Maritime Rights Movement

Last updated

The Maritime Rights Movement arose in the 1920s in response to perceived unfair economic policies in Canada that were affecting the economies of the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. At a time of rural protest in Canada from Ontario to the Prairie Provinces, the movement was a broad-based protest demanding better treatment of The Maritimes from the federal government. It was centred at Saint John, New Brunswick, where the city's business leaders politicized the economic crisis and solidified their economic and political leadership. [1]

The movement attempted to address issues relating to interprovincial trade barriers, freight rates on railways, and various other indicators that were believed to have caused an economic decline since the early 20th century that was worsened by World War I.

The Royal Commission on Maritime Claims was established in 1926 by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and was chaired by the British businessman and industrialist Sir Andrew Rae Duncan (thus the nickname the "Duncan Commission"). It was provided with a mandate "to examine 'from a national standpoint... all the factors which peculiarly affect the economic position' of the Maritime provinces and to make 'recommendations to alleviate such grievances' as might exist." [2]

The Duncan Commission attempted to address the issues raised by the Maritime Rights Movement and made various recommendations to lower interprovincial and international tariffs, decrease railway freight rates, and change other federal policies to help the regional economy. The result was to consolidate the colonial relationship between Ottawa and the Maritimes, increasing centralized control and regional dependency and relegating the Maritimes to the status of "client states". [3]

Related Research Articles

The Maritimes Region of Atlantic Canada

The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island (PEI). The Maritimes had a population of 1,813,606 in 2016, which makes up 5.6% of Canada's population. Together with Canada's easternmost province, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Maritime provinces make up the region of Atlantic Canada.

New Brunswick Province of Canada

New Brunswick is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both French and English as its official languages.

Interstate Commerce Commission Defunct United States federal regulatory agency (1887-1996)

The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including interstate bus lines and telephone companies. Congress expanded ICC authority to regulate other modes of commerce beginning in 1906. Throughout the 20th century, several of ICC's authorities were transferred to other federal agencies. The ICC was abolished in 1995, and its remaining functions were transferred to the Surface Transportation Board.

Canadian Confederation 1867 unification of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into the Dominion of Canada

Canadian Confederation was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion of Canada, on July 1, 1867. Upon Confederation, Canada consisted of four provinces: Ontario and Quebec, which had been split out from the Province of Canada, and the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Over the years since Confederation, Canada has seen numerous territorial changes and expansions, resulting in the current number of ten provinces and three territories.

Population of Canada by province and territory Population of Canada by province and territory

Canada is divided into 10 provinces and three territories. The majority of Canada's population is concentrated in the areas close to the Canada–US border. Its four largest provinces by area are also its most populous; together they account for 86% of the country's population. The territories account for over a third of Canada's area but are home to only 0.3% of its population, which skews the national population density value.

Quebec Conference, 1864 Conference on Canadian confederation

The Quebec Conference was held from October 10 to 24, 1864, to discuss a proposed Canadian confederation. It was in response to the shift in political ground when the United Kingdom and the United States had come very close to engaging in war with each other. Therefore, the overall goal of the conference was to elaborate on policies surrounding federalism and creating a single state, both of which had been discussed at the Charlottetown Conference around a month earlier. Canada West leader John A. Macdonald requested Governor-General Charles Monck to invite all representatives from the three Maritime provinces and Newfoundland to meet with the candidates who formed the United Canada to Quebec in October 1864. Although Newfoundland sent two observers, it did not participate directly in the proceedings.

Shawn Graham Canadian politician

Shawn Michael Graham is a Canadian politician, who served as the 31st premier of New Brunswick from 2006 to 2010. He was elected leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party in 2002 and became premier after his party captured a majority of seats in the 2006 election. After being elected, Graham initiated a number of changes to provincial policy especially in the areas of health care, education and energy. His party was defeated in the New Brunswick provincial election held September 27, 2010, and Graham resigned as Liberal leader on November 9, 2010.

Intercolonial Railway Historic Canadian railway linking Central Canada to Maritime provinces

The Intercolonial Railway of Canada, also referred to as the Intercolonial Railway (ICR), was a historic Canadian railway that operated from 1872 to 1918, when it became part of Canadian National Railways. As the railway was also completely owned and controlled by the federal government, the Intercolonial was also one of Canada's first Crown corporations.

The Constitutional debate of Canada is an ongoing debate covering various political issues regarding the fundamental law of the country. The debate can be traced back to the Royal Proclamation, issued on October 7, 1763, following the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763) wherein France ceded most of New France to Great Britain in favour of keeping Guadeloupe.

Peter Veniot Canadian politician

Peter John Veniot, was a businessman and newspaper owner and a politician in New Brunswick, Canada. He was the first Acadian premier of New Brunswick.

Economic history of Canada Aspect of history

Canadian historians until the 1960s tended to focus on the history of Canada's economy because of the far fewer political, economic, religious and military conflicts present in Canadian history than in other societies. Many of the most prominent English Canadian historians from this period were economic historians, such as Harold Innis, Donald Creighton and Arthur R. M. Lower.

Rowell–Sirois Commission

The Rowell–Sirois Commission officially known as the Royal Commission on Dominion–Provincial Relations was a Canadian Royal Commission looking into the Canadian economy and federal–provincial relations. It was called in 1937 and reported in 1940.

Rail transport in Canada Overview of rail transport in Canada

Canada has a large and well-developed railway system that at present primarily transports freight. There are two major publicly traded transcontinental freight railway systems, Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP). Nationwide passenger services are provided by the federal crown corporation Via Rail. Three Canadian cities have commuter train services: in the Montreal area by Exo, in the Toronto area by GO Transit, and in the Vancouver area by West Coast Express. These cities and several others are also served by light rail or metro systems. Only one (Toronto) has an extensive streetcar (tram) system. Smaller railways such as Ontario Northland Railway also run passenger trains to remote rural areas. The Rocky Mountaineer and Royal Canadian Pacific provide luxury rail tours for viewing scenery in the Canadian Rockies as well as other mountainous areas of British Columbia and Alberta.

The League for Social Reconstruction (LSR) was a circle of Canadian socialists officially formed in 1932. The group advocated for social and economic reformation as well as political education. The formation of the LSR was provoked by events such as the Great Depression and the completion of World War One as well as increased industrialization and urbanization.. The league esteemed 'rational moralism' as the ideology that could be utilized and applied to prevent suffering in Canada. The league aimed to act as an independent supplementary force influencing public policy reform in Canada during this tumultuous period. Working with both intellectuals and politicians, the league assisted in the creation of centralized social welfare and national assistance schemes. The LSR disbanded formally in 1942 during the Second World War.

Maritime Union Proposed political union of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island

Maritime Union is a proposed political union of the three Maritime provinces of Canada – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island – to form a single new province. This vision has sometimes been expanded to a proposed Atlantic Union, which would also include the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Section 121 of the Constitution Act, 1867 provides that:

121. All Articles of the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of any one of the Provinces shall, from and after the Union, be admitted free into each of the other Provinces.

Local Council of Women of Halifax

The Local Council of Women of Halifax (LCWH) is an organization in Halifax, Nova Scotia devoted to improving the lives of women and children. One of the most significant achievements of the LCWH was its 24-year struggle for women's right to vote (1894-1918). The core of the well trained and progressive leadership was five women: Anna Leonowens, Edith Archibald, Eliza Ritchie, Agnes Dennis and May Sexton. Halifax business man George Henry Wright left his home in his will to the LCWH, which the organization received after he died in the Titanic (1912). Educator Alexander McKay also was a significant supporter of the Council.

<i>R v Comeau</i> Canadian legal case

R v Comeau, 2018 SCC 15 is a leading and controversial case of the Supreme Court of Canada concerning the scope of free trade between the provinces of Canada under s. 121 of the Constitution Act, 1867.

Interprovincial migration in Canada Canadian internal migration

Interprovincial migration in Canada is the movement by people from one Canadian province or territory to another with the intention of settling, permanently or temporarily, in the new province or territory; it is more-or-less stable over time. In fiscal year 2019–20, 278,316 Canadians migrated province, representing 0.729% of the population.

<i>Maritime Express</i>

The Maritime Express was a Canadian passenger train. When it was launched on the first of March, 1898, it was the flagship of the Intercolonial Railway (ICR) between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Montreal, Quebec. The train was operated by the Canadian National Railway (CNR) from 1919 until 1964, when it was reduced to a regional service and its name retired.

References

  1. Don Nerbas, "Revisiting the Politics of Maritime Rights: Bourgeois Saint John and Regional Protest in the 1920s," Acadiensis, Winter/Spring2008, Vol. 37 Issue 1, pp 110-130
  2. Bélanger, Claude. "The Maritime Provinces, the Maritime Rights' Movements and Canadian Federalism" (PDF). Department of History, Marianopolis College. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  3. This is Bélanger's conclusion in ibid.

Further reading