Basic HTML Version
The Fathers of Canadian
Confederation (center photo); Lord
Durharn (top); J ohn A. MacDonald,
first prime minister of the Dominion
of Canada (right); Wilfrid Laurier,
C~nada's
first French-Canadian prime
minister (left); the capture of Quebec
City by the English genera l Wolfe in
1759 (fa r left).
as she enters the last years of this
century. Yet recently, the flexible,
practica! compact painstakingly
pieced together 116 years ago with–
stood another test. There is a
breathing space right now for C an–
ada to pender her biggest problems.
These problems are spiritual, not
constitutional. What do we mean?
Canada, li ke the rest of the
Western world , is facing a charac–
ter drain- the erosion of such pre–
cious intangibles as family life, self-
January 1984
sacrifice and goodwill. In this she
shares in the global malaise of the
late 20th century.
The Causes o f Canada's Spírítual
Problems
History has shaped Canada mighti –
ly, as much as has her abundant
geography. l f she appears baffiing
and contradictory , it is partly
because hardly anyone- Canadians
included- understands the inspiring
story of her uphill , tenacious strug–
gle to unite and remain united.
Jt
is
significant that the phrase " We
st and on guard" occurs three times
in the national anthem.
Why? Let 's survey C a nadian
history and see.
From 1000 to 1500
Canada's eastern shores
were host to occasional
Viking, Basque, l ri s h ,
French and English explorers and
fishermen. After J acques Cartier
pierced the St. Lawrence River in
1534, the bold and energetic Samu–
el de Champlain fortified the stra–
tegic bastion at Quebec City in
1608. While the habitants of this
New France farmed the fertile St.
Lawrence estuary, daring hunters
and fur traders pushed up the
Great Lakes, sailed down the Mis–
sissippi and laid claim to Louisiana
(named after the French king).
Meanwhile, sturdy English set–
t lers carved 13 colonies from the
Atlantic seaboard. Con flict was
inevitable, climaxing in 1759 with
the capture of Quebec City by the
English general J ames Wolfe .
The T reaty of París in 1763 for–
mally ended French claim to North
America.
Yet French Canadians g reatly
outnumbered the British garrisons.
Thus Britain 's Quebec Act of 1774
rei ntroduced French civil law and
virtually established the Catholic
Cburcb in French Canada. Note
well: T he primary French culture
was from the beginning officially
sanctioned by the Bri tish.
l ndeed this Quebec Act helped
trigger the American Revolution
( 1776 to 1783) , which profoundly
altered North America. Thousands
of American Tories, those choosing
t he British connection, settled what
is now On tario, New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia.
As the newcomers multiplied and
prospered , F rench Canada felt
threatened. Although both founding
peoples joined forces to repel inva–
s ions from t he south in 1777 and in
t he War of 18 12, antagonism fes–
tered . Brita in 's first attempts to
o rga ni ze her rema i n ing North
American colonies was a ramshackle
division into Upper and Lower Can–
ada. This failed to appease French–
Canadian fears of absorption and
English-Canadian desires for encr–
getic commercial expansion.
Rebel lions broke out in 1837.
Confrontation led to compromise.
The result was the Earl of Dur–
ham's productive visit and his rec–
ommendation to reorganize Bri tish
North America into two prov–
inces-Canada West (basically On–
tario) and Canada East (main ly
Quebec). Tbis time though a cen–
tral legislature would sit in Kings–
ton, On tario.
Even though política! deadlock
continuedthroughoutthe 1840sand
1850s, Canadian legislators patiently
pinpointed the main areas of conten–
t ion . The tedious spadework that was
a prerequisite to nation-building was
proceeding slowly but inexorably. A
Scot named John Alexander Mac–
Donald gained valuable experience
in conciliation and negotiation. He
also earned the support of the lead–
ing French-Canadian politici a n,
Georges Etienne Cartier. Both men
were appalled at the endless bicker–
ing and waste.
Meanwhile, other seeds of unity
were sprouting. Greater interna)
commu nication helped it along. The
railroad and canal booms of the
1830s forged workable interna!
links. In 1854, a Reciprocity Treaty
with the United States great ly stim-
13