Free Paper on The National Policy and Railway Construction: Catalysts for Canada's Economic Transformation

The National Policy was an economic program that was introduced in Canada in 1876 by the first Prime Minister John A. Macdonald of the conservative party (Herring, 2014). The National Policy was mainly established to protect Canada's manufacturing industry, promote immigration to western Canada, and strengthen the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) construction (Marsh, 2020). The policy imposed high tariffs on all imported goods as a way of reducing imports from the United States since Canada could not export to the U.S.A. due to the imposed extreme (Herring, 2014).

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Canada had a low population, and poor roads, and most of its capital was mainly used in canal and inland waterways expansion. The roads and waterways ways were experiencing freezing for five months every year (Pickering & Schivelbusch, 1996). There was a need for alternate and dependable means of transport. Saint Lawrence and Champlain were the first railroads constructed in Canada in 1836. In 1876 the intercolonial railway construction was completed, and it was under the federal government (Boyko, 2017). In 1880, CPF was granted established, and construction of CPR started (Lavalle, 2018). The railway plan by Macdonald was based on ensuring more routes were covered by the railroad, and many people could access it for transportation purposes (Lavalle, 2018).

Canada's construction of the railroads was an excellent national economic policy. The sole intention of the national policy as highlighted by John Macdonald, the leader of the conservative party in 1876 was to do away with the high tariffs that were imposed on the goods imported from the United States of America and also to protect the Canadian manufacturing industries (McLean, 2013). With the increased tariffs, Canada could not operate any business in the USA, but US firms could enter Canada. Tariffs were imposed on all goods coming into Canada, which resulted in American goods being more expensive (Spraakman, & Fafatas, 2018). Railway construction was one of the proposals that were put in place to mitigate the Canadian high tariffs problem (McLean, 2013). With the National policy being enacted, Canada was now placed in a better position to compete with highly developed countries like the USA. The national policy enabled Canada to develop its local manufacturing industries while also creating more jobs for the Canadian locals and the immigrants (Johnson, 2017). The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway enhanced the cheap export of Canadian goods.

Additionally, after the construction of the railway, historical data shows that immigration increased on a large scale in Canada, which boosted the Canadian economy (Glazebrook, & Fournier, 2015). Both the Canadian locals and the immigrants provided cheap and reliable human resources for the manufacturing companies. Similarly, the Canadian Pacific Railway boosted the systems of transporting goods in the country, which allowed for more significant trade between the country and other European and Asian countries (McDaniel, 2017). Similarly, the construction of the railway permitted Canada to realize its full economic potential as the natural resources in remote regions were exploited due to the ease of transporting the workers and the raw material (Spraakman, & Fafatas, 2018).

The steam-powered railway development in the 19th Century played a significant role in the transportation and industrialization revolution in Canada. The railway construction contributed to the creation of new markets, connecting regions, and improved military defense mechanisms. The (CPR) construction contributed to confederation expansion and increased settlement in western Canada. Therefore, the construction of railroads was an excellent national economic policy due to the positive impacts that were brought by its construction. The railway construction under the national policy was a significant contributor to Canada's economic growth.

References

Pickering, A., & Schivelbusch, W. (1996). The Railway Journey: The Industrialization of Time and Space in the 19th Century. Contemporary Sociology, 25(4), 456. https://doi.org/10.2307/2077061

Johnson. (2017). Sir John A. Macdonald. History of Canadian Railway. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-john-alexander-macdonald.

Glazebrook, G. D., & Fournier, L. T. (2015). Railway nationalization in Canada: The problem of the Canadian national railways. Pacific Affairs, 8(4), 482. https://doi.org/10.2307/2751253

McLean, L. R. (2013). Ninette Kelley and Michael Trebilcock. The making of the Mosaic: A history of Canadian immigration policy. Toronto: University of Toronto press, 1998. Pp. viii, 621. Historical Studies in Education / Revue d'histoire de l'éducation, 144-146. https://doi.org/10.32316/hse/rhe.v14i1.1933

Spraakman, G., & Fafatas, S. (2018). Tobin's Q at the Canadian Pacific railway, 1890-2016: An historical examination of the efficacy of strategy. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3103010

Brown, R. C. (2015, March 4). National Policy. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/national-policy.

Boyko, J. (2017, March 27). Intercolonial Railway. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/intercolonial-railway.

McDaniel, P. (2017, October 5). What Are the Benefits of the Canadian Pacific Railway? https://getawaytips.azcentral.com/what-are-the-benefits-of-canadian-pacific-railway-12239692.html.

Lavalle, O. (2018, January 24). Canadian Pacific Railway. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-pacific-railway.

Marsh, J. H. (2020, June 18). Railway History in Canada. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/railway-history.