Confederation, 1870–1896: The end of the Macdonaldian constitution and the return to duality

tented themselves with a few provisions which were precise, definite, and limited. Yet these limitations have not prevented a liberal enlargement of the original privileges, by usage and convention, far beyond the letter of the law. The British North America Act merely requires that French as well as English shall be used in the records and journals of the Houses of Parliament ; but what a vast extension has already taken place here, and entirely without the sanction of the theory of the two nations! The use of French as well as English on stamps and banknotes , in federal stationary, forms, and notices, in all the publicity, information and publications of a modern state, and in such national enterprises as the Canada Council, the Film Board, Air Canada, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, has come about gradually but steadily, and a great advance has been made within the past twenty-five years. The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism may usefully help this process on its way; but it would be dangerously unwise for its members to regard themselves as the Stepfathers of Confederation and to assume that their terms of reference empower them to propose fundamental changes in the Canadian constitution. They should remember - we should all remember - that the attempt to impose a bicultural pattern by law on the Canadian West was resisted with the utmost determination as soon as the West had formed its character and come of age. The resulting controversy was as prolonged and bitter as anything in Canadian history and it ended with the West's total rejection of biculturalism. Thus the theory of natural decentralization and the theory of Confederation as a bicultural agreement, both of which have such a plausible appearance, become doubtful and suspect in the hard light of history. This realization ought to strengthen our resolve to understand and respect our past. History must be defended against attempts to abuse it in the cause of change; we should constantly be on our guard against theories which either dismiss the past or give it a drastically new interpretation. Such theories are likely to abound in an age of doubt and unJournal of Canadian Studies certainty about the future; and most of them, whether consciously or unconsciously, have been developed to serve the radical programmes of the moment. From this the path to historical propaganda is short and easy; and as George Orwell has shown in his terrible satire, Nineteen Eighty-Four, the systematic obliteration and recreation of the past may become the most potent instrument in the armoury of a collectivist dictatorship . A nation that repudiates or distorts its past runs a grave danger of forfeiting its future. Confederation, 1870-1896 The end of the Macdonaldian constitution and the return to duality1 W. L. MORTON I The Macdonaldian concept of the constitution was a compromise between what Macdonald, the British governors, and the Colonial Office had favoured, a legislative union under one government and one Parliament, and what was in fact necessary. That, as all but the most unrealistic admitted, was some acceptance of the federal principle. Once this need was accepted, however, American example became relevant. And American example during the years of Confederation and the Civil War was that a central government insufficiently strong led to disruption and civil war. Any federation of British North America must therefore have a strong central government.2 A federation so like a legislative union Macdonald could accept, for he could hope that the same forces, the needs of defence and development , which had produced a confederation would continue to strengthen the central power. Cardwell, the colonial secretary, could accept it with good conscience as the best arrangement possible for the setting up of a practically independent state at a time when England proposed to withdraw from the St. Lawrence valley. The defenders of local powers, if they did not reject 11 it, as Prince Edward Island did, could give reluctant assent because at least the principle was admitted of the existence in one system of both central and local powers. Like Macdonald, they too could hope for the future development of the constitution being favourable to their views. The Confederation of 1870, then...