An Act to authorize the commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to guarantee the payment of a loan to be raised by the Government of Canada for the construction of public works in that country, and to repeal the Canada Defences Loan Act, 1870 [21st July 1873]

Scarce. 10-1/2 x 6-3/4 inches. 4 pages. Very good+ condition.

Short title: This Act may be cited as " The Canada (Public Works) Loan Act, 1873."

Together with the Canadian Confederation, the creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway was a task originally undertaken as the National Dream by the Conservative government of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald. In 1873, John A. Macdonald and other high-ranking politicians, bribed in the Pacific Scandal, granted federal contracts to Hugh Allan's Canada Pacific Railway Company (which was unrelated to the current company) rather than to David Lewis Macpherson's Inter-Ocean Railway Company which was thought to have connections to the American Northern Pacific Railway Company. Because of this scandal. John A. Macdonald and the Conservative Party was removed from office in 1873.

The Canadian Pacific Railway is a symbol of unity, joining Canada from sea to sea. The Canadian Pacific Railway was finally completed in 1885 and connected Eastern Canada to British Columbia and played an important role in the development of the nation. Built in dangerous conditions by thousands of labourers, including 15,000 Chinese temporary workers, the railway facilitated communication and transportation across the country. Before 1885, when the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) made movement across the country cheap and convenient, British Columbia was difficult to access from other parts of Canada. It was easier, cheaper and faster to get to British Columbia from Hong Kong than from Halifax. For some, the coming of the railway meant the end of a way of life. First Nations lost their traditional territories, being forced onto reserves to make room for newly arriving settlers. The Métis lost their rights as government troops moved speedily by rail to quash the 1885 uprising.

Act first paragraph: Whereas one of the terms and. conditions on which the colony of British Columbia was admitted into union with the Dominion of Canada, by an Order in Council of the sixteenth day of May one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, was that the Government of the Dominion should secure the construction of a railway (in this Act referred to as the Pacific Railway) to connect the seaboard of British Columbia with the railway system of Canada, in manner more particularly mentioned in the schedules to such Order.

And whereas the Government of the Dominion of Canada propose 10 to raise by way of loan for the purpose of the construction of the Pacific Railway, and also for the improvement and enlargement of the Canadian canals, a sum of money not exceeding eight million pounds :

And. whereas by an Act of the Parliament of Canada of the year 1868, chapter forty-one, the Governor in Council was authorised to raise by way of loan upon the guarantee of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury (in this Act referred to as "the Treasury"), for the purpose of the construction of the fortifications therein mentioned, sums not exceeding one million one hundred thousand pounds :

...The Canada Defences Loan Act, 1S70, is hereby repealed.