On this overcast and rainy day, we drove to Charlottetown, the Province’s capital. On our GPS, we’re only 2.3 miles away from our campground, but since we can’t cross the harbor directly, we had to drive about 20 minutes to get there.
where are we?
Our goal today was to learn about Charlottetown as the birthplace (or cradle) of the Confederation. But . . . Province House, built in 1843, would normally be the place to go is now undergoing major conservation work. So we went next door to the upper foyer of the Confederation Centre of the Arts to see a replica of the historic Confederation Chamber.
Bill is a history buff (!) from Quebec who has relocated to PEI. He’s been a prison chaplain, a minister, and was a wonderful host for us. We must have talked for an hour as he explained Canada’s history and let us know about their perspective of the United States during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812.
Canadian Conference in PEI
In the summer of 1864, the 3 maritime territories talked about meeting to discuss the possibility of organizing a Maritime Union. Then the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec) asked to join them.
In September 1864 (the same year as the end of our Civil War), the 3 maritime provinces and the Province of Canada sent 23 delegates to sit around this table (and 3 secretaries sat along the wall).
Usually when the legislative body met, the lieutenant-governor sat on the “throne” chair. At the Charlottetown Council, since no one was in charge, the throne remained empty, and the hat on the chair symbolized this.
The delegates from Canada began encouraging the other delegates to think bigger and create a union of the British colonies.
During 7 days of meetings and at lavish social events throughout the week, they talked. At the end of the week, the delegates had a general agreement on Confederation.
2nd meeting in Quebec City
A month later, they met in Quebec City (easy to travel there by boat since it’s on the St. Lawrence Seaway), hammered out the details, and finalized the terms of legislation that was sent to London, England, in December 1866.
This plan contained 72 resolutions, including the promise of a railroad from coast to coast. Since England was tired of trying to oversee colonies in North America, Parliament approved the British North American Act on July 1, 1867, and the Dominion of Canada was born.
PEI and the Confederation
Initially PEI rejected the terms of the Confederation since their goals (primarily building a railroad across the provinces) didn’t help them, and they remained a colony. Eventually they joined Canada in 1873.
information from Bill, our host
So what is a confederation, and how does it differ from what we have in the United States?
From what Bill told us, a confederation is a group of provinces and colonies that retain their individual rights (similar to our states rights). So, if Canada passes a law, any of the provinces can agree with it or disagree. For example, when Canada decided to be a bilingual country, Quebec voted to be a French-speaking province (even though most people there can also speak English). And if a province wants to drop out of the Confederation, they can vote to do so. Bill’s observation was that if the States had this type of organization, the Civil War would have been avoided.
Why the Northwest Mounted Police?
I’ve always been fascinated with the “Mounties” in Canada so thought this would be a good time to read up on their history.
As the Confederation took form, the leaders realized that they needed a policing force since the Hudson Bay Company decided to sell their interest in the northwest area of Canada. The American government offered a huge amount of money for the area called Rupert’s Land, but the company decided they’d rather sell to Britain who then turned around and loaned the new country the money required to compensate HBC for its losses.
Since HBC had always kept order in those colonies, Canada realized they needed to do something, so they created the Northwest Mounted Police in 1873 to maintain order in the northwest territories. Bill said one of their purposes was to protect the border with the United States so our rowdy, Western cowboys wouldn’t sneak into Canada.
Initially the general duties of the Mounties were to:
- establish law and order
- collect customs dues
- enforce prohibition
- supervise the treaties between First Nations and the federal government
- assist in the settlement process
- ensure the welfare of immigrants
- fight prairie fires, disease and destitution
Prime minister, John Macdonald, first wanted to secure Canadian sovereignty in the West and prepare the way for settlement. But it was the whiskey trade that required the Mounties to act. Traders from Fort Benton, Montana, had been operating illegally, such as the notorious Fort Whoop-Up in southern Alberta. They were tough adventurers, many of them veterans of the U.S, Civil war and even known outlaws. In exchange for buffalo hides from the Métis and Indigenous people, these men traded merchandise like blankets, guns, and ammunition. Their most profitable commodity, however, was alcohol. Nicknamed firewater, their whiskey was a potent concoction mixed with Jamaica ginger, red peppers, chewing tobacco, and laudanum. (information compiled from a number of websites)
Since most of Canada was rural and had policing force, the Mounties were charged with keeping the law in these areas. We see the Mounties at work when gold was discovered in Alaska in the 1890 as miners from the U.S. went through the Yukon to get to Alaska. We also see the Mounties in Hallmark’s When Calls the Heart that takes place in a coal mining town in the western frontier of Alberta (north of Banff National Park) beginning in 1910.
Larger cities had their own police departments called “constabularies” since they depended on constables who worked there, such as in the TV series on Netflix called Murdock Mysteries located in Toronto around 1900. This was the first municipal police service created in North America and is one of the oldest police services in the English-speaking world
Canada Today
Canada’s formal name is Dominion of Canada, and while it no longer is part of the British Commonwealth, the Queen of England is Canada’s Queen. When another person becomes king/queen of England, Canada will have to vote to have him/her be its king/queen—and of course any of the provinces can vote differently.
Canada now has 10 provinces and 3 territories.
That’s enough history for today; my brain is shutting down.
