From: grayt@Software.Mitel.COM (Tom Gray)
Newsgroups: can.politics,soc.culture.canada
Subject: Re: History of North America Re: REpublicanisn vs. Monarchists (
Date: 3 Sep 92 11:51:21 GMT
Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada.

In article <02SEP92.17044880.0098@VM1.MCGILL.CA> CZ94@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CZ94) writes:
|In article <12721@grayt> grayt@Software.Mitel.COM (Tom Gray) writes:
|>
|>Colonial self-government was nothing. You still do not understand
|>the concept of responsible government. Canadians had colonial
|
|As I've already said in a previous posting, I think you under-
|estimate the importance of internal British politics in the granting
|of responsible government.  Some British politicians were opposed to
|responsible government in the colonies, but others were in favor.
|It was a change of government in Britain in the 1840s which paved the
|way for responsible government.  (This is not to deny the important
|role played by Canadian reformers such as Lafontaine and Baldwin in
|this question).

I suppose that this is a matter of emphasis. However Canadian politicians 
insisted from the 1820's on for forms of responsible government. The original
point was that Canada was created as part of a British policy to further
British interests. However I disagreed from this and attempted to
show that from the earliest days Canadians had a sense of community
(linking both cultures) and a sense of distinctiveness from the
UK. This was the point of emphasizing responsible government.

|>
|>The enormous economic investment which occurred in the
|>Canadian west came from the Canadian economy. The
|>building of the Pacific railway almost bankrupted and
|>destroyed Canada.   It was a Canadian achievement in
|>which the British played NO PART.
|
|I don't have the figures handy, but I believe there was major
|British participation in the financing of the CPR, through stock
|and bond purchases (by individual investors, not the government).

I agree that financing of the Pacific railway came in part from
UK and American investors. However the point I was trying to make 
was that the efffort to build a trans-continental state was almost
too much for Canada. Canadians sacrificed much in order to build 
a national state. 

|>
|>Canadian soldiers did not fight in any British colonial war.
|>This was a major point of contention in Canada. Volunteers
|>were allowed to participate but there was no official
|>Canadian participation in any British colonial war.
|
|Do you not consider the Boer War to be a British colonial war?

There was tremendous division in Canada about participation in British
colonial wars. In the case of the Boer War Canada played a passive role,
It allowed contingents to be raised in Canada to be paid and commanded by 
the UK. Canada as a nation did not participate in it. The general
view in Canada was that its only role in the defence of the empire
was to defend itself.

|>
|>|foreign affairs exclusively until just after the turn of the century.
|>
|>This is just not so. Canadians won the right to represent themsleves
|>internationally at the time of Confederation. There was an
|>embassy in Washington and even London. Canadians did not see
|>themselves as the arms of any empire.
|>
|Canada had no embassies in foreign capitals until after World War I.
|There was a Canadian High Commission in London in the 19th century.
|However, there was no corresponding British High Commission in Ottawa
|at that time, because the Governor-General was considered to have the
|dual role of representative of the sovereign and representative of the
|British government.  Governors-General sent regular reports on their
|actions to the Colonial Secretary in London.
|
|Canadians played some part in treaty negtiations with the USA before
|WW I, but it was as part of a British diplomatic delegation.

I agree with this as it standsh this as it stands
-- 
i.sinature
Newsgroups: can.politics