Globalizing Confederation: Canada and the World in 1867 ed. by Jacqueline D. Krikorian, Marcel Martel, and Adrian Shubert (review)

This edited collection published in the sesquicentenary year of Canadian confederation explores confederation from a global perspective, i.e. the way in which confederation was viewed internationally. In the introduction, the editors highlight that the existing literature on confederation has tended to look at it from a domestic perspective. The only international dimension that some scholars have studied is that of the United Kingdom. Due to the limitations of space, it is only possible to discuss a few chapters, so to give an overview I have chosen a chapter from each of the three sections: the first section looks at the perspective from the Americas; the second that from Europe; and the third section offers views from Britain and the Empire.

Gabrielle Slowley's chapter 'Confederation Comes at a Cost: Indigenous Peoples and the Ongoing Reality of Colonialism in Canada' explores the exclusion of Indigenous peoples in British North America from the process of confederation. Even though they had numerous sovereign nations, they were not invited to participate in discussions that led to the creation of the new state of Canada. The subsequent decades saw treaties concluded with them, which led to their relocation to reserves and enabled the new Dominion to expand westwards. Slowley also brings the story to the current day through her discussion of the reconciliation process, and the significant argument that lessons need to be learned from history, i.e. it should come at the instigation of First Nations, not imposed on them.

'Model and Anomaly: The Canadian Confederation Seen from France, 1864–1871' by Alban Bargain-Villeger looks at the French perspective on confederation. He argues that there was not much interest at all from the French, which is surprising considering the importance of the French-Canadians in predominantly Canada East in the process. However, Bargain-Villeger does state that the French viewed the confederation exercise as the coming together of two nations: the French-Canadian and British-Canadian to form a new country: Canada. Beyond that they viewed it as an internal matter of the British Empire, rather than a great new state joining the international stage.

Ann Curthoys's 'Distant Relations: Australian Perspectives on Canadian Federation' points out that most newspaper coverage of the process in Australia was taken from British or Canadian newspapers. Any local comment mainly focused on the defence motivations behind the proposed union: to stave off US aggression, especially since the British government expected the British North American colonies to take much more responsibility for their own defence. Curthoys says that Canadian confederation did have some influence on the Australian colonies' discussion of their own union in later decades, mainly through the similar shape of the lower and upper houses of parliament.

This book makes a unique contribution to a field that has seen no shortage of works. I thoroughly recommend it to both specialists and general readers alike.