Building Canada8CHAPTER

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Every year on July 1, Canada celebrates its birthday. OnParliament Hill in Ottawa, there is a concert and a huge

fireworks display. Why July 1? On that day in 1867, thecountry of Canada was created. Cannons were fired, bandsplayed, and fireworks exploded.

On June 28, 1886, there was another day of excitementin the new country. The first passenger train, the PacificExpress, arrived in Vancouver from Montréal after travellingacross the country. The train was amazing to people whohad never travelled faster than the speed of a horse.

Today, people still travel by train. Each year, Canadianshave a chance to tour a train if the CPR Holiday Expresscomes to their town. Visitors can bring a donation of money

or canned food. The donations aregiven to people in need. This spirit ofsharing was one reason that colonistslong ago joined together to form acountry.

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Canada: Our Stories ContinueThe CPR has existed for more than a hundred years. Sohas the country we call Canada. It officially became acountry at the time of Confederation in 1867. Beforethen, several colonies made up what was known as BritishNorth America. Before 1867, the word “Canada” officiallymeant only the colony in the Great Lakes–St. LawrenceLowlands region. Today that colony is part of Québec andOntario. Colonies in the Atlantic region wereNewfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PrinceEdward Island. Along the Pacific Coast was the colony ofBritish Columbia. Each one had its own identity.

Confederation marks thebeginning of Canada as acountry. On July 1, 1867,Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,Québec, and Ontariomerged when their leaderssigned the British NorthAmerica Act.

words matter !

Inquiring Minds

Here are some questions to guide your inquiry for this chapter:

• If you were creating a country from a diversegroup of colonies, how would you overcome thechallenges?

• Why does Canada have two official languages?

?

Canada’s birthday is celebratedacross the country on July 1.These people are celebrating onParliament Hill in Ottawa.

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Alistair’s Inquiry

■ Make a list of three things you would like to know aboutbuilding the railway. Look for answers in this chapter. Use jotnotes to record what you find.

Skill Smart

• Why does Canada have a railway from coast to coast?• How did people build a railway through the

mountains and the Shield?

As we travelled, my dad asked me to imagine that allthe different provinces were different countries. In the past,each had its own money, laws, and ways of doing things.

• Why did all the colonies become one country?• How did so many people from such different places

agree on things like money and laws for the newcountry?

July 14, 8:00 a.m.

We are finally pulling into the train terminal inVancouver. Dad and I have come from Halifax to visit

Grandma and Grandpa. It took five daysto cross Canada by train! I saw forestsand small towns in the Atlanticprovinces. There was a long run alongthe St. Lawrence River from Québec Cityto Montréal and then Toronto. I sawhuge rocks and vast columns of pinetrees in the Shield for more than a day.Then we reached the Prairies. Therewas so much open space—fields andfields of yellow canola. It was likelooking out over the ocean at home.

Then we got to the mountains. They’re gigantic!

Taking the train is acomfortable way to travel.Rick Hansen must havehad a long trip in awheelchair, though! Ican’t imagine trying to getthrough some parts ofCanada that way.

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SKILLPOWER Working Together to

Make Decisions

Practise the SkillStep 1Work in a group of five students and go through the many decisions needed tobuild a railway through the Canadian Shield or Cordillera region. Where wouldyou build the railway? How would you decide?

Step 2Each of the five students should “walk in the shoes” of a person from the region.Review what you have already learned about the region when you state yourposition. Take turns listening to one another’s viewpoints.

Step 3After you have agreed on a route, discuss other issues that would have to besolved. How will you convince others to follow your plan?

Forming a new country and building a railway required a lot ofcooperation. People had different ideas and spoke differentlanguages. They faced many challenges trying to decide the bestplaces to build a railway. But they found ways to agree and makedecisions.

Working with others to make decisions is important for you, too.It is not always easy, but there are steps you can take to help theprocess along.

Convince others

Come up with ideas and solutions

Identify the feelings and viewpoints involvedIdentify challenges

Collect information

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How Did Confederation Happen?

John Alexander Macdonald came to the colony of Canadawith his family from Scotland in 1820. He was only fiveyears old. His father became a shopkeeper and milleraround what is now Kingston, Ontario. The family had noway of knowing that John would grow up to be a “father”of a new country. How did this happen?

John A. Macdonald became a lawyer. He was chosen bythe voters to represent them in the government of thecolony. There were many challenges. Schools, roads, andcanals needed to be built and paid for. But nothing wasgetting done because people could not agree. Farmers andtownspeople, for example, had different ideas abouttransportation and taxes.

Another challenge was that people in the colony spokedifferent languages and had different beliefs and values.The colony of Canada really had two parts: Anglophoneslived mainly in “Canada West,” and Francophones livedmainly in “Canada East.” Sometimes they did not seethings the same way. Macdonald had to find a way to getthem to work together.

This is a caricature of John A.Macdonald. Caricatures oftenexaggerate a person’s features.Compare this caricature withthe portrait beside it. Whatfeatures do you think havebeen exaggerated? Why wasthis done?

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My dad told me that thestory of how Canadacame to be one countrystarts with John A.Macdonald, our firstprime minister. I wonderwhy my dad thinks he isso important?

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The colonies in the Atlantic region, as well as the colonyof Canada, faced other serious challenges. They all neededto earn more money from the sale of resource products fromtheir farms, oceans, mines, and forests. But it was difficultto trade with each other when each colony had differentmoney and rules, and even weighed and measured thingsdifferently. Also, people were worried about being takenover by the United States. How could the small coloniesdefend themselves with no troops or transportation?

Solutions for the ColoniesMacdonald and other leaders tried to find a solution. Whatif all or most of the British colonies joined together andformed one country? Together they would be stronger andricher. They would be better able to defend themselves. Mostimportantly, together the colonies might be able to afford tobuild a railway joining them together. This would allow thecolonies to• move troops in times of war;• move trade goods between the colonies; • take settlers to the Interior Plains and to British

Columbia. These regions might then join the newcountry.

The leaders now had to convince others thatConfederation, or the joining of the colonies, was a good idea.

Canada East wanted Montréal orQuébec City to be the capital ofthe colony of Canada. CanadaWest wanted Toronto orKingston. Queen Victoria endedthe disagreement by choosingOttawa. Why do you think shemade this choice?

Parliament building under construction in 1863

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If the colonies joined and built arailway, trains could carry goodsbetween the Canadas and Halifaxin winter for shipping across theAtlantic Ocean. Why couldn’tOntario and Québec use the St. Lawrence River to send shipsto the Atlantic during winter?

QUÉBEC

ONTARIOOttawa

UNITED STATESOF AMERICA

N

S

W E

0 40 80

kilometres

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An ally is someone whocooperates with you andhelps you in a debate, anargument, or a war.

words matter !

Convincing QuébecMacdonald made a friend and ally with George-ÉtienneCartier. Cartier was a Francophone leader in Canada East.Both he and Macdonald had dreams for this new land.Cartier dreamed of a country that spread west into thelands first opened by Francophone explorers and voyageurs.There, Francophones could start new communities. But healso wanted them to have new opportunities and jobs in thecities of Canada. Above all, he wanted to protect hispeople’s language, religion, culture, and identity.

The Canadiens were proud of their way of life, theirtraditions, their Roman Catholic faith, and theircontributions to the development of the colony. What wouldhappen if they joined with the other colonies, in whichmost people spoke English? If they did not join, would thesmall number of Anglophones in Canada East lose theiridentity?

The Canadiens were not willing to lose their language,culture, and identity. They wondered if the union of colonieswas a way of forcing them to give up their identity.Francophones would be a minority in the new country.But Cartier told the Canadiens that their identity would notbe lost. He promised that the French language would beprotected by Confederation.

A minority is the smallest innumber of two or moregroups.

words matter !

Voices of Canada

Cartier’s Dream

The two Canadas stretchingfar out to the West willbring to Confederation ahuge part of the Westernterritories.

George-Étienne Cartier

But wait, all of the othercolonies were English-speaking. Wouldn’t theCanadiens be worriedabout losing their Frenchlanguage and theirculture?

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Choosing BilingualismCartier wanted Francophones and Anglophones to beequal partners. He, Macdonald, and their followers agreedthat the new country should have both French andEnglish as its official languages. This would mean thateither language could be used in the Parliament ofCanada and in the federal courts. Records of speeches anddebates would also be kept in both official languages.

In the new province of Québec, Canadiens would be the majority. Their provincial government could controlschools, religion, and the court system. Québec also chose to protect the Anglophone minority in its province.English was made an official language in the Québecgovernment, and Anglophones had their own schools andhospitals. Later, Francophone minorities in otherprovinces were disappointed that they were not treated inthe same way.

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Speaker 2: At the same time,many people are coming herefrom Great Britain. They allspeak English!

Speaker 1: With so manyEnglish-speaking colonies and allthe new English immigrants, it willbe much easier for the English tooutvote us in the government!

Speaker 1: The number of Canadiens isnot growing very quickly. No one fromFrance has moved here for more thanone hundred years. Our Francophonepopulation only increases becausefamilies are large.

Speaker 2: Will we have away to make sure that thelaw protects our schools andour language?

A majority is the largest innumber of two or moregroups.

words matter !

■ What were some of the benefits and challenges ofQuébec joining the other colonies? Make a two-columnchart to show your work.

Skill Smart

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ViewpointsViewpoints

Should We Join Confederation?Each of the colonies had its own identity. Each also had itsown challenges and concerns. Because of this, each colonyhad different reasons for wanting or not wanting to joinwith the others. Look at the information on these twopages. See if you can predict which colonies will jointogether to make the new country of Canada.

The stories of my Métisancestors tell how ourhomelands on the Plainscame to be part ofCanada. Our lands weresold by the Hudson[’s] BayCompany to Canada in1869. No one evenbothered to ask us, oreven to tell us. Jordan Brown, Winnipeg

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What do you think theNewfoundlanders wereworried about if they joined Confederation? hink about what you havealready learned aboutNewfoundland.

With Confederation, as we

shall be in the great

minority in the general

Parliament… we shall have

to carry on a constant

contest for the defence and

preservation of our political

rights and our liberty.

Joseph-Xavier Perreault, Canadien,

1865

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1. Why is it important to hear and understand all sides in a debate?

2. What do you think the First Nations people would say about joiningConfederation?

3. Do you think of yourself as an Albertan, a Canadian, both, or neither? Why?

Over to You

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In New Brunswick, we have

great forests and ports, and the

best sailing-ship builders in the

world! We are doing just fine.

We have no need for a railroad.

We have no need to join the

Canadian colonies.

I read that steel steamships are startingto replace wooden sailing ships. Maybewe should think about the future. And Ithink a railway would help with tradeand defence. I think New Brunswick’sfuture is to be part of the new countryof Canada.

We have just a short railway inNova Scotia. Wouldn’t it bebetter if we could take a train toMontréal or Toronto? We couldtrade with the other colonies and learn new things. Togetherwe would be stronger than we would be as separatecolonies. Wouldn’t it be excitingto be part of a larger andstronger country?

We have learned that the new nation of

Canada dreams of stretching from the

Atlantic to the Pacific. We here in the

colony of British Columbia would like to

be part of this dream. But not unless we

could be joined by road or railway to the

East. George-Étienne Cartier has promised

to build one. Is this even possible?

As we crossed our huge country, I wondered how people ineach region felt about joining Canada. I know the people inthe Atlantic region are proud of their communities and theirway of life. I can just imagine some of the conversations.

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Convincing the Atlantic ColoniesBefore Confederation could happen, Cartier, Macdonald,and Brown needed to meet the Atlantic colonists so theycould convince them of the advantages of joining together.They travelled by boat to Charlottetown, PEI, in the summerof 1864. There, they held a conference with leaders from theAtlantic colonies.

The Canadians and Canadiens visited Halifax, SaintJohn, and Fredericton. Politicians from the Atlantic coloniesand their families were invited to a conference in QuébecCity. The representatives at these conferences becameknown as the “Fathers of Confederation.” At theconferences, the Fathers decided upon the rules for sharingpower in their new country.

Choosing to UniteMacdonald and Cartier identified the colonies’ challenges.They examined facts and listened to colonists’ views. Theydecided that Confederation was the best solution to make abetter life for citizens. On July 1, 1867, three colonies—NewBrunswick, Nova Scotia, and Canada (East and West)—joined together to form the Dominion of Canada. Thecolony of Canada was divided into the provinces of Ontarioand Québec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia becameprovinces, too. Each province’s government would be incharge of its schools, hospitals, and communities.

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ThinkingIt Through

■ Why was it importantfor the Fathers ofConfederation to seedifferent parts of thecountry?

Last year I had to do aproject with a newstudent. First, we talkedand got to know eachother better. We found outwe had a lot in common.It made working togethereasier.

No women were part of theConfederation conferences. Butin the evenings in Charlottetownand Québec City, the wives anddaughters of the “Fathers” joinedthe men for dinners and dances,such as the one shown in thispainting called Ball at Legislatureby Dusan Kadlec. They helpedthe men get to know one anotherbetter. Why did this help the menagree on important decisions?

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0 500 1000

kilometres

1500

Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland

Rupert’s Land

The

North -Western

Te r r i t o r y

BritishColumbia

Qué

bec

OntarioNew Brunswick

Nova Scotia

N

SW

E

233

Compare these two maps. Which colonies did not join Confederation in 1867?

Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland

R u p e r t ’ s L a n d

The

North -Western

Te r r i t o r y

Can

ada

East

PRO

VIN

CEOF CANADA

Canada West New Brunswick

Nova Scotia

N

SW

E

0 500 1000

kilometres

BritishColumbia

Provinces of Canada 1867

Canada’s central government in Ottawa controlleddefence and trade. It would also make decisions about anational railway. The Fathers of Confederation were excitedto create a new country without fighting a war. They hopedpeople across the land would proudly call themselvescitizens of Canada.

Colonies of British North America before 1867

Legend

Colonial or territorialborderUndefined border

Legend

Colonial or territorialborder

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Who Was Left Out of Confederation?

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Voices of Canada

First Nations leaders in the years before Confederation realized thatthey were no longer being treated as allies and friends. Little Pine,chief of the Garden River Ojibwa near Sault Ste. Marie, wrote a letterto the governor of Canada in 1849.

When your White children first came into this countrythey… told us they came as friends.... Time wore on and youhave become a great people... You have hunted us from everyplace… you have swept away all our pleasant land. [You] tellus “willing or unwilling, you must now go from amid theserocks… I want them now! I want them to make rich myWhite children…”

In earlier times, First Nations and Europeans worked closelytogether, especially during the fur trade. Fur traders andsettlers across the land depended on the skills andknowledge of First Nations people. So why didn’t FirstNations have a say about the future of the land? The mainreason was that the fur trade was not very important in thecolonies by the 1860s. This meant that many colonists didnot think First Nations people were very important. Thecolonists also did not agree with First Nations people aboutland ownership. The Europeans believed that land could beowned, but First Nations people disagreed.

Why weren’t any FirstNations invited to thesemeetings and conferences?

Effects of ConfederationThe Fathers of Confederation did not think of First Nationsas citizens of the new country of Canada. How do we know?After Confederation, a special government department wascreated to decide how First Nations should live. Many FirstNations were forced to live on reserves. These people werenot allowed to vote. If they wanted to vote, they had toleave their reserves and begin living like the colonists did.This meant they had to farm or move to a city.

? Critical Inquiry TIP

Retrieving

Sometimes it can bedifficult to find informationabout an event thathappened long ago. Goodresearchers know where tofind information. Make alist of places you would go.Ask a librarian about letters,diaries, newspapers, andother sources.

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First Nations Take ActionBy the 1950s, First Nations representatives had startedworking together to improve the lives of their people. Their group would later be known as the Assembly of FirstNations. First Nations finally won the right to vote infederal and provincial elections in 1960.

Canada made more changes to its government in the1980s. This time, the Assembly of First Nations madecertain its people were included.

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ThinkingIt Through

■ How might Canadabe different if FirstNations had beenincluded in theCharlottetownconferences?

■ How do you thinkFirst Nations peoplefelt about John A.Macdonald beingcalled the father of anew country?

M a k i n g a D i f f e r e n c e

Harold Cardinal

Harold Cardinal was a

Woodland Cree chief from

Alberta. In 1969, the

Canadian government

announced that they

wanted to end all treaties

made with First Nations.

The government wanted

to treat First Nations

people the same way it

treated other minority

groups. They did not want

First Nations to have their own land or special rights.

Cardinal and other chiefs knew that something had to be

done. Cardinal wrote a book called The Unjust Society. In it, he

said that First Nations were a founding people of Canada. They

had a unique history that could never be taken away. Cardinal

said, “The Unjust Society was written… to bring to the attention

of the Canadian public, perhaps for the first time, a voice that

was ours, a voice that reflected First Nation thoughts and

reactions to the situation facing us.”

The book helped people to understand the feelings and

beliefs of First Nations. Many protesters came together, and

eventually, the Canadian government changed its mind.

Harold Cardinal, at a meeting ofFirst Nations in Calgary, April 1975

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A railway across Canada started as a dream. John A.Macdonald wanted the new country to stretch from theAtlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. For his dream to cometrue, though, people would have to build 5000 km ofrailway tracks across the muskeg of the Shield and throughsteep mountains. No one had ever built such a railway inCanada or anywhere else in the world. Many peoplethought it was an impossible dream. But once again,Canadians worked together to identify the challenges anddiscuss possible solutions.

Collecting InformationPeople called surveyors collected information so they couldsuggest the best path for the railway. They travelled acrossthe country measuring, thinking, and testing ideas. Manytimes, they discovered even more challenges. The surveyorshad to be very tough. Their work was hard and lonely. Theyfaced dangers like wild animals, sunstroke, and bone-chilling winds. They had to raft rivers, climb mountains,wade through swamps, and camp out in the wilderness.

What Were the Challenges to Buildinga Railway?

British Columbia would not joinConfederation unless therailway stretched all the way tothe West Coast. Finding passesthrough the mountains wasdifficult, though. Thesesurveyors collected informationin the Cordillera region. Think about clearing a path through this forest for railway

tracks. What would have to be done? Remember, therewere no trucks or bulldozers in the 1800s.

When I look at themountains nearKamloops, I wonder howpeople ever built a railwaythrough them.

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Deciding on a RouteBesides wondering how to build a railway, people wonderedwhere to build it:• Would it take the shortest and the cheapest route? Or

would it run through the best farmland and resources? • Which towns should the railway run through? What

would happen to towns that it did not run through?• Should it run close to, or far away from, the United States

border? Should it run through the United States itself?

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Even if you could build tracks through the RockyMountains, could a train go up and down themsafely?

How would you get through the rock in theCanadian Shield?

What would happen if you tried to build railwaytracks over muskeg?

During the mid-1800s, huge herds of bison stillroamed the Prairies. What problems might theycause for the railway?

■ In a small group, plan the developmentof a road or rapidtransit to improvetravel in yourcommunity. Discussits affect on differentgroups of people.

Skill Smart

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Solving ChallengesThe story of the railway was a storyof great determination. People suchas William Van Horne, AndrewOnderdonk, and Major A.B. Rogerswanted to make Sir John A.Macdonald’s dream come true.William Van Horne was the chiefengineer for the railway.

Andrew Onderdonk was incharge of the British Columbiasection of the railway.

Major A.B. Rogers was a surveyorwho would not quit until he found away, or a pass, through the RockyMountains. Each of these menbelieved the impossible could be done. They imagined whatthe country of Canada might look like. They saw factories,mines, and mills, and more cities and towns.

This is a whirlpool at Hell’s Gate Canyon on the Fraser River in British Columbia. The surveyors had to find a way around it!

Some people said thatVan Horne did not knowthe meaning of the word“cannot.” It was also saidthat he seemed to neverneed sleep, and assumedthat nobody else did,either!

■ William Van Horne,Andrew Onderdonk,and Major A.B.Rogers were all veryinteresting peoplewho solved hugechallenges inbuilding the railway.Find three interestingpoints about one ofthese men.

Skill Smart

My mom always tells meto think positive thoughts.I bet the people who builtthe railway had to dothat, too—otherwise theymight have given up!

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The Workers A few people made the decision to build the railway, butothers did the physical work. Railway workers riskedaccidents, disease, malnutrition, and death. In themountains, Chinese workers had to build bridges acrossflooded rivers and canyons. They built tunnels. They twistedtrack around glaciers. Their dynamite set off avalanchesand rockslides that sometimes buried construction camps.

Through the Canadian Shield there are countlesskilometres of muskeg. How could tracks be built across thisswampy land? One area of muskeg swallowed six sets oftracks and three locomotives. Workers tried to fill themuskeg with gravel and soil. But these tracks sank too.Eventually, workers drained the water from the area, thenfilled the holes and drilled down 30 m to the rock below.

Workers from Sweden and Italy also had to put up withmosquitoes, black flies, and extreme temperatures—all forvery little pay.

239

The railway was completed in November 1885.Donald A. Smith drove in the last spike, joining thesections of railway through the mountains of BritishColumbia. Lord Smith was one of the owners of theCPR. Why do you think he put in the last spike, andnot one of the railway workers?

Along Lake Superior there are hard granite cliffs. Granite isone of the toughest materials in the world. Dynamiting it isvery dangerous. In an 80-km stretch through the CanadianShield, 30 workers died in explosive accidents.

Part of theTrail includesthe Kettle

Valley Railway. It is a 600-km route on anabandoned railway bedthat winds throughsouth-central BritishColumbia betweenMidway and Hope. TheTrail has many tunnelshere. Some of them hangon the sides of the MyraCanyon. This route is forhardy travellers.

Thinking It Through

■ Nominate two people who should be remembered for theirsignificant contribution to the railway.

■ How has transportation changed since the building of the railway?

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June 28, 1886, was a day of great excitement. The PacificExpress, a train that had left Montréal, arrived in the stationat Port Moody, British Columbia. The railway changed theface of the whole country, especially the West. What changesdid the railway bring to ways of life in Canada?

How the Railway Changed Canada

Tourism became a new industry, especially in the Rocky Mountains.

Other places became ghost towns because the railway did not pass through them.

Some people’s ways of life were destroyed forever.

Towns and cities along its route grew bigger.

Farm products from the Prairies could now be sent east.

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Banff Springs Hotel in Banff National Park

This freight train is taking products throughDalemead, Alberta.

How Did the Railway Affect People?

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Before there were telephones or the Internet,people sent messages by telegraph. Telegraphlines were put up at the same time as therailway, alongside the tracks. These workers putup lines in the Rocky Mountains around 1888.The telegraph was another way to joinCanadians together. How will we communicatein the future? Will the Internet someday seemold-fashioned?

It opened the Prairies and British Columbia to new immigrants from all over the world.

The bison on the Prairies were nearly all killed.

The Prairies and British Columbiawere now linked to the rest of Canada (people did not have to go through the United States to travel west anymore).

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The CPR started to providesleeping cars in 1884.Although basic, they madethe trip westward mucheasier for settlers. This photowas taken between 1885and 1890.

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E F F E C T S O F B U I L D I N G T H E R A I LWAY

First Nations and the MétisPeopleBuilding the railway drastically changed the ways of life ofthe First Nations and the Métis of the Interior Plains. Itdestroyed the bison herds on which the Plains First Nationsand Métis depended. The railway also brought farmers andsettlers whose way of life was very different. Let’s take acloser look at what happened during this time.

Cause

• One main purpose of the railway was to bring settlers to farm the plains and to build towns and cities.

• Farmers did not want bison damaging their crops. They sectioned off the land with barbed wire fences.

• Herds of bison travelling across the tracks could prevent trainsfrom running on time.

• An animal with a hoof caught in a track could cause an accident.

• Trains caused damage.• Horses were often hit by trains. • Sparks came off the steam locomotives.

How do you think the way of lifeof Crowfoot’s family wouldchange because of the railway?

Voices of Canada

First Nations and the Railway

Chief Crowfoot led the Blackfoot First Nation at the time the railwaywas built.

The government has promised this land will be ours forever.We signed a treaty because we believed your government. Nowyou try to drive the railway across our land without even askingus. We will not allow it.

Chief Crowfoot

Voicesof Canada

Change

Father Albert Lacombe wasa Catholic missionary whoworked among theBlackfoot First Nation. Heconvinced the governmentand railway officials torespect and help the FirstNations of the Plains as therailway was being built. Hehelped the Cree and theBlackfoot adjust to theirchanged way of life afterthe railway was built.

I would look in silence atthe [railway] comingon… cutting its waythrough the prairies;opening up the greatcountry… changing theface of the wholecountry.

Father Lacombe

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A C R O S S T H E P R A I R I E S

243

Effect

• The railway company or the Canadian government sold land to the new settlers. The farmers and settlers believed that they owned theland. But the First Nations and Métis had lived on the land for along time. Now the First Nations had to live on reserves. They losttheir independence.

• Bison could no longer roam freely. Without the bison, the way of lifeof First Nations and Métis was destroyed.

• Railway builders encouraged the killing of bison herds on the plains.As a result, the people of the Plains lost their main food supply. Theyeventually faced starvation.

• Horses were important to the lifestyle of the Plains People.• Prairie fires were started by sparks. Fires destroyed grasslands

and homes.

How would you feel if someone wanted to build a highway through your neighbourhood without your permission or without paying you? How would this be the same as building a railway through the Prairies? How would it be different?

Voicesof Canada

Ne-can-nete’s Words

With the destruction ofthe [bison] herds, manyFirst Nations had achoice: move to reservesand get food from thegovernment or starve. Ne-can-nete, known asForemost Man, was aPlains Cree chief at thetime the railway wasbuilt. He loved theCypress Hills where helived. He and his peoplerefused to move to areserve unless it was nearthe hills. Ne-can-netesaid, “Let them send the[bison] back, and taketheir own people to thereserve where they camefrom. Give us back theprairie again... But it istoo late. The iron roadhas frightened the gameaway... It is too late: it istoo late.”

Ne-can-nete

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Work Together to Solve a Problem

In a small group, look in the newspaper to find out more about anissue in your community. What is the problem? What are somedifferent viewpoints about the issue? Brainstorm some solutions andcreate a plan to solve the challenges. Write a letter to the editor toconvince other people of your idea.

Research the Railway

Research the impact of the railway on your town. Was your townformed because of a railway? Is there a railway station in your town? Is it still used as a station? If your town is not close to the railway, how does that affect your community? Present your research bymaking a poster.

Create a Cause and Effect Chart

Interview an adult in your family or community. Ask about the biggestchange he or she has seen. Create a cause and effect chart to illustratethe impact of this change.

Draw a Cartoon

This cartoon shows John A.Macdonald’s head. In it, you can see things like Love of Canada, Memory, and Hope. Draw a similar cartoon showing the thoughts and feelings that you have establishedabout Canada’s past.

Build Your Skills!

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Inquiring Minds?

Take Time to Reflect

Think about what you have learned in this chapter. How diddecision-making skills help with Confederation and the railway?

Think of a decision you made with family members. Make a flowchart to show the steps you took. Use the flow chart on page 225to help you. Save your work for your Canada Collection.

Review the inquiry questions for this chapter:• If you were creating a country from a diverse group of

colonies, how would you overcome the challenges?• Why does Canada have two official languages?

Putting It All Together

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Today, ten provincesand three territoriesmake up our country.French and English arethe official languages.

I drew these webs to show what Ilearned about Confederation andthe building of the railway.

Confederation

Canada was created bypeople working together tomake decisions.

Confederation joined CanadaEast, Canada West, Nova Scotia,and New Brunswick.

Building the railwaywas hard because ofthe types of land in different parts ofCanada.

A railway was built acrossthe country to help peoplejoin together.

The railway had serious effects onthe ways of life of First Nations andMétis people.

Railway

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