A New Century (1890s1929)

Canadas Century?
Canada experienced tremendous change as it made the transition to the twentieth century. A greatly expanded nation after Confederation, it reached across the continent by the turn of the century. Its dominant political party had crafted the National Policy to protect its industry, build a transcontinental railway, and bring immigrants to the West. While the first two points of the National Policy were achieved, the last remained an essentially unfulfilled promise by the 1890s. Ever mindful of the burgeoning United States, which was becoming an industrial powerhouse, Canada sought to protect itself and compete as industrial capitalism became the favored economic model for the Western world. As a dominion, and thus technically lacking in the machinery needed to pursue a distinctive foreign policy, Canada struggled to navigate Britains imperial schemes in Africa and Asia. Domestically, political and social issues were underscored by contentious questions of linguistic and cultural duality. Although Quebec had joined Confederation, profound strains between francophones and anglophones dominated federal politics in the era. They shaped discussions of western development, education, immigration, and British imperialism. Beset by a host of challenges, many Canadians nonetheless looked to the future with optimism. Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, whose administration bridged the two centuries, captured that spirit when he observed that the new century was to belong to Canada. With the tools of governance firmly in place and

the expansive interior appearing ripe for development, Canada seemed poised to become a power. As it struggled with domestic tensions, the horrible drama of World War I, and the mixed blessing of postwar development, Canada in the period from the 1890s to the 1920s incrementally moved away from its European roots to favor a North American orientation.