Canada under British Rule by Sir John George Bourinot (story reading txt) 📖

Fisher, and R.D. Wilmot. The last named, who took the place of Mr. Steeves, was a Loyalist by descent, and afterwards became speaker of the senate and a lieutenant-governor of his native province. Their deliberations led to some changes in the financial provisions of the Quebec plan, made with the view of satisfying the opposition as far as possible in the maritime provinces but without disturbing the fundamental basis to which Canada had already pledged itself in the legislative session of 1865. All the difficulties being now removed the Earl of Carnarvon, then secretary of state for the colonies, submitted to the house of lords on the 17th of February, 1867, a bill intituled, "An act for the union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the government thereof; and for purposes connected therewith." It passed the two houses with very little discussion, and the royal assent was given to it on the 29th of March of the same year as "The British North America Act, 1867." It is interesting to know that in the original draft of the bill the united provinces were called the "Kingdom of Canada," but when it came eventually before parliament they were designated as the "Dominion of Canada"; and the writer had it from Sir John Macdonald himself that this amendment did not emanate from the colonial delegates but from the imperial ministry, one of whose members was afraid of wounding the susceptibilities of United States statesmen.

During the same session the imperial parliament passed a bill to guarantee a loan of three million pounds sterling for the construction of an intercolonial railway between Quebec and the coast of the maritime provinces--a work recognised as indispensable to the success of the new federation. Her Majesty's proclamation, giving effect to the Union Act, was issued on the 22nd May, 1867, declaring that "on and after the first of July, 1867, the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, shall form and be one Dominion, under the name of Canada."


CHAPTER IX.


CONFEDERATION. 1867--1900.

SECTION I--The first parliament of the Dominion of Canada. 1867--1872.


The Dominion of Canada took its place among the federal states of the world on the first of July, 1867. Upper and Lower Canada now became known as Ontario and Quebec, while Nova Scotia and New Brunswick retained their original historic names. The first governor-general was Viscount Monk, who had been head of the executive government of Canada throughout all the stages of confederation. He was an Irish nobleman, who had been a junior lord of the treasury in Lord Palmerston's government. He was a collateral descendant of the famous general of the commonwealth, created Duke of Albemarle after the Restoration. Without being a man of remarkable ability he was gifted with much discretion, and gave all the weight of his influence to bring about a federation, whose great benefits from an imperial as well as a colonial point of view he fully recognised.

The prime minister of the first federal government was naturally Sir John Macdonald, who chose as his colleagues Sir George E. Cartier, Sir S.L. Tilley,--to give them all their later titles--Sir A.T. Galt, Sir W.P. Howland, Mr. William McDougall, Mr. P. Mitchell, Sir A.G. Archibald, Mr. A.F. Blair, Sir A. Campbell, Sir H.L. Langevin, Sir E. Kenny, and Mr. J.C. Chapais. Mr. Brown had retired from the coalition government of 1864 some months before the union, nominally on a disagreement with his colleagues as to the best mode of conducting negotiations for a new reciprocity treaty with the United States. The ministry had appointed delegates to confer with the Washington government on the subject, but, while Mr. Brown recognised the desirability of reciprocal trade relations with the United States on equitable conditions, he did not deem it expedient to appear before American statesmen "as suitors for any terms they might be pleased to grant." A general impression, however, prevailed that this difference of opinion was not the real reason of Mr. Brown's resignation, but that the animating motive was his intense jealousy of Sir John Macdonald, whose dominant influence in the government he could no longer brook.

The governments of the four provinces were also regularly constituted at this time in accordance with the act of union. The first lieutenant-governor of Ontario was Lieutenant-General Stisted, of Quebec, Sir Narcisse Belleau; of Nova Scotia, Lieutenant-General Sir Fenwick Williams, the hero of Kars; of New Brunswick, Major-General Doyle, but only for three months. With the exception of the case of Quebec, these appointments were only temporary. It was considered prudent to select military men in view of the continuous reports of Fenian aggression. Sir William Howland became, a year later, lieutenant-governor of Ontario, Major-General Sir Francis Hastings Doyle of Nova Scotia in the fall of 1867, and Hon. L.A. Wilmot, of New Brunswick in July 1868. The first prime minister of Ontario was Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald, who had been leader of a Canadian ministry before confederation. He had been a moderate Liberal in politics, and opposed at the outset to the federal union, but before 1867 he became identified with the Liberal-Conservative party and gave his best assistance to the success of the federation. In Quebec, Mr. Pierre Chauveau, a man of high culture, formed the first government, which was also associated with the Liberal-Conservative party. In New Brunswick, Attorney-General Wetmore was the first prime minister, but he was appointed a judge in 1870, and Mr. George E. King, a judge of the supreme court of Canada some years later, became his successor. In Nova Scotia, Mr. Hiram Blanchard, a Liberal and unionist, formed a government, but it was defeated at the elections by an overwhelming majority by the anti-unionists, and Mr. Annand, the old friend of Mr. Howe, became first minister.

The elections for the Dominion house of commons took place in the summer of 1867, and Sir John Macdonald's government was sustained by nearly three-fourths of the entire representation. The most notable incident in this contest was the defeat of Mr. Brown. Soon after his resignation in 1866 he assumed his old position of hostility to Sir John Macdonald and the Conservatives. At a later date, when the Liberals were in office, he accepted a seat in the senate, but in the meantime he continued to manage the _Globe_ and denounce his too successful and wily antagonist in its columns with his usual vehemence.

The first parliament of the new Dominion met in the autumn of 1867 in the new buildings at Ottawa--also chosen as the seat of government of the federation--and was probably the ablest body of men that ever assembled for legislative purposes within the limits of old or new Canada. In the absence of the legislation which was subsequently passed both in Ontario and Quebec against dual representation--or the election of the same representatives to both the Dominion parliament and the local legislatures--it comprised the leading public men of all parties in the two provinces in question. Such legislation had been enacted in the maritime provinces before 1867, but it did not prevent the ablest men of New Brunswick from selecting the larger and more ambitious field of parliamentary action. In Nova Scotia Sir Charles Tupper was the only man who emerged from the battle in which so many unionists were for the moment defeated. Even Sir Adams Archibald, the secretary of state, was defeated in a county where he had been always returned by a large majority. Mr. Howe came in at the head of a strong phalanx of anti-unionists--"Repealers" as they called themselves for a short time.

The legislation of the first parliament during its five years of existence was noteworthy in many respects. The departments of government were reorganised with due regard to the larger interests now intrusted to their care. The new department of marine and fisheries, rendered necessary by the admission of the maritime provinces, was placed under the direction of Mr. Peter Mitchell, then a member of the senate, who had done so much to bring New Brunswick into the union. An act was passed to provide for the immediate commencement of the Intercolonial Railway, which was actually completed by the 1st of July, 1876, under the supervision of Mr., now Sir, Sandford Fleming, as chief government engineer; and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec were at last directly connected with the maritime sections of the Dominion.

The repeal agitation in Nova Scotia received its first blow by the defection of Mr. Howe, who had been elected to the house of commons. He proceeded to England in 1868 with an address from the assembly of Nova Scotia, demanding a repeal of the union, but he made no impression whatever on a government and parliament convinced of the necessity of the measure from an imperial as well as colonial point of view. Dr. Tupper was present on behalf of the Dominion government to answer any arguments that the Repealers might advance against the union. The visit to England convinced Mr. Howe that further agitation on the question might be injurious to British connection, and that the wisest course was to make the union as useful as possible to the provinces. Then, as always, he was true to those principles of fidelity to the crown and empire which had forced his father to seek refuge in Nova Scotia, and which had been ever the mainspring of his action, even in the trying days when he and others were struggling for responsible government. He believed always in constitutional agitation, not in rebellion. He now agreed to enter the ministry as president of the council on condition that the financial basis, on which Nova Scotia had been admitted to the federation, was enlarged by the parliament of Canada. These "better terms" were brought before the Canadian parliament in the session of 1869, and provided for the granting of additional allowances to the provinces, calculated on increased amounts of debt as compared with the maximum fixed by the terms of the British North America Act of 1867. They met with strong opposition from Edward Blake, a very eminent lawyer and Reformer of Ontario, on the ground that they violated the original compact of union as set forth in the British North America Act; but despite the opposition of the western Reformers they were ratified by a large majority, who recognised the supreme necessity of conciliating Nova Scotia. On account of his decision to yield to the inevitable, Mr. Howe incurred the bitter antagonism of many men who had been his staunch followers in all the political contests of Nova Scotia, and it was with the greatest difficulty that he was re-elected for the county of Hants as a minister of the crown. He remained in the government until May, 1873, when he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia. The worries of a long life of political struggles, and especially the fatigue and exposure of the last election in Hants, had impaired his health and made it absolutely necessary that he should retire from active politics. Only a month after his appointment, the printer, poet and politician died in the famous old government house, admittance to which had been denied him in the stormy days when he fought Lord Falkland. It was a fit ending, assuredly, to the life of the statesman, who, with eloquent pen and voice, in the days when his opinions were even offensive to governors and social leaders, ever urged the right of his countrymen to a full measure of self-government.

Canada and all other parts of the British empire were deeply shocked on an April day of 1868 by the tragic announcement of the assassination of the brilliant Irishman, Thomas D'Arcy McGee on his return late at night from his parliamentary duties. He had never been forgiven by the Irish enemies of England for his strenuous efforts in Canada to atone