National Policy: John A. Macdonald

Canada is currently sitting at a population of over 30 million people and is ranked 11th in the world in terms of exports (Canada: Economic Freedom, 2017). The economy in the country seems to be thriving very well with many skilled workers and plenty of jobs for most individuals in the civilian labor force. For the most part, Canada has always done pretty well in terms of having a successful economy. Starting in the early 50s Canada was thriving primarily off of the waterways unlike today the country thrives off selling petroleum, cars, and other things other countries need and want. Although this shift from a farm based economy too much more industrialization did not happen until after the Great War, it wasn't until the 1920s until Canada

Sir John A. Macdonald was one of Canada's founding fathers. He is most remembered as being Canada's first Prime Minister, running the government from July 1, 1867 until November 5, 1873. Macdonald would become Prime Minister once again on October 17, 1878 and would stay in this position until June 6,1891. While he was leader of the country he faced his own share of political obstacles, including Confederation, the Metis rebellion and threats of an American he is among the greatest leaders Canada has ever seen and played a significant part in the forming of Canada as a country.

Canada has had many prime ministers that have contributed and held back Canada in shaping Canada’s identity over the past century however nobody has came close to helping as Mackenzie king who protected Canada during world war 2, brought Canada through the great depression with industrialization, and he helped create national unity and independence. Canada would not be the same country it is today without the fine leading of mackenzie king.

First and foremost, the idea of having a railway built throughout Canada was already in existence long before 1881. However, it was not until Confederation was passed on July 1, 1867 when “[The railway’s] realization was found to be a political necessity” (Leary, 5). In other words, Confederation did not just mark the date in history where the federal Dominion of Canada was born, but, it had also opened the doors necessary to make the project a reality. Clearly, there was much more to Confederation than met the eye, and “as part of the deal, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were promised a railway to link them with the two Central Canadian provinces – Quebec and Ontario” (Canadian Pacific). By 1871, Manitoba and British Columbia had also joined the Confederation. At this point,

Firstly, unlike the Americans who greatly supported ‘The New Deal’, Canadians thought it was worthless and did not support Bennett. Bennett included in his New Deal, a more progressive taxation system, a maximum work week, a minimum wage, stronger regulations and working conditions, unemployment insurance, health and accident insurance, a revised old-age pension, agricultural support programs, and a grain board to regulate wheat prices (Fielding 134-135). Many Canadians failed to believe him, so ‘The New Deal’ wasn’t an option. People thought that Bennett could not have made this ‘Deal’ possible even if he tried to do so.  Secondly, The New Deal caused Bennett’s downfall from being the leader of Canada. He was widely ridiculed and taken as a joke. Back in the day, people even started calling a horse drawn car a “Bennett Buggy” because they had no money to buy gasoline and they blamed Sir. Bennett for not taking serious action. In the same way, there were many other terms used with his name such as “a Bennett barnyard” which was an abandoned farm, “a Bennett blanket” which was a newspaper, “a Bennett coffee” which was roasted wheat and lastly “Eggs Benedict” which were roast chestnuts (Fielding 127). A new election was to take place within the next few months. His opponent was Sir. Mackenzie King, whom have taken up on the people saying as “King or chaos”.1 Lastly, the New Deal was taken to the Supreme Court by Mackenzie King, after he was elected as the new Prime Minister in 1935. The Supreme court had simply rejected Bennett’s old legislate explaining that it went beyond the powers of the federal government. As a result, the legislate was thrown out. In deep sadness, Sir. Bennett had abandoned Canada and left to live the rest of his life in Britain.2 As has been noted, Bennett had failed to bring

A tariff is a tax on foreign goods. The price of foreign goods increases with the tax, and provides revenue for the government, which makes American products more appealing. This is because the foreign goods that were cheaper are now more expensive. However, why was there a need for tariffs in the early 19th century (1800)? The reason is because, American industries were young, Britain flooded the US market with cheap goods after the War of 1812, and foreign goods have been often cheaper. In order to make sure American businesses could prosper, there had to be tariffs on the foreign goods. The tariff of 1816 was the first substantial protective tariff of the American System; supported by Henry Clay, but opposed by John C. Calhoun and Southern cotton growers. The tariff of 1824 increased the rate of the protective tariff and opposition in the South grew. In the Tariff of 1828 (Tariff of Abominations), there were higher protective tariffs to New England Mills; and Southerners were outraged including Calhoun.

The Manitoba Act said that Manitoba could send in 4 member to the House Of Commons and 2 members into the Senate. It also declared that 560 000 hectares of land would be kept for the Metis families and that of people could use French or English in schools and government.

In 1980, he and his party, Parti Quebecois, called a referendum on the topic of Quebec sovereignty. He asked the Quebecois to present his government with a mandate to negotiate with Canada for a new agreement based on sovereignty-association. This meant that Quebec would become independent from Canada politically but stay closely associated with Canada economically. The partnership would mean free trade between Quebec and Canada; both nations would have the same currency and both would have the same tariffs on imported goods. Prime Minister Trudeau promised the negotiation of a new constitution that would recognize Quebec as a distinct society in Canada and an equal partner in confederation. Then, during the referendum, only 40% of the Quebecois actually voted for sovereignty-association. This referendum caused a rift between the people in Quebec because it led to Trudeau making an opposing argument that split Quebecois opinions. They remained divided on the issue as shown by the close vote for the referendum, which shows the separation in views. Additionally, the referendum not only caused tensions among fellow Quebecois, but also between the Quebecois and English Canadians. Quebec was trying to separate from Canada in order to distance itself from other Canadian cultures and preserve its own. So the fact that

As Mulroney came to office in 1985, he dismantled the FIRA and replaced it with Investment Canada, a new system which he believed would encourage suitable foreign investment. FIRA was criticized by those who concerned about American economic influence, since it almost approved every application it received. At the time, in some industries, such as the petroleum and rubber products industries, foreign control exceeded ninety per cent. Over three-fourths of this control was held by United Sates investors.6 These new and old policies brought better and higher rate of business income between Canada and the United Sates, which resulted in closer ties between the two countries.

Canada in the 1930s was in a state of economic depression and the people, notably living in the west, were finding it difficult to secure a source of income. R.B. Bennett was elected as Prime Minister by Canadians in 1930 on the basis that he would end unemployment, but by 1932 his government was seemingly overwhelmed by the persistence of the Depression and was becoming

As Pierre Elliot Trudeau strived to patriate the Constitution, the opposition was a huge threat. “The Statute of Westminster (1931) and the Second World War (1939-1945) secured Canada 's independence. However, Canada continued to retain its links to Great Britain, since its Constitution could only be modified by the British Parliament” (Roch). Trudeau wanted to put an end to British control by modifying the Constitution. In the last few weeks of the 1979 election campaign, Trudeau was struggling and decided it was time to present his plan. As he put it in a Toronto speech, “a Constitution made in Canada, by Canadians, for Canadians” (Lewis 16). The idea was not popular among Canadians and Conservative leader Joe Clark became the youngest Prime Minister in Canadian history. This did not last very long though as a vote of non-confidence occurred after the government proposed tax increases. “As a result of his government 's defeat, Clark called a general election for Feb. 18, 1980. Trudeau led the Liberals in the campaign. He climaxed an

Pierre Elliot Trudeau was arguably one of the most vivacious and charismatic Prime Ministers Canada has ever seen. He wore capes, dated celebrities and always wore a red rose boutonniere. He looked like a superhero, and often acted like one too. Some of the landmark occurrences in Canadian history all happened during the Trudeau era, such as patriating the constitution, creating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1980 Quebec Referendum. However, it is Trudeau’s 1969 “white paper” and the Calder legal challenge which many consider to be one of his most influential contributions to Canadian history.

Sir John was a visionary and had great plans to try to make Canada the greatest country in history. He had a genius and crazy idea to build a massive railroad across the entire country from sea to sea. He imagined the country being able to send goods quickly to incite internal trade, and be able to send soldiers across the country in the event of an emergency. Furthermore, the railroad would help to signal that the country had united as one. A quote from Sir John about the railroad states “Late events have shown us that we are made one people by that road, that iron

Investopedia.com states, “free trade is the economic policy of not discriminating against imports from and exports to foreign jurisdictions. (Buyers and sellers from separate economies may voluntarily trade without the domestic government applying tariffs, quotas, subsidies or prohibitions on their goods or services.)” In the previous decade, one of the many controversial subjects in the Canadian economy included whether or not it was beneficial for our federal government to eradicate free trade or open it up to other nations. During my research, I discovered that free trade agreements between Canada and other nations were not as beneficial as they may have seemed for they were often business and market oriented.

It was in the weary war years of Mackenzie King in the 1930’s when the development of Canadian foreign policy started to take shape. Before that period Canada did not have an independent foreign policy with no international presence whatsoever and Canadian people saw themselves as part of the British dynasty. The first period in the formulation of Canadian foreign policy was in fact the ‘absence’ of policy and it was World War 1 which gave birth to foreign policy. Sixty thousand Canadians were lost which left Canadians wary of international development especially when there were very few military objectives. Canada had minimal control over her own troops and negotiations with the British were a challenge. Our troops were under control of the British and negotiating with the British was challenging. Looking back, there was almost a sense of absurdity about WW1. Therefore, Canadians came out of WW1 with a stronger than ever desire for independence. The Statute of Westminster, 1931, was the last of the Imperial Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain applicable to all dominions. It granted Canada,