3. Canada became a country in 1867 when the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick joined together

4.  Many people were against confederation and wanted things to remain as they were

5. People in the Province of Canada voted for confederation because it meant that Canada East and Canada West would be separated

6.  In the 1860's the colonies of BNA were of less interest to Britain and thus did not receive the same protection as before. The United States was also growing stronger

7. The people of the colonies had to decide whether they would have more political and economic power if they remained independent or would they be better off working together.

8. At first the premiers of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island decided to meet to discuss uniting their provinces

9. Leaders of the Province of Canada heard about the meeting of the maritime colonies and requested permission to attend

10.  The people in this colony felt that the joining of English and French speaking people had not worked.

11.  There were so many differences of opinion between government members that government could not govern very well

12. They hoped that if they joined confederation they would be separate provinces and still benefit by being part of a larger country

13. The colony had built up large debts from building railroads and canals and hoped to share the costs with the other colonies

14. People from the other colonies did not think Newfoundland would be interested in joining the other colonies

15. When the Newfoundland government heard about the conference they asked if they could attend

16. The other colonies agreed but it turned out that it was too late for them to attend

17. The premier of Canada, John A. Macdonald, gave some very persuasive speeches about the benefits of confederation

18. By the end of the conference most of the delegates were convinced confederation would be best for the future

19. They decided to have another conference in Quebec to discuss how the new federation would work

20. The Quebec conference was attended by Newfoundland as well as the other colonies

21. The main disagreements at this conference were over how power would be shared

22. After two weeks they came up with an agreement that was called the Seventy- Two Resolutions that described how confederation would work

23. A resolution is a formal agreement reached by a group

24. The next step was to convince the voters of the colonies to vote for confederation

25. Read the main ideas of the Seventy-Two Resolutions on page 122

26. Defence People in the colonies were afraid the United States would take over British Columbia and the Prairies and maybe invade the other colonies

27. They felt they could defend themselves better if they were united

28. Trade Britain had a reciprocity treaty with the United States which allowed goods to be traded between the colonies and the United States without being taxed

29. The colonies taxed each other’s goods, however, and had different currencies so trade was complicated

30. They felt that having free trade among themselves and having the same currency would benefit everyone

31. Railways Railways were seen as a transportation necessity in the late 1800s

32. There was a major railway in the Province of Canada and another in the Maritimes but they were not joined together

33. In summer goods were transported between the colonies on the St. Lawrence River but it was frozen and inaccessible in winter stopping the shipping of goods

34. Railways were expensive and people felt that united colonies could share the costs.

35. The railway would also be useful to move troops if they were invaded

36. Although many aboriginal groups lived in Rupert’s Land the British felt it was owned by the Hudson Bay Company

37. They felt if they had a railway from the Province of Canada to British Columbia they could open up the prairies for farming

38. By settling this area they could also protect it from being taken over by the Americans

39. Homework Assignment

40. Editorial Cartoon(p.130)

41. On July 1 st, 1867 the Queen of England signed the British North America Act creating the Dominion of Canada consisting of Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

42. New Brunswick had elected an anti- Confederate government but changed their mind and joined Canada for several reasons

43. An economic reason was that the U.S. had ended the reciprocity treaty with BNA and it was now more economical for New Brunswick to trade with the other colonies than the U.S.

44. In 1866 a band of Fenians (Irish- Americans )fighting to free Ireland from British control almost attacked New Brunswick and later attacked the Province of Canada. The U.S. did nothing to stop them and New Brunswickers were scared of being attacked

45. Opinions about Confederation changed in New Brunswick and the governor encouraged a new election which elected a pro- Confederation government.

46. They hoped Confederation would improve defense and the economy

47. Joseph Howe tried to get Britain to stop Confederation but Britain had decided Confederation of the colonies would be a good thing

48. The Nova Scotian government decided to join Canada without holding an election to get the opinion of the voters

49. The British North America Act(BNA) of 1867 was a set of rules, based on the 72 Resolutions, under which Canada would be run. In 1982 it was renamed the Constitution Act(Look at key points of the BNA Act on page 132)

50. First Nations people were included in the BNA but the Inuit and Metis were not(The Inuit were included in 1939)

51. The Indians and their lands were the responsibility of the federal government

52. The First Nations did not have the same rights of the citizens but were expected to follow the laws

53. The main arguments in Canada today concern how power is shared

54. Power must be shared by three levels of government  federal  provincial or territorial  municipal

55. Different political parties try to form the government to run the country as they think it should be run

56. In a federation power is shared

57. In Canada the federal government has power over some aspects of government, the provincial and territorial governments have power over other aspects and some power is shared

58. Each level of government must raise taxes to provide services in the areas for which they are responsible

59. Check the chart on page 133 for the expansion of Confederation

60. Check diagram on page government responsibilities

61. Both levels of government must hold elections at regular intervals with 5 years between elections being the maximum amount of time but usually no more than 4 years

62. Newfoundland and Labrador now has a set election time with elections every 4 years

63. Canada is divided into ridings for election purposes with areas with larger populations having more ridings. A riding is a particular area of land that includes certain communities

64. There are different ridings for federal and provincial elections

65. Each political party puts a candidate ( a person the party hopes will be elected) in each riding. The candidate with the most votes gets to represent the riding

66. The political party which elects the most candidates forms the government. The party which places second forms the Official Opposition

67. The governments of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories do not have political parties and govern by consensus - all elected members discuss an issue until they reach an agreement

68. Candidates elected in federal elections are called Members of Parliament ( MP’s)

69. Candidates elected in provincial and territorial elections have a variety of titles

70. Today in Canada all Canadian citizens over the age of 18 can vote in federal elections and all potential voters must be given the chance to vote if at all possible.