British Columbia Flashcards

When the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1885 — fulfilling the promise that brought British Columbia into Confederation — where was the ceremonial 'last spike' driven?

Answer: Craigellachie, British Columbia

The last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven at Craigellachie in Eagle Pass, BC, on November 7, 1885. This completed the transcontinental railway that the federal government had promised BC within 10 years as a condition of joining Confederation in 1871 — a promise that was nearly broken and caused a serious political crisis.

During World War II, the Canadian government forcibly displaced Japanese Canadians from the BC coast. Approximately how many people were affected by this policy?

Answer: Approximately 22,000 people

Approximately 22,000 Japanese Canadians — the vast majority of whom were Canadian citizens or permanent residents — were forcibly relocated from the BC coast under the War Measures Act. Their property was seized and sold. In 1988, the Canadian government formally apologized and provided redress payments, acknowledging this as one of the most serious violations of civil liberties in Canadian history.

The Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858 prompted a significant political change in what is now British Columbia. What was it?

Answer: The Colony of British Columbia was established as a separate Crown Colony

The influx of tens of thousands of American gold seekers alarmed Britain over sovereignty of the mainland. In 1858, Britain created the Colony of British Columbia as a distinct Crown Colony (separate from the existing Colony of Vancouver Island) to assert control. The two colonies were united in 1866, and then joined Confederation as the province of BC in 1871.

What is British Columbia's official provincial motto, and what does it mean in English?

Answer: "Splendor Sine Occasu" — Splendour Without Diminishment

BC's motto is "Splendor Sine Occasu," Latin for "Splendour Without Diminishment" — a reference to the sun never setting on the British Empire, as BC is at its western edge. The other options are real mottos but belong to different jurisdictions: "Fortis et Liber" is Alberta's, "Ad Mare Usque Ad Mare" is Canada's national motto, and "Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet" is Ontario's.

Under Canada's Constitution, how many seats does British Columbia hold in the Senate?

Answer: 6 Senate seats

British Columbia holds 6 seats in the Canadian Senate, as part of the Western division, which includes BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba — each assigned 6 senators for a divisional total of 24. This allocation has been a long-standing source of frustration in BC given its large population, and Senate reform has been a recurring political issue in the province.

The Douglas Treaties (1850–1854) were a series of 14 land agreements negotiated by Governor James Douglas with First Nations on Vancouver Island. What made these treaties historically distinctive compared to later treaty processes in Canada?

Answer: They explicitly recognized First Nations hunting and fishing rights on surrendered lands

The Douglas Treaties explicitly preserved the right of First Nations to hunt over surrendered lands and to carry on their fisheries as formerly — a provision that made them legally significant. Crucially, after 1854, treaty-making in BC virtually stopped, leaving most of the province without treaties until the modern BC Treaty Process began in 1993. This historical gap is central to ongoing Indigenous land rights litigation in BC.