The CANADIAN Pacfic Railway
The British North American colonies had small populations and were distant from each other. If they formed their own economic union, they could increase trade among themselves. Goods could be traded between Sarnia and Halifax with ease because of the new railway. Talk of uniting the BNA colonies began in the 1860s. The colonies’ economies were very different. How could such a union be successful, the politicians’ critics asked?
Business leaders and politicians in the colonies began to wonder whether they could replace the declining export markets with a strong internal trade. Could they establish an East–West trading link? Could they, for example, sell Nova Scotia fish in Canada East, and wheat from Canada West in New Brunswick? This was more easily said than done. They would need good railway systems to transport the goods. All the colonies had separate governments. How could businesses get politicians to agree on the best way to proceed? For the first time, people began to think that it might be best to join all the colonies under a single government. For the Maritimes in particular, such a scheme had attractions. It would allow producers there to sell their goods to a large market in the Canadas. How might Canada East or Canada West benefit from uniting with other colonies? Large gaps in the railway system prevented East–West trade from growing. Some political leaders in the Canadas had ties to railway companies. George-Étienne Cartier from Canada East, and Alexander Galt from Canada West were examples of this. They were disappointed to see that the Grand Trunk Railway, which linked Toronto and Montréal, was not doing well financially. There did not seem to be enough passenger and freight traffic within the Canadas for the railway to make profits. However, if the Intercolonial Railway were extended westward from the Maritimes to Montréal, they thought, traffic on the Grand Trunk would rise. Nova Scotia fish could be shipped all the way to Toronto and Sarnia for sale. Manufactured goods from the Canadas could be shipped to Saint John and Halifax for sale. Passenger traffic would go up, too. The Grand Trunk would make large profits. To complete the Intercolonial, investors would have to borrow large sums of money in London. The British banks were unwilling to lend the money unless they were certain the loans would be repaid. Baring Brothers, one of the largest British banks, thought that uniting the colonies would make them stronger and make repayment of the loans more certain. Barings stated that it would not lend any money for the Intercolonial as long as the colonies remained separate. Manufacturers in the Canadas supported the Intercolonial. It would give them new markets in the Maritimes for their products. Food producers in the Maritimes were also in favour of the Intercolonial. They could see their goods selling in the larger markets of the Canadas. Many people’s prosperity seemed to depend on completing the Intercolonial, and joining the colonies seemed to be a requirement for completing the Intercolonial. The information from this page is from: http://myclass.peelschools.org/ele/8/3535/Resources/history.text.pearson.pdf |
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