CANADA 



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CANADA 



fer to the Canadian government, Hon. William 

 McDougall had already been appointed lieu- 

 tenant-governor of Rupert's Land. The news 

 that he was on his way to Fort Garry (Winni- 

 peg) was the signal for an uprising of the Metis, 

 or half-breeds, in the Red River Valley. The 

 Metis, ten thousand of them, had not been 

 consulted about the change in government, and 

 they were aroused by the possibility that the 

 new government would place restrictions upon 

 them and would perhaps even drive them from 

 their homes. A number of Fenians and Amer- 

 icans, agitating for annexation to the United 

 States, added to the excitement, but the French 

 half-breeds, led by Louis Riel, formed the 

 storm center. Riel was a brilliant man, elo- 

 quent and magnetic, but vain and self-seeking 

 to an extraordinary degree. He organized a 

 "provincial government," forbade McDougall 

 to enter Rupert's Land, and, to terrorize his 

 opponents, executed Thomas Scott, a young 

 Orangeman from Ontario. Hitherto the rebel- 

 lion had created little interest in Eastern Can- 

 ada, but this cold-blooded execution raised a 

 storm of indignation. An expeditionary force 

 was quickly gathered and placed under the 

 command of Colonel (later Lord) Garnet 

 Wolseley. Before the expedition reached Fort 

 Garry the rebels dispersed, and Riel fled across 

 the border to the United States. (See RIEL, 

 Louis.) 



New Provinces. While the troops were on 

 the way westward, the Dominion Parliament' 

 passed an act (July 15, 1870) creating the 

 province of Manitoba. The arrival of the 

 soldiers at Fort Garry, whose name was at 

 this time changed to Winnipeg, was followed 

 almost at once by that of Sir Adams Archibald, 

 the first provisional governor. 



In 1871 British Columbia finally agreed to 

 enter the Dominion, subject to a number of 

 conditions, the most important of which was 

 that a transcontinental railway should be begun 

 within two years and completed within ten 

 years. The failure of the government to fulfil 

 its contract nearly led to the withdrawal of 

 British Columbia from the Dominion, but with 

 the driving of the last spike in 1885 British 

 Columbia was firmly bound to the other prov- 

 inces. 



Prince Edward Island, which had been one 

 of the most vigorous opponents of Confedera- 

 tion, was the next to join, and in 1873 became 

 a province. The Dominion government as- 

 sumed the heavy provincial debt and also 

 bought the rights of certain absentee land- 



owners. The Dominion now included all of 

 British North America except Newfoundland. 

 To remove any possible doubt as to the Cana- 

 dian jurisdiction of the unoccupied Northwest, 

 in 1878 an imperial order in council was issued, 

 annexing to the Dominion all British posses- 

 sions in North America except Newfoundland, 

 which remains to this day a separate colony. 



For more than twenty-five years the organ- 

 ization of the Dominion remained unchanged, 

 but by the end of the nineteenth century there 

 was a strong demand for better government 

 in the Northwest Territories. This vast section 

 was growing rapidly in population, and the 

 loose territorial government was unsuited to 

 the new conditions. Finally, in 1905, Parlia- 

 ment created two new provinces, Alberta and 

 Saskatchewan, including in them the old dis- 

 tricts of Alberta, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and 

 Athabaska. Thus a solid row of provinces 

 stretched from ocean to ocean. 



In 1912 a further change was made in the 

 provincial boundaries of Manitoba, Ontario and 

 Quebec. The greater part of the old district 

 of Keewatin was divided between Manitoba 

 - and Ontario, and all of Ungava was added to 

 Quebec. The Northwest Territories (which 

 see) now include only the districts of Franklin, 

 Mackenzie and part of Keewatin. Maps show- 

 ing old and new areas appear with the articles 

 on these provinces. 



National Problems. The unification and ex- 

 pansion of the Dominion were not accom- 

 plished without many difficulties. The or- 

 ganization of a Federal government brought 

 in its train a series of national problems, but 

 many of the people were still too much ab- 

 sorbed in local issues to get a proper perspec- 

 tive of the new questions which had to be 

 answered. Lord Monck, the first Governor- 

 General, called on Sir John A. Macdonald, who 

 had been foremost in the Confederation move- 

 ment, to form the first Ministry. Sir John, or 

 "John A.," as he was popularly known, sum- 

 moned to his aid able men of all parties, 

 among them Sir A. T. Gait, Sir Georges E. 

 Cartier, Sir Alexander Campbell and William 

 McDougall. 



At the first general election, in August, 1867, 

 when this Ministry appealed to the country 

 for a vote of confidence, it was overwhelmingly 

 defeated in Nova Scotia. For about two years 

 Nova Scotia agitated for the repeal of the 

 British North America Act, even sending a 

 delegation to appeal to the British Parliament. 

 The Imperial government refused absolutely to 



