issue, which is still in debate today. Even though the road was rocky, Canada became a strong nation, one which many admire.
That which started as a suggestion, made by Lord Durham in the early 1800’s, to unite Canada under one government to avoid civil war, turned into a dream by Macdonald to make Canada the grandest nation. When the British North America Act (BNA) was introduced in 1867, which established Confederation (Maton), the people had no idea how hard it would be to unite a country, nor how the outcome would be. Now, because of a "doubtful experiment", we have the grandest nation of all to call our home.
Bibliography
Bliss, Michael. Confederation: A New Nationality. Toronto, 1981.
Buckner, Phillip A. and John G. Reid(Editors). The Atlantic Region to Confederation: A History.
Toronto, 1994.
Canada Information Office. "Canada". http://www.infocan.gc.ca/index/_e.html
Creighton, Donald. The Road to Confederation. Toronto,1964.
Garrod, Stan. Confederation. Toronto, 1982.
Maton, William F. "Canadian Constitutional Documents: The Constitution Act, 1867".(Primary)
http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/aia/English/index.asp
Morton, Desmond. Shaping a Nation. Toronto, 1996.
NF Interactive(NFL). "The Life and Times of Pre-Confederation Newfoundland".
http://www.nf.inertactive.org/confederation/
