John A. Macdonald and his conservative party introduced the National Policy in 1876 and put it into action in 1879. Macdonald campaigned for the policy during the election of 1878 and beat the liberal party who supported free trade. The goal of the National Policy was to create a higher standard of living and create better jobs for Canadians. It had three main ideas; it called for high tariffs on imported goods from the United States, the development of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s transcontinental line, and western settlement. The National Policy benefited the Conservative Party (also known as the “Tories”) and wealthy businessmen and their businesses in Toronto and Montreal. It affected the development of different regions in Canada especially …show more content…
in the west. John A. Macdonald was aware of the national interest and created the immigration policy. The immigration policy was designed to raise the investment in the expensive railway and provide customers to eastern industry. John A. Macdonald created the philosophy behind the National Policy. The main idea behind it was high tariffs. The goal of the policy was to create a genuine country with a strong national economy. The tariff on most foreign manufactured goods was increased, affording substantial protection to Canadian manufacturers. Equally important to manufacturers were the reduced customs duties on imported raw materials and semi-processed products, which lowered their costs of production.1 The National Policy raised tariffs on imported industrial items to protect the manufacturing industry. These tariffs were put on items coming into Canada, which made goods in the U.S. more expensive. The goal of this was to protect Canadian manufacturers from American competition; doing this it would stimulate Canadian industry and create jobs. The Canadian government relied heavily on the revenue from customers in Canada and did not want them buying goods from the United States. High tariffs were meant to expand the Canadian economy and to create confidence in Canadians in the development of the country. The second idea behind the National Policy was the development of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). John A. Macdonald knew that the building of the railway would guarantee the control of Canada over the territory and the eastern industry would have easy access to the resources and the customers in the West. He felt that the CPR was crucial to the development and growth of Canada. On paper and on the campaign trail, Macdonald was a power house, promoting the National Policy as a solution to everything that allied the country and after four years of economic depression, a scarcity of jobs and a general decline in the growth of Canada, the electorate were ready for bold new plans and solutions. Macdonald was also very lucky that just as he took power once again, the worldwide economy began to pick up and not only economic activity increases but also access to capital to undertake the building of the railway from private sources could once again be raised.2 The United States had already had finished a transcontinental railway and settlement pressures from the south were being felt in the West of Canada. The CPR would connect the east and east and guarantee the dominance of Canada. The railway was also a promise made to British Columbia and the Maritimes when it entered confederation. John A. Macdonald’s government supplied great amounts of money and support to the railway. He also gave it enormous areas of land and monopoly for operating the railway in the future. The third idea behind the National Policy was settlement in the west. John A. Macdonald thought the future of confederation depended on the development in the west. After building the CPR he wanted to fill the land in the west with farmers to grow crops and purchase Eastern Canadian manufactured goods. As the railway expanded into the west, immigrants were brought by train to the farmlands. It was hoped that the prairies in the west would attract immigrants by the hundreds of thousands. While the National Policy was a political success in central Canada, it was extremely unpopular in the West and was at the core of lingering resentment toward the eastern manufacturing base.3 Canada wanted to recruit people such as the British, Irish and American.
Macdonald’s plan for the west was not the creation of communities; in fact he wanted to avoid that. He did not want industries in the west because it could create competition with eastern ones and railways were not to be built unless controlled by the CPR and could not link the west with the United States. Macdonald feared he would lose business from the west to the United States. Provinces were also not to be created in the west because it was thought that the federal government would lose control of it. The west was not created for its own sake, but for its usefulness to central Canada.
The National Policy became the standard of Macdonald for the rest of his life and there is no doubt that the growth of Canada and the consolidation of the gains made were remarkable. The west began to fill up, the treaties were signed, the NWMP/RCMP was established and the railroad was completed by 1885.4
In conclusion, the main philosophy of the National Policy was to make Canada a true country and strengthen it’s economy so it did not have to rely as heavily on the United States and it ended up being very successful. The goal to raise tariffs helped greatly with the economy, especially in central Canada. The second goal of building the railway connected Canada and made it feel more like a country and more independent. The third goal of settlement in the west made Canada’s population go up and also helped the
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economy. The National Policy benefitted Macdonald and his group of conservatives and also wealthy businessmen in central Canada.
If you were to take a first look at the policy it seems quite extraordinary. Taking a closer look you would see that the National Policy was not really a “national” policy in some opinions. It seemed to be more of an imperialist policy. Macdonald mostly saw the heart of his country in Ontario and Quebec where there were important finance interests. The policy was specifically created to benefit the population in that part of Canada. Since Macdonald was closely aligned with Montreal and Toronto businesses that would benefit from the National Policy and they also helped keep the conservative party in power until 1896. John A. Macdonald knew raising the tariffs on imported goods would help the wealthy businessmen who would help him in return, therefore, benefitting him and his party as well.
One of those goals of the National Policy was raising the population in Canada, and after the National Policy was created the growth of the country was remarkable. Macdonald knew that the future of confederation all depended on the development of Canada, but most importantly in the west. Western Canada’s population grew with immigrants interested in the farming and immigrants imported by the
CPR. While the National Policy was a political success in central Canada, it was extremely unpopular in the West and was at the core of lingering resentment toward the eastern-manufacturing base.5 The immigration policy was created; immigration from Europe was supported to move to Western Canada and they received free land in the west. Both the Maritimes and British Columbia joined confederation only due to the promise made that a railway would be built joining their regions to pre-Confederation Canada. If it weren’t for the National Policy, Canada would not have had the great population growth that it did. The National Policy contributed immensely to the growth and development of Canada. It had three main ideas to raise tariffs, create the Canadian Pacific Railway and populate the west with settlers. Putting tariffs on imported goods coming into Canada made the economy stronger. The establishment of the Canadian Pacific Railway caused the Maritimes and British Columbia to join confederation and it also connected Canada more than ever. The settlement in western Canada had a major effect on the growth of Canada and it also helped economically. Even though the National Policy benefitted wealthy businessmen in Toronto and Montreal it did not benefit all parts of Canada, specifically the west. Since it benefitted the wealthy businessmen and their businesses they helped out greatly with the National Policy. The affect the National Policy had on different regions of Canada was population growth. Although the National Policy was not supported everywhere through out Canada, it did have a great effect in boosting the population and making Canada more independent and stronger economically.
In conclusion Canada gained independence because of a series of events that took place during the twentieth century. If it hadn’t been for these events, Canada to this day might have been a part of the British Empire. Through discussion on the Chanak affair we signalled that we wanted autonomy. Through our hard work and lives, the world knew we had the ability to stand alone as a strong nation. While, our international reputation of being a “peacekeeping” country the right to stand as an independent self-governing nation. But finally through the Canada Act, we stood solely independent from our Empire. It is obvious that the twentieth century provided us with great chances to become an independent strong nation.
To start off, I’ll be writing about the life of people in British North America and its significance towards unifying Canada, as well as background knowledge of conflicts that existed. Life in British North America was changing at an alarming rate. New technology and services were being introduced such as railways and steamships. Industries such as building, producing and farming were being introduced. This was in part due to the many immigrants from Britain and France who’d settled. This was dreadful for the First Nations as their land had been taken away even more so than before. More resources were needed for the growing crowd so trade agreements were made. As more people came, the First Nations were even more distanced from the Europeans. Meanwhile, the French and the British wanted the other’s culture to be erased from the
Canadians were frustrating, wonderful, and hard. Soldiers returning from the war expected jobs, but were faced with unemployment, inflation and strikes. Inflation had doubled the cost of living where wages had not and those fortunate to be employed still faced immense financial difficulty. Many people joined unions for better pay and working conditions, 1919 saw the most strikes at a staggering three hundred and six, people were angry and discontented. The 1920s were a time of crime corruption and extreme poverty, yet by mid era difficult conditions began to improve. Foreign investors gained confidence in Canada and as a result new industries were developed, The twenties really did 'roar' and with this boom of change Canada underwent the transformation that was the gateway to the future.
John A. Macdonald became well known for the way he treated people. He was kind
The result of the Second World War fundamentally changed Canada and its economy started booming. There are many reasons for this change and if you remember, World War I also made a big impact on the development of Canada. However, in the next few paragraphs I will talk about how Canada gained much more respect and autonomy from the Second World War than ever before and also the change from a country into an industrialized nation.
Canada has become a superior nation thru, perseverance, courage and even care as they persevered thru many dark battles, and made sure they all came thru together as a unit other than individuals. Their courage made there fighting 100% stronger as they wouldn’t back down to any task and they weren’t afraid to lose their life to help a fellow friend and country out. Care played a major aspect in each Canadian heart. There cared about Britain so they weren’t to go help them when they declared war, they helped other troops with their emotional problems and lastly they even cared a little about there enemies as they are the same person, however the only thing separating them is there culture. Canadians contributed in many ways to help our country's great efforts in the First World War.
Stevenson, Garth. "Canadian Federalism: The Myth of the Status Quo." Reinventing Canada: Politics of the 21st Century. Ed. M. Janine Brodie and Linda Trimble. Toronto: Prentice Hall, 2003. 204-14. Print.
Sir John A. Macdonald was one of Canada's founding fathers. He is most remembered as being Canada's first Prime Minister, running the government from July 1, 1867 until November 5, 1873. Macdonald would become Prime Minister once again on October 17, 1878 and would stay in this position until June 6,1891. While he was leader of the country he faced his own share of political obstacles, including Confederation, the Metis rebellion and threats of an American he is among the greatest leaders Canada has ever seen and played a significant part in the forming of Canada as a country.
Newman, Garfield et al. Canada A Nation Unfolding. Toronto: Mc Graw – Hill Ryerson Limited, 2000.
The post-war time was a period where major changes were occurring. After being involved in two international conflicts, Canada was ready to reestablish their economy. During this time, Canada had started working on ways to become stronger and reputable. It is evident that Canada had matured through the post-war era. Canada’s economic progress left a positive impact on the growth of the country as consumerism became popular, and economic ties with America became stronger. Moreover, the removal of racial and ethical barriers contributed to Canadian social affairs such as the huge wave of immigration and the baby boom. The Canadian government also had become more aware and involved in issues impacting Canadian citizens. Canada as a whole started identifying itself as an independent nation and participating in events that brought a positive reputation amongst them. These economical, social, and legal changes helped Canada mature into the country it is today.
In Canada, over 400,000 babies were born annually from 1945 to 1965, which increased Canada’s population rate by 20% (“Canadian”). This period in Canadian history occurred after the Second World War when millions of men returned home to their families or immigrated to other countries with their war brides. Some ended up settling in Canada which dramatically increased the birth rate; their experience and survival of the war caused them to realize how important life is, instigating them to have as many children as they can support bringing about the group of people now referred to as the Baby Boom Generation. The baby boom generation significantly impacted Canada as it helped the young country to recover from the devastating Great Depression. Indeed, the baby boom generation had a positive contribution to Canadian society during the 1950s because it changed the face of Canada in the international stage, increased the Canadian living standard, and established and developed the suburban areas.
By the end, there was an agreement over adopting a federal government along with delegating responsibilities and powers to provincial authorities’ .But, as a federal system, Canada by contrast to United States had difficulties in distributing the power between the national, provincial governments and territorial governments, because only the first two entities enjoy the major power, and the other smaller entities have only those powers which are directed to them by the provincial government, the thing that made it increasingly decentralized to the point that it became the world’s most decentralized federal system in the world, so decentralization arise when there is a extensive sharing of authority, power, financial issues ,foreign affairs…etc between the different entities of the nation
The Canadian economy in the 1920’s had a rough start because of the post war problems, but it gradually began to pick up, it made a positive turn by developing new industries, as well, the average consumer income increased, which in the end allowed for a more optimistic country. First, the development of industries allows Canada to have a wider range of opportunities, and money entering the country. For example, it has been stated that: “Though the early 1920's were difficult conditions did improve by the mid 1920's. Foreign investors gained confidence in Canada and as a result new industries were developed. Canada had become the largest wheat exporter in the world” (Economy on the upswing). This shows that Canada had not only started off at a low point and moved forward, but they went above the needed and became number one in the world for a positive economic situation. Therefore this event was very beneficial and made a huge contribution towards a positive turn and optimism in Canada. The positive turn in economy was also created by the increased consumer income, this allowed Canada as a country to become more developed and maintain even more money. For example, in the mid 1920’s there was an economy boom which started to increa...
Universal health care is a system in which people pay a high amount of taxes to the government in order to receive (mostly) free health care by the government. Canada is well known for its universal health care system. Student loans are a system designed to help students pay for University tuition, books, cost of living, etc. However, when they graduate, they must give the money back to the government after they graduate. The Pension plan is an earnings-related social plan to help senior citizens out with the cost of living during retirement. In addition to this, he also created the world's first completely non-biased, race-free immigration policy that was points-based. Basically, the algorithm for Lester B. Pearson's policy was a points-based system to see how useful you are to Canada. (E.g: University credentials, level of English knowledge, family living here, etc). During his Prime Ministry, Lester never had a majority in the House of
Sir John A. Macdonald was in the Liberal-Conservative Party of Canada from July 1867 to November 1873. He was elected again from October 1878 to June 1891. Without Sir John A. Macdonald we wouldn’t be part of Canada, there wouldn’t be a Canada. He was the one