Chapter 10
History: Confederation and Expansion
The Fathers of Confederation, the first Prime Minister, the West, and the railway from sea to sea.
Confederation
- From 1864 to 1867 representatives of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada worked with British support to establish a new country. These men are known as the Fathers of Confederation.
- They created two levels of government, federal and provincial. The old Province of Canada was split into Ontario and Quebec, which together with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia formed the new country.
- The British Parliament passed the British North America Act in 1867, and the Dominion of Canada was officially born on July 1, 1867.
- Until 1982 July 1 was celebrated as “Dominion Day”. Today it is officially known as Canada Day.
- The term Dominion of Canada was suggested in 1864 by Sir Leonard Tilley, a Father of Confederation from New Brunswick, inspired by a Bible passage referring to “dominion from sea to sea”.
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Expansion of the Dominion
- The country grew province by province and territory by territory, in this order.
| Year | Joined |
|---|---|
| 1867 | Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick |
| 1870 | Manitoba, Northwest Territories |
| 1871 | British Columbia |
| 1873 | Prince Edward Island |
| 1880 | Transfer of the Arctic Islands |
| 1898 | Yukon Territory |
| 1905 | Alberta, Saskatchewan |
| 1949 | Newfoundland and Labrador |
| 1999 | Nunavut |
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Canada’s first Prime Minister
- In 1867 Sir John Alexander Macdonald, a Father of Confederation, became Canada’s first Prime Minister. Born in Scotland on January 11, 1815, he came to Upper Canada as a child and was a lawyer in Kingston, Ontario.
- Parliament has recognized January 11 as Sir John A. Macdonald Day. His portrait is on the $10 bill.
- Sir George-Étienne Cartier was the key architect of Confederation from Quebec. He led Quebec into Confederation and helped negotiate the entry of the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and British Columbia.
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Challenge in the West
- When Canada took over the northwest from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1869, the 12,000 Métis of the Red River were not consulted. Louis Riel led an armed uprising and seized Fort Garry.
- Ottawa sent soldiers to retake Fort Garry in 1870, Riel fled to the United States, and Canada established a new province: Manitoba. A second rebellion in 1885 led to Riel’s trial and execution for high treason, a decision strongly opposed in Quebec. Many see him as a hero and the father of Manitoba.
- Prime Minister Macdonald established the North West Mounted Police in 1873. Regina became its headquarters. Today the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are the national police force and one of Canada’s best-known symbols.
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A railway from sea to sea, and moving westward
- British Columbia joined Canada in 1871 after Ottawa promised to build a railway to the West Coast. On November 7, 1885 Donald Smith drove the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway — a powerful symbol of unity.
- The railway was built by both European and Chinese labour. Afterwards the Chinese were subject to discrimination, including the Head Tax, a race-based entry fee. The Government of Canada apologized in 2006 for this discriminatory policy.
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier became the first French-Canadian prime minister since Confederation and encouraged immigration to the West. His portrait is on the $5 bill.
- The railway made it possible for immigrants — including 170,000 Ukrainians and 115,000 Poles, and tens of thousands from Germany, France, Norway and Sweden — to settle in the West before 1914 and develop a thriving agricultural sector.
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