Building the Railway

The National Policy In 1878, Macdonald had a chance for re-election He ran on his “National Policy” Keep cheap US goods out of Canada Encourage buying Canadian Fill the prairies with settlers Macdonald is back as Prime Minister

The Canadian Pacific Railway Co. In 1880, CPR formed by George Stephen and Donald A. Smith William Van Horne was hired as supervisor Van Horne worked very hard to complete the track as quickly as possible

Building Issues Northern Ontario presented difficulties with hills, swamps and granite In one area, the track sank 7 times and 3 trains were swallowed up Dynamite and nitroglycerine were used to blast through

Nitro Nitroglycerine was extremely sensitive explosive It would explode with the slightest movement and was hence extremely dangerous Many men died because of explosions

Prairies The prairies were very easy to build on given their flat terrain Van Horne worked at a frantic pace as his workers ran an efficient system to complete the track Van Horne fired anyone who said that something could not be done

The Rockies The mountains were the most difficult section to build on Trestles were built over deep river canyons Many workers died due to the dangerous conditions Every km is said to be stained with blood

Trestles

Chinese Workers Andrew Onderdonk was the contractor in charge of the British Columbia stretch of track Onderdonk hired many Chinese workers to build as they would work for less money

Mistreatment Chinese workers endured racism on a daily basis They received roughly half the wages a regular worker would receive and were charged for room and meals leaving little extra money to return to China

Put in the Path of Danger Canadian supervisors often assigned the most dangerous jobs to Chinese workers Many feel to their deaths while working at great heights over the treacherous Fraser River Many died during nitro explosions

Aboriginals Peoples It appeared much of the railway would pass directly through Aboriginal lands protected by treaties The Blackfoot nearly went to war, but a crisis was averted

Money By 1885, the CPR was facing a shortage of money Crews could not be paid and some workers went on strike The government lent the railway money

In Business In 1886, the first coast to coast trip was executed The tracks would help bring almost a million settlers from all over the world to Western Canada