In 1867, Sir John Alexander Macdonald, a Father of Confederation, became Canada\u2019s first Prime Minister. Born in Scotland on January 11, 1815, he came to Upper Canada as a child. He was a lawyer in Kingston, Ontario, a gifted politician and a colourful personality. Parliament has recognized January 11 as Sir John A. Macdonald Day. His portrait is on the $10 bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir George-\u00c9tienne Cartier<\/strong> was the key architect of Confederation from Quebec. A railway lawyer, Montrealer, close ally of Macdonald and patriotic Canadien, Cartier led Quebec into Confederation and helped negotiate the entry of the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and British Columbia into Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenge in The West<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Canada took over the vast northwest region from the Hudson\u2019s Bay Company in 1869, the 12,000 M\u00e9tis of the Red River were not consulted. In response, Louis Riel led an armed uprising and seized Fort Garry, the territorial capital. Canada\u2019s future was in jeopardy. How could the Dominion reach from sea to sea if it could not control the interior?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ottawa sent soldiers to retake Fort Garry in 1870. Riel fled to the United States and Canada established a new province: Manitoba. Riel was elected to Parliament but never took his seat. Later, as M\u00e9tis and Indian rights were again threatened by westward settlement, a second rebellion in 1885 in presentday Saskatchewan led to Riel\u2019s trial and execution for high treason, a decision that was strongly opposed in Quebec. Riel is seen by many as a hero, a defender of M\u00e9tis rights and the father of Manitoba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the first M\u00e9tis uprising, Prime Minister Macdonald established the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) in 1873 to pacify the West and assist in negotiations with the Indians. The NWMP founded Fort Calgary, Fort MacLeod and other centres that today are cities and towns. Regina became its headquarters. Today, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP or \u201cthe Mounties\u201d) are the national police force and one of Canada\u2019s best-known symbols. Some of Canada\u2019s most colourful heroes, such as Major General Sir Sam Steele, came from the ranks of the Mounties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picture: (From Left to Right) Fort Garry, 1863: the flag of the Hudson\u2019s Bay Company flew over Western Canada for 200 years before Confederation. Sir Sam Steele: A great frontier hero, Mounted Policeman and soldier of the Queen. M\u00e9tis Resistance: Gabriel Dumont was the M\u00e9tis\u2019 greatest military leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Railway from Sea to Sea<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

British Columbia joined Canada in 1871 after Ottawa promised to build a railway to the West Coast. On November 7, 1885, a powerful symbol of unity was completed when Donald Smith (Lord Strathcona), the Scottish-born director of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), drove the last spike. The project was financed by British and American investors and built by both European and Chinese labour. Afterwards the Chinese were subject to discrimination, including the Head Tax, a race-based entry fee. The Government of Canada apologized in 2006 for this discriminatory policy. After many years of heroic work, the CPR\u2019s \u201cribbons of steel\u201d fulfilled a national dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picture: Members of the train crew pose with a westbound Pacific Express, at the first crossing of the Illecillewaet River near Glacier, B.C., 1886<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving Westward<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Canada\u2019s economy grew and became more industrialized during the economic boom of the 1890s and early 1900s. One million British and one million Americans immigrated to Canada at this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Wilfrid Laurier became the first French-Canadian prime minister since Confederation and encouraged immigration to the West. His portrait is on the $5 bill. The railway made it possible for immigrants, including 170,000 Ukrainians, 115,000 Poles and tens of thousands from Germany, France, Norway and Sweden to settle in the West before 1914 and develop a thriving agricultural sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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