Lecture 4 HIST 382
This lecture begins with how Canada
became a nation through confederation in 1867 and moves from there into more
general discussion of the political heritage and system of Canada. The
method and themes are rather Lipset-like--incorporating
comparisons with American politics, but showing the clear contrasts of the
Canadian parliamentary system.
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Introduction
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Fathers of
Confederation was a pointing by Robert Harris depicting the movers and
shakers of the confederation of Canada as wise men charting the
course of a great nation. It is part
of the mythologizing of the founding of Canada, a process common to all
nations.
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Background to Confederation
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The unification of the parts that were to become Canada was
difficult and, it would seem, unlikely.
Several causes drew them together, however: the urging of Britain; the problems stemming from the
neighbor to the south, the U.S.;
and internal forces calling for unification for the sake of national
development.
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Becoming the Fathers of Confederation
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How was it accomplished?
Important were the well-know conservative leaders John Macdonald and
George-Etienne Cartier, but also crucial was initiative coming from the
Maritimes, specifically Joseph Howe of Nova Scotia. This led to the meetings at Charlottetown at Quebec City,
to Parliament’s passage of the British North America Act, and to the
confederation of Canada
in 1867. Through this process, and
through the process of approval of confederation, the role of elites was
most important. Confederation was
not a grassroots movement.
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Canadian Politics
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The form of government of Canada is parliamentary. Its political parties reflect the 19th-century
distinction between conservative and liberal and also the additional
elements of social democracy and Quebec
nationalism. In the late 20th
century the rise of the Bloc Quebecois and the Reform Party threatened a
dysfunctional regionalization of the Canadian political system.
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HIST 382
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