[...] might elapse between the issuing of the proclamation and the convening of Parliament.
The second reading of the Bill was ordered
for Tuesday.
NEWFOUNDLAND AND PRINCE EDWARD
ISLAND
A message was brought down from His Excellency enclosing copies of minutes of the
Privy Council of Canada and delegates from
Newfoundland, on the subject of the union of
that colony with the Dominion, and copies of
the resolutions adopted as the basis of such
union.
Another message was sent from His Excellency transmitting copies of minutes of a meeting
of the Privy Council of Canada on the
subject of the admission of Prince Edward Island into the Dominion of Canada, which
His
Excellency recommended to the consideration
of the House.
Hon. Mr. Rose moved for a committee on Tuesday next, to
consider the resolutions on Newfoundland. He explained the resolutions
seriatim. It was proposed that Newfoundland
should receive ïŹve per cent interest on the difference between its
actual debt and the
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COMMONS DEBATES
June 4, 1869
amount with which it would be entitled to come into the Union
according to population as compared with Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick. It was also proposed to allow the colony an annual subsidy of
$35,000, and an allowance of eighty cents per head until the
population should increase to 400,000; the same arrangement as that made
with the other Maritime Provinces. In consideration of the surrender
of its mineral and wild lands to the General Goverment, there was a further
payment to be made of $150,000 per annum. The 8th
resolution referred to a local matterâa water company in St. John'sâfor
$400,000 of the bonds of which the Government of the Province was
responsible, and it was provided that the Local Government should retain the
power of imposing a water rate on the inhabitants, and
tonnage and coal dues in the harbour of St. John's on vessels supplied by
this Company with water. It was provided in the resolutions that the
Government of Canada should assume all the charges in the Province of Newfoundland
which are borne by it in the other
Provinces. The union of Newfoundland with Canada would take place
on a day named by proclamation, which proclamation should
also contain the names of the four Senators to represent the Province in
the Senate of Canada. The Militia Law of the Dominion was to be
modiïŹed on its operation in Newfoundland to meet the peculiar circumstances of the
population, and the Dominion Government would
be pledged to use its inïŹuence with the Imperial Government to
maintain a garrison at St. John's.
Hon. Mr. Holton said that in the new Constitution,
under which we hoped to live, a Railway formed a very conspicuous feature,
rather a novel one to him; but the hon. the Minister of Justice is
fertile in expedients, and we have in that Act, as the foundation of
his policy, a railway. In the revised edition of the Constitution, now
proposed, a steamboat line forms a prominent feature (Hear, hear, and
laughter.) His hon. friend had earned an additional claim to immortality by
this feat. (Laughter)
Sir John A. MacdonaldâPerhaps the hon. gentleman is not
aware that the motto of the Macdonalds' isâ"By Sea and Land." (Laughter.)
The motion carried.
Hon. Mr. Rose moved that on Tuesday next the House
resolve itself into Committee of
the Whole on the resolutions respecting Prince Edward Island. Those
resolutions, of course, did not embody any conclusive arrangement, but
were rather an authority for opening negotiation with Prince Edward Island
on terms which the Government were not without hope would
result in completing the Union of the British North American Provinces on
the seaboard at least. The Island was owned by some 62 individuals, to
whom it was originally granted by the Crown at a merely nominal rent, and as their
titles obstructed the Union it was
thought they ought to be extinguished.
Mr. Mackenzie thought the hon. Finance Minister ought
to have informed the House what correspondence there had been with the
Prince Edward Island Government or any one else respecting so extraordinary
a proposition. By whom was the correspondence originated? It was very
desirable indeed that Prince Edward Island should join the
Confederation, and any reasonable proposition leading to that end
would receive his cordial assent; but it was quite possible that the
annexation of this Island might be purchased too dearly. In its
present shape the proposition was just another Seignorial Tenure business,
and one he would have nothing to do with.
Sir John A. Macdonald said there had been no
correspondence with the Government, or any one in Prince Edward Island, on
the matter. The subject of the admission of Prince Edward
Island into the Union had been frequently debated. The terms
proposed on both sides were pretty well canvassed, and will be
canvassed again when we go down. It was clearly worth while for the
Government of the Dominion to make an effort to induce Prince Edward
Island, the last fraction of British North America, to enter the Union.
(Hear). He hoped the Government would be accorded a hearty support by
honourable gentlemen.
Mr. D. A. Macdonald wondered where the present
movements for the acquisition of territory and their organization
were going to end. Were the Government to go on purchasing
up Colonies in this way? It was absurd, had been opposed by him from ïŹrst to
last, and would continue to get his opposition.
Hon. Mr. Galt did not agree with the honourable gentlemen who had just spoken. He (Mr. Galt)
believed it would be
a great misfortune if Prince Edward Island did not join in
616
COMMONS DEBATES
June 4, 1869
Confederation. He objected, also, to the honourable member
for Glengarry speaking of the people of the Maritime Provinces as having been purchased.
By the next session of Parliament, he
hoped to see all the Provinces spoken of in the Union. (Cheers).
Mr. Young questioned the advisability of the Dominion
Government taking the initiative, and making the ïŹrst advance in
securing the admission into the Union of Prince Edward
Island. The Government delegation to that Island would do much more harm
than good.
Mr. Blake asked if it was understood that public faith
would be in no way pledged to these resolutions before Parliament meets?
Hon. Mr. Holton instanced these resolutions as another
proof of the extreme fertility of resources possessed by the Minister of
Justice. His (Mr. Holton's) admiration for that hon. gentleman was
unbounded. First, their Constitution was burdened with a railway,
then it was amended by two or three steamboat lines, now it was to be
amended by a provision binding us to re-purchase the rights of certain
land-holders in Prince Edward's Island. (Laughter) He had never heard of
such a Constitution.
Sir John A. Macdonald could not compliment
the hon. gentleman on his study of Constitutional history. Agreements
similar to those alluded to by the hon. member formed a portion of the
Constitution of Great Britain and Ireland.
Hon. John SandïŹeld Macdonald could only account for the
Government delegation going to Prince Edward Island by remembering that
Gen. Butler had lately been there, and was pretty well known,
(laughter), and that the Premier was determined to head off that official. He approved
the resolutions but derided what the Prince
Edward Islanders would call reasonable terms.
The motion was carried.
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