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A New Nation |
Nova Scotia Balks |
The Northwest Territories |
Manitoba & Riel |
Federal Provincial Relations |
British Columbia |
Prince Edward Island |
The
Washington Treaty |
Scandal | Liberal Interlude
| The National Policy |
The Railroad |
Immigration |
Rebellion |
Transition
|
In 1871 the
United States and Britain had both accepted the
premise hat they needed to examine various
issues, including the Northwestern Boundary
dispute and reparations concerning the
Confederate ship the Alabama, and formulate a
method for resolving them. Sir John Rose or
Britain arrived in Washington to determine
whether a deal could be struck and by January
26th both countries had agreed to the
appointment of a High Commission which would
address the issues. |
 |
The commission was to
be composed of Earl Grey, Sir Stafford Northcote, Sir
Edward Thornton, Mountague Bernard and Canadian Prime
Minister Sir John A Macdonald. The inclusion of
Macdonald on the commission was an important step
forward for Canada but, as Macdoanld was soon to learn,
he may have been window dressing for the public with
British interests willing to sacrifice Canadian issues
in order to get a deal.
The commission began almost immediately
and concluded a treaty on May 8th. The main issues which
were reviewed were compensation for the damage that the
British built ship the Alabama had done against the
United States during the American Civil War, the San
Juan Boundary dispute on the west coast, and the
Canadian inshore fisheries question.
Reciprocity had
between Canada and the United States had ended in 1866
and the economic impact on Canada had been negative. The
negotiation of new American access to Canadian fisheries
was viewed s a bargaining chip that might be used to
re-establish reciprocity and open up US markets to
Canada product once again. Reverting back to the 1818
convention US fishermen were still allowed to fish in
Canadian waters but were subject to payment of a fee.
The US was in an anti-reciprocity mood and refused to
trade that right for fishing rights. The Canadian
authorities had begun to seize American ships who had
not paid the fishing fee and the situation had become
one of imminent concern. Macdoanld realized that support
from the British for his position was luke warm and that
they were more interested in settling the issues
specifically related to their issues. The deal that was
finally reached allowed the US rights t fish in the
Canadian waters for 10 years in exchange for unfettered
access to the American market of Canadian fish products.
An amount was also to be paid and that was to be set by
a special commission which eventually set the payment at
$5,500,000 which was generous in Canada's favour at the
time. Macdonald
also broached the subject of the damages done by Fenian
raids from the US but the US refused to discuss the
issue claiming that it was not on the agenda. The
British defused the situation by offering to pay
compensation herself to Canada for the raids.
The next issue was the actual boarder of
Canada and the United States between Vancouver Island
and the US mainland. San Juan Island lie roughly at the
mid point of the waterway and both countries claimed the
productive sheep farming settlement. It was decide that
the issue would be referred to the Kaiser in Germany for
arbitration and he awarded it to the United States.
In connection to that
issue, another result was the agreement between Canada
and the US of free navigation of the waterways of
concern to both parties including the St Lawrence River,
Lake Michigan and the rivers of Alaska.
The last main issue was that of the
Alabama which was not really of concern to Canada and
after some intense negotiations it was also referred to
an arbitration commission, this one in Geneva, who
awarded $15,500,000 to the United States in 1872.
When Macdoanld returned to Canada he
faced criticism from both the opposition and the press
fro giving in to British interests and selling out
Canada. In his defence, he was not in a position to
override the British majority on the commission and the
result was that Canadians, Macdonald included, began to
work towards gaining control of their own foreign
affairs. The other positive result was that the
potential conflict and hard feelings that had been
festering between Canada and the United States were
soothed and the development for stronger and much
friendlier relations between the two countries had been
established. |
