Federal Transport Minister Freeland slams B.C. Ferries deal with Chinese company
- Thread starter daftandbarmy
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You have to understand the context. Before 1871, there was “British Columbia” (the mainland area a Crown Colony, run by the HBC, largely) and the Crown Colony of Vancouver (and Quadra- that bit was in fine print) Island- also pretty much run by the HBC and increasingly, the coal barons named Douglas and Dunsmuir.
Joining Confederation was also an act of Union between two separate Crown Colonies into one Province. To make the statement “seaboard of British Columbia” after Union occurred, was a very implicit statement that Vancouver Island was part of British Columbia, but it was clearly understood at the time to be the “seaboard”.
Blackadder1916
Army.ca Fixture
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Though it did not consider the definition of "seaboard", the Supreme Court of Canada did answer the question of whether the Strait of Georgia was "within" the province.
"In 1866, the British Parliament passed an act providing for the union of the Colony of Vancouver Island with the Colony of British Columbia. The Act defined the boundaries of the new and united Colony of British Columbia as follows: “to the south by the territories of the United States…, to the west by the Pacific Ocean…, to the north by the sixtieth parallel… and to the east… by the Rocky Mountains”. On the true construction of this statute, the western boundary described as the “Pacific Ocean” can only refer to the open sea off the west coast of Vancouver Island and not to the straits between the mainland and Vancouver Island which, historically, have never been referred to as the Pacific Ocean . . . Considering that the boundaries of the Province have not changed since that date it follows that the seabed is still within and part of British Columbia today."
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Nicely done.
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Going really off topic…when the Raging Grannies, et al were protesting Nuclear Submarines and Torpedo testing in Nanoose, the MND had to finally expropriate the seabed under the test range in the Strait of Georgia from the Province of BC (who were making threats about shutting the Range down). Proving the point that the Pacific Ocean does not start, legally, in Canada until the West Coast of Vancouver Island.
A very long way of saying that the BC Government has grounds to go after the Feds for differential treatment on ferry subsidies between the East and West Coast , but not in the way they are currently going about it.
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I still wasn't convinced but then did some digging and learned that the original plan for the railway 'east to the Rockies' was envisioned to be completed to the Island via Seymore Narrows. It would be interesting to know if they even had the capability back then to do that; both to make the crossing as well as creating a ROW on the mainland.
Regardless, it seems the feds have not satisfied a Term of Union!
even today that would be quite an engineering feat and extremely costly. But as far as I can tell Freeland is just after headlines. If she were actually going to take action she would have at least taken the initial steps by now. Hot air.
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If she was going to do anything, she would have done it when Marine Atlantic bought a Canadian government funded Chinese built ferry in 2023…
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Back then they didn't seem to worry about the "impossible". "Can't" wasn't to be found in any engineering manual. These are the people that spanned the world with undersea electrical cables from ships that had to be invented to transport the cable - as was the cable.
Tunnels under London and New York and through the Rockies, wooden trestles miles long, cantilever and suspension bridges and causeways and dams. Nobody, but the investors, asked for reviews and the investors were a lot more risk tolerant. Gambling was part of their culture. Losses were accepted.
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One thing that really stands out for me is this:
vancouversun.com
en.wikipedia.org
The population of Canada (Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) at the time was 3,485,761 of which only 23,037 were listed as Indigenous (Native Indian and Eskimo (Inuit)).
Arguably the transcontinental railway from Southern Ontario across Rupert's Land, just secured from the HBC and the Crown, across the Northern Ontario Shield, the land that would become the three prairie provinces and the Rockies all the way to the Coast/Seaboard was built to the benefit of 8,576 Anglo-Americans largely resident in a small number of trading posts and a couple of mining towns. (Edit - Forgot the Royal Navy presence at Esquimalt from 1855 and the Royal Engineers from 1858).
The new land had to be surveyed and required the establishment of a police force (1873) before the Railway could be built. The line from the Ottawa Valley to Georgian Bay started moving west onto the Shield in 1875. The BC line didn't start until 1880 and never made it out of BC. The line from the east met the locals at Craigellachie in BC 5 years later, in 1885.
The Western Terminus was originally Port Moody as of 1880 with the first train from the East arriving on July 4, 1886 after leaving Montreal on June 28th - 1 week to cross a continent over land that had only been surveyed and claimed 15 years prior.
The Western Terminus moved from Port Moody to Granville with first transcontinental arriving on May 23,1887.
I would suggest that as of that date the locals accepted the contract as being substantially fulfilled. They had maritime connection to a transcontinental railhead that would deliver their goods from the Pacific to Atlantic Tide Water at Montreal in 7 days.
en.wikipedia.org
...
en.wikipedia.org
...
The Government of the Day in 1871 created the conditions for a private company to supply the service. Arguably that service connected Victoria to London by way of Montreal and to Delhi by way of Sydney. With communications by undersea cable connecting to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji in 1902.
....
Even allowing for bribes to MacDonald where would we find people like that today?
...
Forgot the other bit about the move across the prairies - Treaties with the local inhabitants
#1 - 1871
#2 - 1871
#3 - 1873
#4 - 1874
#5 - 1875
#6 - 1876
#7 - 1877
#6 - 1878
All before the rail was laid. The land was secured from the Lakehead to the Continental Divide.
I am not aware of similar arrangements west of the Continental Divide.
This Week in History, 1871: British Columbia joins Canada
The new province had been a British colony since 1858.
vancouversun.com
1871 Canadian census - Wikipedia
The population of Canada (Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) at the time was 3,485,761 of which only 23,037 were listed as Indigenous (Native Indian and Eskimo (Inuit)).
Arguably the transcontinental railway from Southern Ontario across Rupert's Land, just secured from the HBC and the Crown, across the Northern Ontario Shield, the land that would become the three prairie provinces and the Rockies all the way to the Coast/Seaboard was built to the benefit of 8,576 Anglo-Americans largely resident in a small number of trading posts and a couple of mining towns. (Edit - Forgot the Royal Navy presence at Esquimalt from 1855 and the Royal Engineers from 1858).
The new land had to be surveyed and required the establishment of a police force (1873) before the Railway could be built. The line from the Ottawa Valley to Georgian Bay started moving west onto the Shield in 1875. The BC line didn't start until 1880 and never made it out of BC. The line from the east met the locals at Craigellachie in BC 5 years later, in 1885.
The Western Terminus was originally Port Moody as of 1880 with the first train from the East arriving on July 4, 1886 after leaving Montreal on June 28th - 1 week to cross a continent over land that had only been surveyed and claimed 15 years prior.
The Western Terminus moved from Port Moody to Granville with first transcontinental arriving on May 23,1887.
I would suggest that as of that date the locals accepted the contract as being substantially fulfilled. They had maritime connection to a transcontinental railhead that would deliver their goods from the Pacific to Atlantic Tide Water at Montreal in 7 days.
Canadian Pacific Railway - Wikipedia
...
Canadian Pacific Railway Coast Service - Wikipedia
...
The Government of the Day in 1871 created the conditions for a private company to supply the service. Arguably that service connected Victoria to London by way of Montreal and to Delhi by way of Sydney. With communications by undersea cable connecting to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji in 1902.
....
Even allowing for bribes to MacDonald where would we find people like that today?
...
Forgot the other bit about the move across the prairies - Treaties with the local inhabitants
#1 - 1871
#2 - 1871
#3 - 1873
#4 - 1874
#5 - 1875
#6 - 1876
#7 - 1877
#6 - 1878
All before the rail was laid. The land was secured from the Lakehead to the Continental Divide.
I am not aware of similar arrangements west of the Continental Divide.
Last edited:
RangerRay
Army.ca Veteran
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There were the Douglas Treaties but they were few, small and only in the Colony of Vancouver Island. Douglas ran out of money and population growth at the time didn’t warrant more treaties. Douglas’ successors didn’t bother with treaties until the Nisga’a Treaty over 100 years later.One thing that really stands out for me is this:
This Week in History, 1871: British Columbia joins Canada
The new province had been a British colony since 1858.
1871 Canadian census - Wikipedia
The population of Canada (Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) at the time was 3,485,761 of which only 23,037 were listed as Indigenous (Native Indian and Eskimo (Inuit)).
Arguably the transcontinental railway from Southern Ontario across Rupert's Land, just secured from the HBC and the Crown, across the Northern Ontario Shield, the land that would become the three prairie provinces and the Rockies all the way to the Coast/Seaboard was built to the benefit of 8,576 Anglo-Americans largely resident in a small number of trading posts and a couple of mining towns. (Edit - Forgot the Royal Navy presence at Esquimalt from 1855 and the Royal Engineers from 1858).
The new land had to be surveyed and required the establishment of a police force (1873) before the Railway could be built. The line from the Ottawa Valley to Georgian Bay started moving west onto the Shield in 1875. The BC line didn't start until 1880 and never made it out of BC. The line from the east met the locals at Craigellachie in BC 5 years later, in 1885.
The Western Terminus was originally Port Moody as of 1880 with the first train from the East arriving on July 4, 1886 after leaving Montreal on June 28th - 1 week to cross a continent over land that had only been surveyed and claimed 15 years prior.
The Western Terminus moved from Port Moody to Granville with first transcontinental arriving on May 23,1887.
I would suggest that as of that date the locals accepted the contract as being substantially fulfilled. They had maritime connection to a transcontinental railhead that would deliver their goods from the Pacific to Atlantic Tide Water at Montreal in 7 days.
Canadian Pacific Railway - Wikipedia
...
Canadian Pacific Railway Coast Service - Wikipedia
...
The Government of the Day in 1871 created the conditions for a private company to supply the service. Arguably that service connected Victoria to London by way of Montreal and to Delhi by way of Sydney. With communications by undersea cable connecting to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji in 1902.
....
Even allowing for bribes to MacDonald where would we find people like that today?
...
Forgot the other bit about the move across the prairies - Treaties with the local inhabitants
#1 - 1871
#2 - 1871
#3 - 1873
#4 - 1874
#5 - 1875
#6 - 1876
#7 - 1877
#6 - 1878
All before the rail was laid. The land was secured from the Lakehead to the Continental Divide.
I am not aware of similar arrangements west of the Continental Divide.
Douglas Treaties - Wikipedia
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I'll betcha there is a note posted in the Cabinet break room that says something like 'No action against anything involving provincial jurisdiction without my permission. Signed: The Boss'.
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