Canada History and Confederation Flashcards

The Charlottetown Conference of 1864 was originally convened to discuss which specific topic before being broadened to include all of British North America?

Answer: A union of the three Maritime provinces only

The Charlottetown Conference was initially called to discuss a union of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island — the three Maritime provinces. The delegation from the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec) arrived uninvited and redirected discussions toward a broader federal union of all British North American colonies.

Which British North American colony sent delegates to both the Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences of 1864 but ultimately did NOT join Confederation in 1867?

Answer: Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island sent delegates to both the Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences but declined to join Confederation in 1867, primarily because the terms offered did not adequately address its demand for better ferry service and the buying out of absentee landlords. PEI finally joined in 1873. Newfoundland also sent delegates but did not join until 1949.

The Quebec Resolutions of 1864 established 72 principles for Confederation. Under those resolutions, how was representation in the proposed Senate structured, and why was this contentious for Quebec?

Answer: Equal regional representation in three divisions, but Quebec worried this still diluted its influence compared to representation by population

The Senate was structured on regional equality: 24 seats each for Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime provinces combined. While this gave Quebec parity with Ontario, many Quebec delegates worried that being lumped into one of three equal blocs still minimized French-Canadian influence compared to outright proportional representation, which would have favoured the more populous English-speaking regions. The tension reflected Quebec's dual anxiety — too much rep-by-pop gave English Canada dominance, but the regional formula left Quebec as just one-third of a three-part Senate.

Joseph Howe of Nova Scotia led a significant anti-Confederation movement. After Nova Scotia was brought into Confederation in 1867 over his objections, what was the outcome of his campaign to reverse it?

Answer: The British Colonial Office rejected Nova Scotia's petition for secession and Howe accepted a seat in the federal cabinet

Howe led the repeal movement and petitioned the British government to allow Nova Scotia to leave Confederation, but London declined to intervene. Facing the reality that secession was impossible without British support, Howe accepted 'Better Terms' — modestly improved federal subsidies — and in 1869 joined John A. Macdonald's federal cabinet as Secretary of State for the Provinces, effectively ending organized resistance.

Section 92A of the Constitution Act, 1982 granted provinces exclusive jurisdiction over non-renewable natural resources. Why was this section added specifically in 1982 rather than in 1867?

Answer: Petroleum and natural gas were not commercially significant in 1867; the addition in 1982 reflected decades of federal-provincial resource conflicts, especially after the 1970s oil crises

In 1867, large-scale petroleum and natural gas industries barely existed in Canada. By the 1970s, the Arab oil embargo and soaring energy prices sparked intense federal-provincial battles — especially between Ottawa and Alberta — over resource revenue and export pricing. Section 92A was inserted during the 1982 patriation process specifically to entrench provincial jurisdiction over resource taxation and export trade in primary resources, resolving the constitutional ambiguity exposed by those conflicts.

The Statute of Westminster (1931) had a notable exception that applied exclusively to Canada among the Dominions. What was it, and why did it persist until 1982?

Answer: The Canadian constitution could still be amended only by the British Parliament because Canadian provinces could not agree on a domestic amending formula

Unlike Australia and South Africa, Canada requested that the Statute of Westminster explicitly exempt the British North America Acts from full legislative independence because the federal and provincial governments could not agree on how to amend the constitution domestically. This meant that formal amendments to Canada's constitution still required an act of the British Parliament — an anomaly that persisted until the Constitution Act, 1982 established a made-in-Canada amending formula and fully patriated the constitution.