The National Policy

1. The National Policy

2. Alexander Mackenzie Canada’s second Prime Minister from 1873 – 1878 He was a humble man, that came from a humble background. He was not part of the “elite.” He was a labourer, and became a professional stonemason. He was definitely not one of the political elites of his time. He was very polite, very kind, very honest and was for the most part very fair in his dealing with other people All in all, he was an ethical, moral and decent man.

3. Alexander Mackenzie Governor General Lord Dufferin said of Mackenzie,"However narrow and inexperienced Mackenzie may be, I imagine he is a thoroughly upright, well-principled, and well-meaning man.” Mackenzie hated the notion of patronage. He felt it was the most unethical thing he had even seen. He oversaw the completion of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, and while drawing up the plans, he included a circular staircase leading directly from his office to the outside of the building which allowed him to escape the patronage-seekers waiting for him in Parliament Hill.

4. Alexander Mackenzie’s Legacy Mackenzie oversaw the building of Parliament Hill in Ottawa. He introduced the secret ballot. He established the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. He also created the Auditor General. He negotiated free trade with the USA to lower the tariffs of Canadian goods into the USA. (Something Macdonald failed at achieving)

5. Alexander Mackenzie’s Legacy • For all the good and positive changes he brought to Ottawa, he could not escape a few devastating issue: • a worldwide depression that affected the Canadian economy • Crop failures due to a plague of grasshoppers destroying farmers crops • An inability to make his waterway transportation policy a success – as such he eventually had to agree that a railway from sea to sea was a much better idea. • Because of how these issues plagued the Canadian economy, Mackenzie lost the election to Macdonald in 1878.

6. The Indian Act of 1876 One public policy that Mackenzie did create that still remains a huge sore point in Canadian history was the Indian Act of 1876. The 1876 Indian Act attempted to consolidate all existing legislation that covered First Nations and their relationship to Canada. Under the act, title to the land still belonged to the Crown, which would administer the land on behalf of the First Nations people. A Reserve was deemed "Crown Land set aside for the use of a Band of Indians." The theme throughout the new Act remained that of assimilation and "civilizing" of the Indians. They were expected to settle down and learn to become farmers and good European citizens.

7. Indian Act of 1876 The Indian Act of 1876 essentially made "Status Indians" wards of the Crown, and regulated their lives. Restrictions ranged from rules about how they would elect leaders to how their children would be educated and how their estates would be dealt with after death. First Nations were allowed virtually no self-governing powers.

8. 1878 Election The 1878 election saw a revived and renewed John A. Macdonald. 60 years old and ready to finish what he started – a country that went from sea to sea. Macdonald was helped by the economic woes that hampered the success of Mackenzie’s government, but Macdonald wanted to take it a step further and drive home a massive victory for the Conservatives – his election platform was vested on the “National Policy”

9. National Policy • There were three main cornerstones to the National Policy • Protective Tariffs • A National Railway • Settlement of the West

10. Protective Tariffs American companies were able to build goods and offer services at a cheaper rate than that of their fellow Canadian companies. As such, Americans offered their goods and services to not only Americans, but Canadians as well. This prevented the growth of Canadian businesses as Canadians were supporting American businesses over Canadian businesses. In order to protect Canadian businesses (so as to create more jobs), John A. Macdonald instituted a policy of tariffs on American goods and services. The tariffs were so high that it would drive the American businesses away from Canada and Canadians would start to buy from Canadian business.

11. Protective Tariffs After Macdonald came into power, and he implimented the tariffs, the Canadian economy started to turn around. The manufacturing sector saw a boom in productivity. Macdonald would argue that it was the tariffs that helped create this economic boom – the reality is that the world-wide recession was coming to an end and farmers crops were growing (i.e. no drought or plagues of grasshoppers) and as such the Canadian economy grew.

12. Western Settlement The West was an open and vast land – the hinterland – with very little settlement. The West was also ripe with agricultural land. Macdonald had hoped that he could increase immigration and bring in Europeans who would farm the land, produce crops that could be sold worldwide and in return these people would have income to buy manufactured goods from Eastern Canada. It is no surprise that Macdonald, and government after him, discouraged manufacturing in the West so that western farmers would become a captive market for manufactures in the East.

13. National Railway Without a national railway, the west could not become fully developed – i.e. you couldn’t move grain with high level of success. The national railway could also help ship manufactured goods from Eastern Canada to B.C. and then those products could be shipped to the Asian markets. Macdonald lost 5 years of no railway growth while Mackenzie was Prime Minister – so he was in a hurry to find a group of people to expediate the construction of the railway. In 1880 the Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CPR) was formed.

14. CPR • With Mackenzie coming into power in 1873, he cancelled the contract that was given to Hugh Allen. • With Macdonald coming back into power in 1878 he found a group of investors that would take up the helm of building the railway. This group consisted of: • George Stephen of the Bank of Montreal, Donald Smith of the Hudson’s Bay Company and James J. Hill an expatriate Canadian who was investing in the USA. • This group was known as the CPR syndicate.

15. CPR Macdonald gave the CPR $25 million along with a land grant of 25 million acres. He also gave the CPR a monopoly on all rail traffic west of Lake Superior for the next 20 years. Finally he gave the CPR tax exemption on all land and products purchased to build the railway.

16. CPR In 1884, the CPR was running out of money to build the railway. They went back to the government to ask for more money to complete the project. Macdonald gave the CPR another $22.5, in hopes that this would be enough to finish the project. By the fall of 1885 the CPR had finished the railway that went from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

17. CPR Line The blue line was the original surveyed line – it was to go from Toronto– Sudbury – SS Marie –Kenora– Saskatoon –Battleford - Edmonton – Kamloops – Port Moody – Vancouver The red line is the actual railway built – Montreal – Sudbury –Connected via Toronto to Sudbury - SS Marie –Kenora– Winnipeg – Brandon – Regina – Moose Jaw – Calgary – Kamloops – Port Moody - Vancouver

18. CPR challenges Many people felt that the CPR was too expensive and not worth the undertaking. In 1885, the Riel Rebellion was starting and was causing trouble for the CPR and their workers. The railway was used to ship troops from Eastern Canada to the prairies. People were really impressed at how fast the troops arrived and how they were able to keep peace in the prairies and they started to change their mind about the importance of the railway.

19. CPR challenges Some of the biggest challenges for the CPR was keeping workers on board. The CPR hired 35,000 employees, but the working conditions were brutal. Dust from dynamite blasts, insects, over crowding and filthy houses, leaky roofs, no plumbing, a boring and unhealthy diet, little access to fresh fruit and vegetables and working during the winter season was cold and brutal.

20. CPR challenges Many people left the CPR because of the working conditions. As such, this slowed down the productivity of the railway. The CPR brought in a man named William Van Horne. It is said that this man didn’t know the meaning of the words “cannot do.” His strong drive and commitment to completing the railway, he was able to push his workers to the limits without driving them away and was able to complete the railway five years ahead of schedule.

21. The Last Spike Donald Smith, one of Canada’s richest and most powerful men, drove in the last spike of the CPR railway.

22. Conclusion – Macdonald’s Legacy Macdonald was able to compete his dream of building a nation from coast to coast. He fostered the start of confederation, He brought together the Maritimes with Canada East and Canada West. He bought Rupert’s Land and made it Canadian Territory. He created the province of Manitoba in 1870 and then brought BC into confederation in 1871.

23. Conclusion He was known for the Pacific Scandal, but with the National Policy was able to come back to power in 1878. He finished the railway from sea to sea, he kept the Americans at bay (i.e. fought hard against the Manifest Destiny), He also found a way to keep the First Nations at bay (for the most part). He brought some sort of prosperity to Canada. He was known for his use of political patronage (never to the point of the Pacific Scandal – lesson learned). As historian Michael Bliss said, “he set the genetic code for future Prime Ministers to follow.”