1. The completion of the CPR and the implementation of the Head Tax
The End of 1885
The completion of the CPR and the implementation of the Head Tax

2. The Completion of the CPR
The railway was finally completed in 1885 under Van Horne’s leadership (reminder: he was the American who built more track in his first year of manager than was built to date; because of his leadership, the railway was finished earlier than its projected completion date of 1891)
Now, the government’s promise to bring BC into Confederation was fulfilled
Our nation had a transportation system from “sea to sea”, which was Macdonald’s dream to realize
People who were initially wondering and criticizing the expense of the railway had changed their minds when they saw how quickly the Canadian troops had traveled from Ottawa to Manitoba during the Northwest Uprising
With the completion of the railway. Thousands of settlers chose to migrate west

3. The Last Spike
“The Last Spike” refers to the last spike that was driven to finish the CPR
It was driven in Craigellachie, BC
There are quite a few famous photographs from this site, wherein men and workers are posed around that famous last spike, but one photo in particularly has “made the rounds” because Edward Mallandaine “photobombed” it
Mallandaine is an important BC figure in Canadian history: as a young boy he left home to take part in the Northwest Uprising (he lied to his parents and said he was going to look for carpentry work); however, the Uprising had ended before Mallandaine reached the Prairies, so he got a job with the CPR and stuck around to witness the driving of the last spike, during which time he photobombed the famous picture
Mallandaine went back to Victoria, trained as a civil engineer, worked on more railway projects in BC, helped developed Creston, served in the military, served in WW1, became the mayor of Creston, and died in 1949.

4. Head Tax – Background Info
Chinese immigrants came to California in the 1850s for the much-publicized Gold Rush
Like many other people, they headed north when word of another Gold Rush in BC reached the States (the Fraser River Gold Rush)
As you learned earlier in the year during Geography, the Chinese were not well-received in these areas; discrimination was rampant
Many Chinese decided to re-work areas that had been abandoned by European and American miners; these areas were less expensive to buy and could still produce some gold if you were patient
Other Chinese immigrants helped develop the economy of BC through service industries in the mining towns: stores, restaurants, laundries
They also operated vegetable farms
The CPR hired more than 17,000 Chinese men to work on building the railway
They were paid $1/day (less than half of European workers)
They were segregated (lived in separate camps) and had to pay for their camp and food
The Chinese workers were usually instructed to do the more dangerous work; more than 800 lost their lives due to dangerous work and illness

5. Head Tax - Continued
When the railway was completed in 1885, many Chinese workers could not afford to travel back to China, as they had originally planned
Why? They had been lied to about wages, deductions, and the cost of living, food, and equipment
Many of them moved to Victoria and Vancouver to look for work
In 1885, Canada no longer needed Chinese labour, so the government decided to limit the amount of immigrants
Each Chinese immigrant was required to pay a $50 head tax (like an “entry fee”) to Canada, and ships were allowed to carry only one Chinese passenger per 50 tonnes of cargo
So… do the math… most ships’ limits were 40 Chinese people maximum
The tax and regulations really slowed down immigration and made it almost impossible for families to enter the country together

6. Critical Thinking Questions
The following questions are entitled “Critical Thinking” because they require you to not simply search up and copy a correct answer; you are expected to think, and use information you’ve gained over the last couple of weeks in order to create a correct answer.
“The CPR is the reason Canada exists today”. Assess the statement. What do you think?
The events in Canada’s history from the 1870s through to 1885 arguably shaped Canada for the next hundred years or so. Discuss the effect the following events had on shaping Canada:
The execution of Louis Riel
The Treaty Process
The completion of the CPR
The Chinese Head Tax