Public School History of England and Canada/Canada/Chapter 8
CHAPTER VIII.
CANADA SINCE CONFEDERATION.
1. The British North America Act.—We must now give the terms on which the four Provinces, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, agreed to share a common lot. The principle of their union was that each Province should manage its own local affairs, and leave to the Dominion the control of matters which were of common benefit and interest. To carry out this principle it was necessary to have local Legislatures or Parliaments, as well as a general or Dominion Parliament. This part of the scheme was suggested by, if not borrowed from, the system of government existing in the United States. But in several very important respects the United States model was not copied. Perhaps the most important difference was the retention of Cabinet or Responsible Government in the management of all our affairs, whether belonging to the Dominion or to the Provinces. Again, in the United States each State is free to make its own laws, so long as it does not go beyond the bounds of the Constitution; but in Canada it was agreed that the Governor-General, on the advice of his Ministers, should have the power to veto, or forbid from becoming law, any measure passed by the local Parliaments, if these measures were thought to be hurtful to the general welfare of the Dominion. The Provinces were given the control of many matters such as education; the appointment of courts of justice (but not of the judges); the management of Crown lands within the Province; asylums and jails; the regulation of the sale of intoxicating liquors; and the general power of enforcing the laws. They were permitted to raise a revenue by direct but not by indirect taxation; that is, they could impose such taxes as were paid only by the people on whom they were placed, but not such taxes as duties on goods coming in or going-out of the country, which are called Customs, or taxes on articles made in the country, which we call Excise. Custom and Excise duties are supposed to be paid eventually by the people who buy the goods and use them, and not by the seller or manufacturer. One of the important benefits expected to come from Confederation was the removal of the barriers preventing the different Provinces from trading with each other. To make it impossible for one Province to tax the goods coming into it from another Province, the Dominion Parliament was given the sole right of raising a revenue by Customs or Excise duties. This, however, would make it very difficult for the Provinces to collect money enough to defray their expenses; therefore it was arranged that the Dominion should pay the Provinces annually a large sum out of its revenue, in return for the right to collect these duties. Besides this right of indirect taxation the Dominion kept the control of the Militia, the Post-office, the currency, the penitentiaries, the appointment of judges, the construction and management of the more important public works, and the control of all Crown lands not belonging to any of the Provinces. To carry out this scheme it was necessary to have a good deal of political machinery; so each Province was given a Lieutenant-Governor, appointed by the Governor-General of the Dominion for a term of years, a Legislature elected by the people for four years, and, if the Province wished it, a Legislative Council or Senate. Of the four Provinces Ontario was the only one that felt ‘content to do without a Legislative Council. In each Province there was to be an Executive Council, or Ministry, responsible to the people through their representatives in the Legislature. The Dominion Parliament was to have, as its head, a Governor-General, appointed by the Crown; a Senate, composed of members from the different Provinces, and appointed by the Governor-General for life, and a House of Commons elected by the people. Each Province was given a certain number of senators, Ontario being given twenty-four, Quebec twenty-four, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick twenty-four; in all, seventy-two. The number of members of the House of Commons, at the outset was to be one hundred and eight} on of which Quebec sent sixty-five, Ontario eighty-two, Nova Scotia nineteen, and New Brunswick fifteen. A census was to be taken every ten years, and the number of members given to each Province was to be regulated by the population ; Quebec to send sixty-five, and the other Provinces in proportion to their population. In his way the problem of “Representation by Population” was solved. The real government of the Dominion was to be in the hands of an Executive Council, chosen by the Governor-General from the political party having a majority in the House of Commons, and was to consist, at first, of thirteen members. The Governor-General could reserve any law passed by the Dominion Parliament for the sanction of the Home Government; and, on the advice of his Council, could, within a year from the time of its passing, veto any bill passed by a local Parliament. This power of veto was given because it was feared that the Provinces might pass laws injurious to the Dominion as a whole, or hurtful to the rights of some of the people in them. Having settled the terms of the political partnership, it was thought that there would be a closer union if a railroad were built between the Maritime Provinces and Quebec. It was, therefore, agreed that the long-talked-of Intercolonial Railway should be constructed from Halifax to Quebec, the British Government to give its aid in carrying out the costly scheme.
2. New Provinces.—The principal events of our history since confederation must now be told very briefly, for this part of our history is so recent, that we cannot say, yet, which of its events are the most important, or whether some things that have taken place since confederation are for the good of Canada, or not.
The first Governor-General of the Dominion was Lord Monck, and his Prime Minister was Sir John A. Macdonald, who had taken a leading part along with the Hon. George Brown in carrying through the Confederation scheme. His principal colleagues were Sir George E. Cartier from Quebec, the Hon. Charles Tupper from Nova Scotia, and the Hon. S. L. Tilley from New Brunswick. The first Prime Minister of Ontario was the Hon John Sandfield Macdonald, the Lieutenant-Governor being the Hon. William P. Howland. The majority of the people of the Dominion were content to give the new constitution a fair trial, except the people of Nova Scotia. In the first parliament elected after the union, the members from that province were nearly all opposed to confederation, and had to be quieted by the grant of “better terms.” In 1868, steps were taken to get possession of the vast territory held by the Hudson Bay Company in the North-West. This territory, known as “Prince Rupert’s Land,” had been given to the Hudson Bay Company in 1670 by King Charles II. of England, and had been used by it, for two hundred years, to carry on a profitable trade in furs. The value of this territory was but little known, and the Company fearful of losing its charter always strove to make the English people believe that it was fit for nothing except grazing buffaloes, and providing trapping grounds for Indians. A very few settlers had made their way into this unknown and lone land—the only settlement of importance being at Red River, where Lord Selkirk had founded a colony in 1811. The whole population numbered but ten thousand souls, and was gathered mainly at the different trading posts.
The charter of the Company was expiring, and the Canadian Goyernment induced the British Parliament to pass an Act by which the North-West or Hudson Bay Territory could be surrendered to Canada, on payment of the just claims of the Company. Canada offered to give the Company three hundred thousand pounds sterling, one twentieth of the land, and the right to retain their trading privileges. The offer was accepted. Unfortunately, little thought was given to the small settlement of French and half-breeds on the Red River when taking possession of the country and making provision for its future government. Surveyors were set to work near Fort Garry at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, and the inhabitants became alarmed lest their lots and homes should be taken from them. The necessary steps were not taken to quiet their fears, and when Hon. Wm. McDougall endeavoured to enter the new Province of Manitoba, as its Governor, he found his way barred by an armed force. The chief leaders of the revolt were Louis Riel, a Frenchman, with some Indian blood in his veins, and M. Lepine. A Provisional Government was formed by these men, and they made prisoners of all who were supposed to be in sympathy with the Canadian Government. Among others thus seized was Thomas Scott, a brave, outspoken, loyal subject. For some reason or other Riel had taken a strong personal dislike to Scott, and, after giving him the form of a trial, had him sentenced to be shot. The sentence was carried out under circumstances of great brutality, in March, 1870. When the news reached Ontario there was great excitement, and when, a few months after, volunteers were called for, to go with General Wolseley to crush the rebellion, thousands of young men offered their services. Only the best fitted to endure hardship were chosen, and when, after a long and trying march over what was known as the Dawson Road, they reached Fort Garry, they found the rebels scattered and everything quiet.
Many of these volunteers received grants of land in the new province and became permanent settlers. Soon there began to rise at Fort Garry a prairie city which, to-day, is the fine flourishing capital-of the Province of Manitoba—the city of Winnipeg. In 1870 the “Manitoba Act” was passed. It defined the limits of the Province of Manitoba, and stated how it was to be governed. Its form of government is very much the same as that of Ontario; and, like Ontario, it decided to do without a “Second Chamber” or Legislative Council. It was given the right to send four members to the House of Commons, and was allotted two senators. The next year saw the admission of another province to the Confederation. This was British Columbia on the Pacific Coast, which, separated from the rest of the Dominion by the Rocky Mountains, made it a condition of becoming a part of the Dominion that a railway should be constructed across the prairies and through the Rocky Mountains, so as to connect British Columbia with the Eastern provinces. Although the population of this new province was very small, it was given six members in the House of Commons and three in the Senate.
Two years after, still another province was added to the growing Dominion. Prince Edward Island, which in 1866 refused to become a part of the Confederation, was now willing to cast in its lot with the other provinces. This little island, with its hardy and intelligent population, formerly belonged to Nova Scotia; but in 1784 it received a separate government. Its history before 1873 was much the same as that of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, except that it had trouble in connection with the way its land had been parcelled out to a number of men called “proprietors,” who did not live on the island, and yet refused to give up their claims to those who were the actual tillers of the soil. The Legislative Council of Prince Edward Island was elective; in this respect it differed from the other provinces. On entering Confederation it was given six members in the House of Commons and four in the Senate. No new territory has since been added to the Dominion; but the North-West has been divided into districts, and given a form of government, consisting of a Lieutenant-Governor and Council, in which the people have a slight control over their own local affairs. They have also been given representation in the House of Commons—four members at present being returned from the four districts, Assiniboia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Athabasca.
3. Political Changes.—The party struggles that embittered the politics of Canada before Confederation were dropped for a short time after the Union of the provinces, only to be renewed with almost equal intensity at the general election of 1872. The Government of Sir John A. Macdonald had aroused strong opposition by its share in the Washington Treaty, and its mode of dealing with the proposed Pacific railway. Several points were in dispute between England and the United States, and between the United States and Canada. During the Civil War between the North and South the English authorities had carelessly allowed some vessels, fitted out in British ports, to escape to sea, where they were used by the South to attack and plunder the merchant vessels of the North. The most notorious of these vessels was the “Alabama,” which did a great deal of harm to the shipping of the North. After the war was over, the United States claimed damages for injuries caused by this vessel, and the matter was left for peaceable settlement to a “Joint High Commission” of which Sir John A. Macdonald was a member. Canada was greatly interested in this Commission, for she had claims against the United States for injuries inflicted by the Fenians. Besides, the ownership of San Juan, an island on the Pacific coast, and the boundary line between Canada and Alaska were in dispute. The Americans, too, were anxious, now that the Reciprocity Treaty was no longer in force, to get fishing privileges in Canadian waters. The Commission met, in 1871, at Washington, and agreed to submit the Alabama Claims to arbitration, the result being that the United States received $15,500,000 for the supposed injuries inflicted by the Alabama on her commerce. The claims of Canada for damages on account of the Fenian raids were not even considered; but England, as a slight compensation, agreed to guarantee for Canada, a loan of £2,500,000.
The dispute about the island of San Juan was left to the Emperor of Germany for his decision, which was given the next year in favor of the United States. The Treaty also gave the United States the use of Canadian fisheries for twelve years, in return for the use of their fisheries, and the right to sell fish and fish-oil in United States markets. As this was not considered enough for the use of the valuable Canadian fisheries, a commission was to meet at Halifax later on and decide what sum of money should be paid the Dominion by the United States as an equivalent. This Halifax Commission met in 1878, during the Mackenzie Administration, and awarded $5,500,000 to Canada; the success of this negotiation being due largely to the fact that it was conducted on behalf of Canada by Canadians; Sir Alexander Galt being the principal Canadian representative.
The other cause of political feeling, the building of the Pacific Railway, arose out of the agreement with British Columbia, when that province entered Confederation, that an all-rail route should be built in ten years from Ontario to the Pacific. Many thought such a bargain could not be carried out, that the time was too short, and the cost too great. The elections of 1872 were fought mainly on this issue, and resulted in a majority for the government. The next year Mr. Huntington, the member of Parliament for Shefford, made a formal charge in Parliament that the government had agreed to give a charter to Sir Hugh Allan to build the Pacific Railway, in return for large sums of money to carry the elections. The charge, and the publication of certain letters bearing upon this alleged corrupt bargain, caused great excitement in the Dominion, and after a fierce struggle in Parliament, the government resigned.
The Governor-General, Lord Dufferin, called on the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, the leader of the Liberal Party, to form a government. Mr. Mackenzie accepted the trust, and after forming a ministry, of which the principal members were the Hon. Edward Blake from Ontario and the Hon. A. A. Dorion from Quebec,
asked for a new election. This took place in January, 1874, and resulted in giving a very large majority to the new government. Mr. Mackenzie continued in office till 1878, when his government was defeated on the question of a trade policy for the country. There was a general commercial depression at this time and Canada, with other countries, felt the pinch of hard times. A great many thought that the industries of the country would be benefited if the tariff was raised and foreign goods competing with Canadian products kept out. This policy of “protection” was opposed by the Mackenzie Government, but, when the elections took place in September, 1878, it was found that the doctrines of the “National Policy” were very popular, and, in consequence, Sir John A. Macdonald, who had advocated them, was once more called to be Prime Minister of Canada. That position he held till his death, which took place June 6th, 1891. He was succeeded in the Premiership by Hon. J. J. C. Abbott, who at the time of writing holds the office.
4. Important Laws.—Amid all this strife many measures became law, some, at least, of which will likely remain for years on the Statute-book. In 1874, during the Mackenzie Administration, a Ballot Act was passed, which provided for secret voting by ballot, instead of “open voting.” This reform was introduced to prevent bribery and intimidation, which was very common under the old system of “open voting.” It is very doubtful whether the Act has had all the effect on bribery it was expected to have. Another and a later law bearing on elections was the Dominion Franchise Act, which made the right to vote for members of the Dominion Parliament the same throughout the Dominion. Previous to this act the franchises for the Dominion elections were the same as the franchise in the several Provinces. This Act was passed in 1885, and besides making the franchise uniform, it greatly increased the number of voters, so much so, that now nearly every man twenty-one years of age, and over, has a vote. Before this was passed another measure which created a great deal of ill-feeling, became law. This was the Redistribution Bill of 1882, which seriously changed the boundaries of nearly every constituency in Ontario, for the purpose, it was said by the Government, of equalizing the number of electors in the different constituencies. The Liberals complained that the change was made so as to give their Conservative opponents an unfair advantage in the coming elections.
Among other political measures since Confederation we must notice the increase in the number of representatives in Parliament—there being now ninety-two from Ontario, sixty-five from Quebec, sixteen from New Brunswick, twenty-one from Nova Scotia, six from Prince Edward Island, five from Manitoba, six from British Columbia, and four from the North-West Territories. A Supreme Court of Appeal was established in 1875, to avoid the expense of taking appeals from Canada to the British Privy Council; although appeals are yet allowed to the Privy Council, and are frequently taken there. Then again, in 1879, anew tariff was framed, which greatly increased the duties on foreign goods; and although every session changes are made, yet they are generally arranged for the purpose of “protecting native industries.”
5. Provincial Legislation.—Though many important laws have been passed by the Dominion Parliament, equally important measures have been enacted by the Provincial Legislatures. These laws deal with a great many subjects, such as education; the regulation of the liquor traffic ; aid to railways; the establishment of asylums for the deaf, dumb, blind, and insane; the better management of prisons; the sale of timber limits; mining regulations; and improvements in our municipal laws. In Ontario, under the long administration of Hon. Oliver Mowat which began in 1872, two very important laws have been passed—one dealing satisfactorily with the indebtedness of municipalities to the Municipal Loan Fund, and the other, with the regulation of the liquor traffic. The latter, popularly known as the Crooks’ Act (so called from the Hon. Adam Crooks, its framer), has done a great deal to lessen drunkenness, vice, and crime. Then again, the franchise has been greatly extended in the different provinces, and voting by ballot, except for school trustees, has been made compulsory. Unmarried women and widows in Ontario, with the necessary property qualifications, have been given the right to vote in municipal elections, but not in elections for members of either the Provincial or Dominion Parliament. In Prince Edward Island the difficulty with the “proprietors” has been settled in the interests of the people. Quebec has, by the payment of four hundred thousand dollars, disposed of the “Jesuit Estates” question, while Manitoba has secured the right to build railways within her borders. Ontario has had several legal conflicts with the Dominion as to her proper boundaries, her right to regulate the liquor traffic, and her right to control the Crown lands in her territory, all of which questions have been decided by the British Privy Council in favor of the Province. The exercise of the right to veto provincial laws has caused some friction between the Provinces and the Dominion; but the wise decisions of the British Privy Council have led to a strong feeling in the Dominion against interfering with provincial legislation. To avoid any undue influence being exercised by the Dominion over the Provinces, members of the Dominion Parliament are not allowed to be members of Provincial Legislatures.
6. The North-West Rebellion.—One painful incident in our history must now be told. In 1885 a number of French Half-breeds, who had settled on the Saskatchewan River, in the North-West, rose in revolt against the Dominion, and induced several Indian tribes to join them. The cause of this rebellion was the fear these people had that their lands were to be taken from them and given to the incoming settlers. Surveyors had been sent among them, and this excited fears, which were not regarded until it was too late to prevent mischief. There were also complaints of ill-treatment and neglect of duty by Dominion officers in the North-West, and the petitions of the half-breeds and Indians did not receive prompt attention from the proper authorities. The result was that the excited half-breeds sent for Louis Riel, who was living in the United States, to advise and lead them. One false step led to another, until the discontent broke out in an attack, led by Gabriel Dumont, on some armed Police and volunteers at Duck Lake, in March, 1885. Several of the volunteers were killed, and open rebellion spread over a wide district, a number of Indian chiefs with their followers joining in the revolt. A large force of volunteers, under General Middleton, was sent in the depth of winter from Quebec and Ontario to crush the rebellion. Aided by the Mounted Police, and the volunteers of Manitoba and the North-West, the rising was speedily brought to an end, the last important and decisive engagement taking place at Batoche, where Riel was captured. Many lives were lost in the campaign, and great hardships were endured by the volunteers, half-breeds, and settlers, before this needless outbreak was suppressed. Riel and several Indians were tried for treason and murder; some, among whom was Riel, were executed, the remainder being either imprisoned or pardoned. The execution of Riel caused great excitement in Quebec, where considerable sympathy was felt for the people he so sadly led astray. The rebellion had its uses—for an inquiry was made into the grievances of the Indians and half-breeds, and many of the causes of complaint removed.
7. Material Progress.—Since Confederation there has been a marked change in the material condition of the country. Railways now reach nearly every part of the older Provinces, whilst the territories in the North-West and British Columbia have been connected with the great world of trade by the Canadian Pacific Railway. This great enterprise was completed in 1886, the first sod being turned in May, 1881. A portion of the road had been partly built by the Mackenzie Government; but after that Government was defeated the contract was given to a strong company of capitalists, the chief members of which are Canadians, the company agreeing to build the road for a subsidy of $25,000,000, and 25,000,000 acres of land in the fertile districts of the North-West. The company has shown great energy and ability, so that the Canadian Pacific Railway, with its numerous branches, its large traffic and its connecting steamships on the lakes and on the Pacific, is now one of the most important lines in the world. Then again, the Grand Trunk has gradually obtained the control of many lines formerly independent, the most important being the Great Western and its connections. These two companies—the Canadian Pacific and the Grand Trunk—now control nearly all the roads in Canada, except the Intercolonial, which was built by the Government, at a great cost, to connect the Western provinces with those down by the sea.
Canals, too, have been deepened, widened, and straightened; the new Welland Canal, constructed by the Mackenzie Government, being a very important public work. Great harbour works have been undertaken and built, and lake and ocean vessels have been wonderfully improved, although Canada has as yet no line of fast steamships crossing the Atlantic. in all our cities and larger towns Street Railways are to be found; while electric lighting, and machinery worked by electricity are among recent industrial changes.
Turning to the farms of Canada, we find that the most fertile portions of Ontario and Quebec have been cleared and tilled, and that thousands of the farmers of the older Provinces are finding their way to the rich prairies of Manitoba and the North-West, where the forests are few and the soil easily brought into cultivation. Large towns and villages now dot the face of Ontario, while the two cities of Montreal and Toronto are rapidly increasing their population, wealth, and trade. The population of Canada has increased until it is now estimated at five millions, and of this Ontario is thought to have two millions. This is a part of the bright side of our material condition. Against it we have to place the tendency of so many of our young men to leave Canada for a home in the United States; the increasing difficulty our farmers experience to make farming pay; and the want of a large foreign market for our manufactures.
8. Literary and Social Progress.—Perhaps it is because the energies of the Canadian people have been directed so largely towards overcoming the difficulties met with in settling a new country, that we have so few great writers of prose or verse. Our Public and High Schools are efficient, and our Universities with their too small endowments, are doing a good work; yet, of native Canadian authors, there are none who rank with the great writers of the Mother Country. Nevertheless, there are many good writers of verse, some clever journalists and essayists, and not a few historians who have done good and faithful work. Every year the number of those who seek literary and scientific fame is increasing, and with greater wealth and leisure, the growth of higher and nobler ideals, and the development of a stronger national sentiment, Canada may hope yet to have among her sons and daughters, worthy rivals of Shakespeare, Milton, Macaulay, Scott and George Eliot. The love and practice of art in its various forms is also becoming more and more apparent; Canadian artists already having won fame and distinction in song and painting. With the increase of education, wealth, leisure, and foreign travel, there has been a marked change in the customs and health of the people. Social refinement and luxury have in recent years greatly increased, and a type of character is being gradually developed which is distinctly national. With her magnificent resources of soil, forest and mine; her strong, hardy, intelligent, and vigorous people; her relatively pure, simple, and healthy domestic life; her free systems of education; and her excellent form of government, Canada certainly possesses the promise and potency of a great nation.
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