Challenges for a New Dominion

The dawn of a new era broke on July 1, 1867 for almost 3.5 million people in North America. Cannons boomed, dignitaries delivered lofty speeches, and no doubt plenty of beverages flowed. The Fathers of Confederation and federalists, especially in the newly formed province of Ontario, probably celebrated the most. At the same time, sharply critical opponents promised to absorb a great deal of the newly elected governments attentions. To the surprise of few, Conservative John A. Macdonald emerged to lead Canadas initial Parliament, which gathered in the old lumbering and canal community of Ottawa. Relying heavily on his Quebec counterpart Cartier, Macdonald made a concerted effort, and thereby established a precedent, to appoint cabinet members from the countrys various parties, regions, ethnic groups, languages, and religions. At the time this meant representatives from the Maritimes, Quebec, and Ontario; Protestants and Roman Catholics; anglophones and francophones; and French Canadian, English, Scots, and Irish. While the dynamic of appointing members from opposition parties would ebb and flow in the years after Confederation, the idea of maintaining a representative group of cabinet appointees would remain an essential ingredient for successful federal leadership. The Conservatives had a majority in Canadas first federal government, but their opponents, soon to be named Liberals, were returned in great numbers as well. As the political period of the 1840s and 1850s suggested, profound differences divided the two parties. Broadly speaking, the Conservatives supported a strong federal union, ambitious western development, the protection of growing

industries through tariffs, and railroad developers. Conversely, the Liberals were more inclined to champion provincial agendas, free trade, and the interests of working-class Canadians. Although politics were far more complex than this brief summary suggests, in the late nineteenth century the Conservatives generally fostered aggressive national expansion and economic development. Liberals, on the other hand, routinely questioned the wisdom of rapid territorial growth and what they interpreted as the heavy-handed power of Ottawa, inevitably wielded at the expense of provincial rights. The Conservatives essentially dominated the federal political landscape from 1867 to 1896, so much of Canadian history in the period reflected their interests. The opposition to Confederation in Nova Scotia was overwhelming. With one exception, all of the federal members of Parliament elected in 1867 were anti-confederates. Led by the vociferous Joseph Howe, the antis protested being hoodwinked into Confederation without a clear vote or mandate. Some met with the British, some suggested seceding from Canada, and a few raised the possibility of joining the United States. Rebuffed by the British, who endorsed a closely knit dominion, the antis reluctantly struck a bargain with the willing federal government.Howe accepted a position in Macdonalds cabinet, the province received financial subsidies, and Ottawa promised to complete a railroad line connecting Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to Quebec. Opposition to Confederation diminished somewhat as a result, yet it remained a significant force in Nova Scotias political landscape into the twentieth century. The issues evident in Nova Scotia were also at work on Prince Edward Island, which turned its back on Confederation in 1867. With a population of about 90,000, many still struggling to extract

themselves from a system of land tenancy, islanders generally opposed joining Canada on the grounds that it would ensure the provinces permanent marginalization as the country developed. Economic misfortunes and railroad development problems quickly brought the colony to the brink of insolvency, making Confederation a more attractive prospect. Ottawas offer to assume debts and provide subsidies, including cash to purchase farms from landlords and improved ferry services, became Prince Edward Islands handmaid to Confederation in 1873. With both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, financial incentives and transportation linkages to the rest of Canada trumped idealistic notions of joining a nationalistic enterprise. Only a handful of visionaries dreamed that continental expansion would be Canadas destiny.