How the National Policy Affected Canada Socially, Politically, and Economically
How the National Policy Affected Canada Politically, Socially, and Economically
Everyone in Canada knows the name of our current Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but he has done nothing compared to our very first Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald. Macdonald did many things for our country, including making it a country, and it all started from his vision. He had a vision to unite all of Canada as one through a transcontinental railway, which went on to be known as the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The CPR cost a ton of money though, and the Canadian government just didn’t have enough money to keep pouring it into the CPR. Macdonald needed money, and he decided to get it from Hugh Allen, which led to the Pacific Scandal. Due to the Pacific Scandal, Macdonald was kicked out of office, and by the time the next election came around, he knew that he needed a political platform to win the election. In 1876 he created the National Policy, which became the basis of the Conservative election platform during the 1878 election. This National Policy had three initiatives to it; to create a system of protective tariffs against foreign goods; to encourage greater immigration to the west; the cornerstone of the national policy was to finish off the CPR. The National Policy got Macdonald back in power, more importantly though, Macdonald’s National Policy hugely impacted Canada economically, politically, and socially.
In the short term, the National Policy was terrible for Canada’s economy as the first thing that it implemented was the completion of the CPR, and that cost a huge amount of money; $25 million in cash, 25 million acres of land, and $37 million in surveys. (Well over $1 billion today due to inflation) It put Canada in a large amount of debt, and the country was almost bankrupt. Then the CPR Syndicate came around, and they had turned the railway around to make a profit of $17 million off of it, and that was just the beginning of the money that was being made from
Everyone in Canada knows the name of our current Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but he has done nothing compared to our very first Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald. Macdonald did many things for our country, including making it a country, and it all started from his vision. He had a vision to unite all of Canada as one through a transcontinental railway, which went on to be known as the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The CPR cost a ton of money though, and the Canadian government just didn’t have enough money to keep pouring it into the CPR. Macdonald needed money, and he decided to get it from Hugh Allen, which led to the Pacific Scandal. Due to the Pacific Scandal, Macdonald was kicked out of office, and by the time the next election came around, he knew that he needed a political platform to win the election. In 1876 he created the National Policy, which became the basis of the Conservative election platform during the 1878 election. This National Policy had three initiatives to it; to create a system of protective tariffs against foreign goods; to encourage greater immigration to the west; the cornerstone of the national policy was to finish off the CPR. The National Policy got Macdonald back in power, more importantly though, Macdonald’s National Policy hugely impacted Canada economically, politically, and socially.
In the short term, the National Policy was terrible for Canada’s economy as the first thing that it implemented was the completion of the CPR, and that cost a huge amount of money; $25 million in cash, 25 million acres of land, and $37 million in surveys. (Well over $1 billion today due to inflation) It put Canada in a large amount of debt, and the country was almost bankrupt. Then the CPR Syndicate came around, and they had turned the railway around to make a profit of $17 million off of it, and that was just the beginning of the money that was being made from