The Race to the WestThe Race to the West  Macdonald held no secret that in order to keep the Americans at bay, he needed to create a railway that went from coast to coast.  Railways had already been built from Ontario to the Maritimes, now Macdonald had to create a railway from Ontario to the West Coast.  The reality of this railway could not happen unless British Columbia was willing to enter Confederation with Canada.

British Columbia Enters Confederation  British Columbia officially enters confederation of Canada on July 20, 1871 – but it wasn’t a foregone conclusion.  Prior to 1871 many citizens in British Columbia were debating whether they were better served by Canada (and the British Monarchy) or by the Americans.  The strongest support came from many British Citizens that took up residence in Victoria.

British Columbia Enters Confederation  British citizens occupied, created and built up the city of Victoria as an attempt to counter the expanding American settlement during the 1840’s.  These citizens were akin to that of the Loyalists in Ontario.  The land was legally known as Crown Land of Great Britain and was controlled by Governor Fredrick Seymour.

British Columbia Enters Confederation  British Columbia, prior to 1870s, had no formal legislature and a partly-elected Legislative Council.  One of these members of the Legislative Council was William Smith of Nova Scotia.  William Smith later changed his name to Amor De Cosmos.  De Cosmos was the most outspoken supporter of BC joining confederation with Canada.

Amor De CosmosAmor De Cosmos  De Cosmos was born to British Loyalists that moved to Nova Scotia after the American Civil War.  De Cosmos was a businessman, photographer, journalist, and politician.  De Cosmos was a liberally minded when it came to politics and was frustrated with the amount of power and control Governor Fredrick Seymour had.  As such he created what amounted to be the first quasi-political party in BC called the Confederation League. Amor De Cosmos

Amor De CosmosAmor De Cosmos  De Cosmos declared that his groups aims were, “to effect Confederation as speedily as possible and secure representative institutions for the colony, and thus get rid of the present one-man government, with its huge staff of overpaid and do-nothing officials.”  Unfortunately, Seymour was more interested in creating closer ties with the Americans than the Canadians.  De Cosmos’ and his group eventually caused so many fits for Seymour that Great Britain had to send in a new governor, Governor Anthony Musgrave.  Musgrave was instructed to work with the Confederation League and De Cosmos to promote confederation.

British Columbia Enters Confederation  Macdonald promised De Cosmos that within 10 years of B.C. entering confederation he will build a railway that will go from coast to coast – ending in B.C.  De Cosmos endorsed Macdonald’s promise and told the public that as of July 20, 1871 B.C. was officially part of Canada – with a chance to back out if Macdonald’s promise was not met.

PROBLEM!!!!  Identify one major problem with BC joining confederation with Canada – look closely at how the land is carved out in BC.  Who has the largest territory of land? Who was never consulted about joining Canada?  Was it the majority or the minority making decisions for BC?

Washington Treaty 1871Washington Treaty 1871  With Macdonald promising a national railway to BC in order to achieve his goal of a nation that goes from Coast to Coast he needs assurance that the USA will not try to annex British Columbia.  Macdonald’s fear was not a figment of his imagination, he knew about the Manifest Destiny, but what worried him even more so was the creation of the Northern Pacific Railway.

Washington Treaty of 1871Washington Treaty of 1871  The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that was to be built from Deluth, Michigan to the Pacific North. This railway was built by Jay Cooke and would allow Americans to send military, citizens and etc.. to the border of Washington State and BC.

Washington Treaty of 1871Washington Treaty of 1871  The Washington Treaty was designed to solve disputes between Great Britain and the USA.  Macdonald attended the treaty in hopes to accomplish two things a) reparation from the Fenian Raids and b) restoring reciprocity with the USA so Canada can freely trade with the States.  Both did not happen. Macdonald was irate with GB and further humiliated by the USA – as the USA saw Canada as nothing more than a British Child.

Washington Treaty of 1871Washington Treaty of 1871  Macdonald go two things from this treaty:  First, was an assurance from President Ulysses S. Grant that the border dispute between BC and Washington State was settled and that the B.C. border would be at the 49 th parallel.  Secondly, because GB did not fighting hard for Macdonald’s two concessions, they decided to give the Canadian government £2,500,000 to help build the railway.

Building the CPRBuilding the CPR  With BC in his back pocket, USA off his back, and GB giving money to Macdonald, all he needed now was a company to build the railway.  Government Contracts – If a government wants a private company to do work for them, they have to ask for companies to submit a proposal for the contract. If approved by the ministry, the private company will be paid by the government to complete the required task.

Building the CPRBuilding the CPR  In 1872 Macdonald’s government put out a contract for a private company to build a national railway. The contract contained the following details:  a) It had to be built from Toronto to the Pacific Coast  b) $30 million will be paid out the private company to complete the task  c) 50 million acres of land will be given to the company to complete the task  d) it had to be completed by or before July (the 10 year clause Macdonald promised BC)

Building the CPRBuilding the CPR  Two main companies came to the forefront  Group 1 was an Ontario Group who built the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR).  Group 2 was Sir Hugh Allen from Montreal, he built railways in Eastern Canada and had the backing of American Jay Cooke (owner of the Northern Pacific Railway)  The GTR was well liked as they were 100% Canadian owned.  Sir Hugh Allen was a favourite of Quebec Conservatives such as Hector Langevin, G.E.C, Francis Hincks (Minister of Finance) and many others. The problem was Allen had the backing of an American which did not sit well with Macdonald.

Building the CPRBuilding the CPR  Macdonald did like Sir Hugh Allen for one main reason; Allen was a major supporter – mostly financial supporter – of the Conservative Party. Whereas some members of the GTR group supported the Liberals.  This is where politics gets really unfortunate.  Because Allen was a financial supporter of the Conservatives and members of the GTR were not, this automatically made Allen the favourite to win the contract.

Building the CPRBuilding the CPR  Allen could not get the contract for nothing, however…  Memo’s were sent to Allan saying, “The friends of the Government will expect to be assisted with funds in the pending elections, and any amount which you or your Company shall advance for the purpose shall be recouped by you. A memorandum of immediate requirements is [listed]: Sir John A. Macdonald $25000, Hon. Mr. Langevin $15,000 and Sir G.E.C. $20,000.”

Building the CPRBuilding the CPR  This memo, along with other letters sent between Allan and the Conservative government, made it seem that if Allan donated money to the Conservative party, the party would then in return grant them the railway contract.  Ultimately, it would be taxpayers money that would find their way to the pockets of Conservative politicians.  This type of a scheme is known as Political Patronage.

Building the CPRBuilding the CPR  Political Patronage - Political patronage is the dispensation of favours or rewards such as public office, jobs, contracts, subsidies, prestige or other valued benefits by a politician (who controls their dispensation) to a client.  Ultimately, you scratch my back and I will scratch your back.

1874 Election1874 Election  While political patronage isn’t new, and still exists today, this political patronage was very favourable to the Conservatives, very expensive for taxpayers, and very unethical (as money from the tax payers made its way into the pockets of Conservative politicians), and as such it turned into a scandal.  It became known as the Pacific Scandal, and it eventually lead to the resignation of Macdonald.  In 1873 Governor General Lord Dufferin called upon Liberal leader Alexander Mackenzie to form a government.  In 1874, Mackenzie called an election and won.

1873 Election1873 Election  Mackenzie campaigned on a notion that linking the country by rail from sea to sea was expensive, and way to much trouble.  Instead he believed that ships and boats were the key to success and that if we wanted to send goods to the interior of Canada we would use the lakes and rivers to do so.  Mackenzie’s “do nothing” attitude towards the railway was not well received by the people of BC.

1873 Election1873 Election  Politicians from BC protested against Mackenzie, tried to lobby the federal government and even talked about seceding from Confederation if the promised railway did not get built.  Seceding – to withdraw from the union.