There were celebrations that first day, July 1, 1867, for the new “Dominion of Canada.” But neither the date, nor the name nor the designation was a sure thing even a few months before. The celebrations were hardly a spontaneous public outpouring of nationalistic fervour.
Read more...An indispensable “scalawag” is pretty much how many Canadians saw John A. Macdonald, but then Machiavelli said that a good man cannot be great. When in 1887 a Canadian delegation went to Washington to negotiate a treaty with the United States, their hosts treated them to a boat ride on the Potomac. One Canadian delegate arrived early and while waiting for the others struck up a conversation with a lady, the wife of a US senator.
Read more...In truth, Laurier’s famous ability to compromise sometimes left everyone dissatisfied. Wilfrid Laurier took leadership of the Liberal party of Canada on 18th of June 1887. Frail and intellectual, preferring the privacy of his library to the battlefield of politics, he was uncertain. “I know I have not the aptitude for it,” he admitted, “and I have a sad apprehension that it must end in disaster.”
Read more...It was there that Canada was born. On Monday August 29, 1864 half the cabinet of the Canadian government boarded the steamer Queen Victoria at Quebec. They had heard that representatives of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI were meeting in Charlottetown to discuss Maritime union and they hoped to crash the party.
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