Ideas regarding federalism in the province of Canada, 1864-1867
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: History, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Waite, Peter B.
issued: 2012-03-21T16:01:04Z
issued: 1950
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: This thesis studies the nature of the ideas on federal government in the Canadian discussion of Confederation, 1864-1867. It is held that a federal state as such was not intended by the Canadian government, nor was it expected by the Canadian people. A federal state may be defined as a system of government wherein central and provincial authority is coordinate and independent, each of whose powers within a given legislative field are plenary. This thesis maintains that such a system of government was not what Canadians intended when they applied the word "federal" to the constitution framed at Quebec in October, 1864. What Canadians wanted was, by and large, a legislative union coupled with local guarantees for local rights and local privileges. Their intention was to form a strong central government and to relegate sectional issues to semi-dependent sectional institutions. Thus all the elements of strength in the existing legislative union were to be preserved, while the problems which had weakened the union would be removed by being taken up in the elasticity of of a "federal" system. In their consideration of a new constitution, Canadians turned instinctively to their own past experience in an essentially British system of government. The idea of legislative union remained predominant in the minds of Canadians. Quite simply, they preferred to walk in old paths as long as possible. Canadian ideas regarding federalism clearly reveal the limitations imposed by the Canadian political inheritance. The example of American federalism only reinforced Canadian prejudice. The effect of American ideas was largely to make Canadians cling the more uncritically to their own traditions of government. They saw in the United States disruptive forces clearly manifest in the Civil War. Federalism, they reasoned, was therefore dangerously centrifugal in its implications. Thus they sought rather to avoid federalism than to follow it. Canadians tended to follow the old way as much as …
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/41624
note: IDEAS REGARDING FEDERALISM IN THE PROVINCE OF CANADA, 1861; - 1867. by Peter B. Waite. A thesis submitted i n p a r t i a l fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the department of History. University of British Columbia September, 1950. ABSTRACT Z-This thesis studies the nature of the ideas on federal government in the Canadian discussion of Confederation, 1864-1867. It i s held that a federal state as such was not intended by the Canadian government, nor was i t expected by the Canadian people. A federal state may be defined as a system of government wherein central and provincial authority i s co-ordinate and independent, each of whose powers within a given legislative f i e l d are plenary. This thesis maintains that such a system of government was not what Canadians intended when they applied the word "federal" to the constitution framed at Quebec in October, 1861;. What Canadians wanted was, by and large, a legislative union coupled with local guarantees for local rights and local privileges. Their intention was to form a strong central government and to relegate sectional issues to semi-dependent sectional institutions. Thus a l l the elements of strength i n the existing legislative union were to be preserved, while the problems which had weak-ened the union would be removed by being taken up i n the el a s t i c i t y of of a "federal" system. In their consideration of a new constitution, Canadians turned i n -stinctive!^ to their own past experience i n an essentially British system of government. The idea of legislative union remained predominant i n the minds of Canadians. Quite simply, they preferred to walk i n old paths as long as possible. Canadian ideas regarding federalism clearly reveal the limitations imposed by the Canadian p o l i t i c a l inheritance. The example of American federalism only reinforced Canadian prej-udice. The effect of American ideas was largely to make Canadians cling the more uncritically to the…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
spatial: Canada
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0106783
language: eng
degree discipline: History
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/41624