Disadvantages Of Confederation

Canada West’s population is rapidly growing (larger than Canada East’s at this point), overwhelmingly Protestant, and English speaking. The Hudson’s Bay Company is presently in control of the western lands. The Great Coalition was formed in 1864 and is the beginning of the long road to escaping political deadlock, as it united Reformers and Conservatives. Agriculture and lumber are the main industries. The Grand Trunk Railway is integral to the colony’s economy and the existing rail network has made Toronto the commercial centre. One cannot currently travel from Canada West to the Maritime colonies without going through the United States. Great Britain’s reluctance to defend its colonies overseas has made closer ties between the British North
This majority government would be especially helpful to delegating more precious farmland to the purpose of agriculture. A large issue right now is how 80% of our population lives on the countryside, disabling that land from being used for farming. Confederation could create a system that would limit immigrants and others from using all the land. The proposed intercolonial railway is essential to mobilizing troops (to better protect ourselves in the Fenian raids) in addition to transporting goods from coast to coast year-round without having to go through America. The colonies becoming unified in a Dominion would have many advantages.

Disadvantages to confederation include Canada West having to learn French as the colonies would now be unified. The dominion would be bilingual which would take effort to learn to communicate. Our colony is already financially well off, but now taxes from Canada West would be spent elsewhere as we would be one large, shared unit. Staying independent would enable us to continue to tax extremely high tariffs when other colonies ship in
This is due to the difficulty of trade, security regarding the Fenian raids, the need for an intercolonial railway (an ideally, a year round, ice-free sea port), and Britain’s changing attitude. The threat of an American invasion during their civil war is also a frightening thought, but being a unified force would be very helpful in that situation. It would be wonderful if the other colonies expressed their willingness to cooperate if we went forward with the confederacy. For example, right now most New Foundland citizens believe that ties with Britain are more important than ties with their other fellow colonies; this kind of attitude will not help the confederation run smoothly. Some people in our colony wish for this decision to be made by referendum, and this may be in fact a good idea, (perhaps it will help persuade