Chapter 10 Expanding Confederation What factors led British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and then Newfoundland to become provinces of Canada, and what were the consequences?

British Columbia Joins Confederation Many newcomers to Canada were lured by the promise of fertile farming land British Columbia, at first, seemed like it was all rock and mountain People began rushing to British Columbia for another reason: GOLD! https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x16b1m6_history-of-canada-episode-6- the-pathfinders-2_shortfilms 38:00 – 45:46

Gold Colony The First Nations who lived along the Fraser River had been mining gold for hundreds of years. When the Hudson’s Bay Company set up a trading post nearby, the First Nations miners brought their gold to trade Word that there was gold in the mountains quickly spread to the outside world In 1858, about 25 000 prospectors were scrambling along the banks of the Fraser River

The Road to Gold The prospectors started moving more North and more gold was discovered along the Quesnel River in the Cariboo Mountains The Governor decided to build a wagon road called the Cariboo Road It cost more than a million dollars to build

After the Gold Rush The Gold Rush only lasted until about 1968, 8-10 years After the rush, the sleepy town of Victoria was transformed into a thriving centre Many newcomers stayed on, they build farms and started up businesses Logging became extremely important to the economy British Officials arrived to setup a government – this was a colony for Britain

One Colony on the Pacific The purpose of colonies was to provide wealth and power for the home country As the gold rush wound down, the colonies almost went bankrupt The colonists became unhappy with their relationship with Britain – the colony was deeply in debt A lot was changing – Canada was expanding West and the United States were expanding North British Columbia had three options: To remain a British colony To become a province of Canada To join the United States

BC would join Confederation if: They wanted Canada to pay the colony’s debts. They wanted a road to build across the prairies to the Pacific. It would link British Columbia with the rest of Canada. They wanted Canada to make payments to the new province every year. Much to their surprise, Canada agreed! They also offered to build something better than a road. They offered to build a transcontinental railway. On July 20th 1871, British Columbia became Canada’s sixth province

Prince Edward Island Joins Confederation PEI was one of the colonies that originally took part in the talks that led to Confederation in 1867 The islanders decided not to join Canada The islanders wanted more money and more Members of Parliament (from PEI)

Rethinking Confederation 4 main reason they re-thought confederation: The “Land Question” – British landowners technically owned the land. The farmers didn’t own their homes or farms. If PEI joined Canada the government promised to buy the land for them In 1871, the government of PEI wanted to build a railway to increase jobs and help farmers move their produce. If they joined Canada, the federal government would help pay for it PEI was trying to make a trade deal with US to sell their goods. This angered the British government. Britain wanted to rid itself of the cost of running the colony. Canada was worried that the American secretly planned to take over the island. As a result, both Canada and the Britain put pressure on PEI to join the union.

A Better Deal In 1873, delegates from PEI went to Ottawa Their were tough negotiations but Canada agreed to: Pay the island’s debts Pay the province an annual sum of money Take over the cost and building of the island railway Provide year-round steamboat service between the island and the mainland Give PEI six MPs in the House of Commons Buy back land from the absentee landowners in Britain

Two New Provinces in the West After PEI and BC had joined Confederation, Canada stretched from Sea to Sea But in the middle, lay the North-West Territories – they were a part of Canada but they were not provinces The North-West Territories were granted full responsible government – which means the elect their officials, rather than depend on the monarch

Provincial Status Responsible government wasn’t enough for the people of the North-West Territories They needed services from the government, due to their growing populations (roads, schools, railway, etc) The North-West territories was different than PEI and BC because they were already part of Canada – they needed to decide the number of provinces to be created, the division of powers and ownership of resources, and minority rights

One Province or Two, Federal vs. Provincial Power, and Minority Rights One or two provinces – it was argued that a single province would be too large to manage and have too much power. In 1905, the Saskatchewan Act and the Alberta Act created two new provinces Federal vs. Provincial Power The Federal government kept control of public lands and resources In return, it paid each province just over a million dollars Minority Rights Concerned with minority education for Francophone and Catholic schools

Review Why did people start flocking to British Columbia? What was BC classified as before it became a province? What were some of the reasons PEI joined confederation the second time? What was Alberta and Saskatchewan called before they were provinces? Why didn’t people want Alberta and Saskatchewan to be one large province?

Newfoundland and Confederation Newfoundland also chose not to join Confederation in 1867 However, in the 1930s thing began to change The economy of the colony of Newfoundland was based on exporting natural resources but during the Great Depression of the 1930s, no one had the money to buy natural resources The colony was about to go bankrupt The British government took control of the colony’s affairs by replacing the government with the commission but things didn’t get better until the Second World War

Confederation Revisited After World War II Newfoundland had three options: Return to colonial status Leave the commission in place Become the tenth province of Canada In 1948 the people of Newfoundland voted in a referendum The first referendum was unclear The second referendum results were 52.3 per cent voted to join and 47.7 per cent voted to stay a British colony – MAJORITY RULES!